Despite the lack of movement in Albany, Mayor Bill de Blasio is trying to remain positive about the future of mayoral control of city schools. He is also treading lightly when it comes to pointing fingers at leaders in the State Capitol, who failed to get a deal done. NY1's Grace Rauh has the story.

The end of June is fast approaching, and without a state deal to extend mayoral control in the city, Mayor de Blasio would lose his executive power over the city's vast school system.

"I think everyone in this city should be deeply concerned that the legislature had a chance to resolve this by the end of their formal session and didn't," de Blasio said Thursday on WNYC's "The Brian Lehrer Show."

"I think there should be strong voices all over this city saying, 'They need to get back and finish this work before June 30,'" de Blasio continued.

But instead of describing a bleak future for the city's 1.1 million public school children the way he did earlier this week, the mayor adopted a more conciliatory approach in his first public remarks since lawmakers failed to reach an agreement before ending their legislative session Wednesday night.

"To be fair to everyone, everyone was talking to everyone yesterday," de Blasio says. "Let's give people a chance to come back and fix this, but they've got precious little time."

The sticking point in the state negotiations has been charter schools. The Republican-led State Senate wants more of them in the city, while the Democratic Assembly does not.

"I don't think it's time to assess blame, because there is still a way to resolve this," de Blasio said.

Indeed, the mayor did not seem interested in going on the attack Thursday. It's an approach that may reflect the fact that he does not want to offend any of the leaders in Albany; he still needs them to make a deal.

The irony is that the legislative leaders at the table are supportive of mayoral control. But without an extension agreement, it would lapse on their watch.

"No one said they have a better system of governance than mayoral control," de Blasio said.

If state lawmakers cannot figure out a way to move forward, mayoral control disappears at the end of June, and the old system of local school boards returns to the city.