The Panel for Educational Policy postponed a vote Tuesday night in Brooklyn on a school closure in Queens, but was still expected to consider plans to have some city schools share buildings.

Schools Chancellor Cathie Black heard an earful from teachers' and principals' unions at Brooklyn Technology High School in Fort Greene.

The PEP meetings are the official opportunity each month for members of the public to speak directly to the chancellor and the panel's members, of whom eight of 13 are appointed by the mayor.

The panel was considering one school closure, I.S. 231 in Queens. After reviewing comments from parents at a town hall meeting Monday night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, members say they decided to hold an additional hearing to discuss the matter.

A final vote will be held at the panel's next meeting on March 23rd.

There was supposed to be a second school closure on the agenda -- P.S. 114 in Canarsie, Brooklyn -- but in a rare move the DOE decided Monday to change course and keep that school open. They said it was in response to public opinion.

"I think that parents, and students, and teachers, and the community have shown the D.O.E. and our communities that if we fight, if we believe what we are fighting for, and really mobilize, and come together, we can have victory," said one parent.

The meeting was held on the same day a bill which could change the way teachers are laid off passed the State Senate but stalled in the Assembly. The new bill would abolish seniority protections, and is something Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the chancellor have strongly supported. The teachers' and principals' unions are mobilizing against it.

On Monday night, the chancellor spoke to parents, but angry teachers showed up to the meeting in force. Black answered questions the audience submitted on index cards, including one about raises given to central staffers in the Department of Education.

The chancellor said, "Those raises were mandated. The DOE has not had raises in about two years," and the crowd immediately yelled out statements like "How dare you?"

"To demonize us and to downplay what roll we play in the community is ridiculous," said teacher Heather de Koning Foley, who attended the meeting. "And to even suggest and to scare us into thinking that we are going to be laid off and we should be running scared is ridiculous, because we are a needed part for a civic organization, for a city to function."

In a rare move, a principal took to the microphone to directly confront his boss. Principal Brian DeVale of P.S. 257 brought the chancellor a teddy bear, which he said represented President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt's support of unions.

"With all due respect, I know you are being told from above and it is their policy. We do not need the reverse of 'Last in, first out' [policy] to get rid of bad teachers," said DeVale. "If a teacher is doing a bad job, I know how to get rid of that teacher, as a good principal."

The official agenda for Tuesday night's meeting included other controversial items, such as a panel vote on 13 co-locations, or plans for schools to share buildings, including several charter schools.