A bitterly divided Board of Education handed Mayor Giuliani a victory yesterday by picking City Hall ally Ninfa Segarra as its new president.

The 4-3 vote is a setback for Schools Chancellor Harold Levy, who preferred any candidate to Segarra, sources said.

Segarra supports Giuliani on such hot-button education issues as abolishing the board and giving control to City Hall, vouchers and privatization of failing public schools.

The only major issue where Segarra splits from the mayor is bilingual education, for which she backs more modest reform.

But it’s unclear whether there will be any dramatic policy changes. Segarra is filling the rest of Bill Thompson’s term as president, and the seven-member board will vote again on the position in June.

Segarra initially voted against making Levy chancellor but stressed yesterday that she has worked with Levy over the past year.

In recent weeks, she accused Levy of mishandling the effort by Edison Schools Inc. to manage five of the city’s worst schools – which ended in defeat for the company. Segarra said she would continue to press for privatization.

“I would urge him [Levy] to find a way to have privatization considered. I think it’s a viable option,” she said.

Segarra said the Edison fiasco should not take privatization “completely off the table.”

But Levy said he won’t revisit privatization.

“It’s not in my immediate plans,” the chancellor said.

Levy did not heap praise on Segarra.

“I look forward to working with the new board president. We have agreed on some issues. We have disagreed on others,” he said.

But the chancellor made it clear he was disappointed with the divisive tally, with four members voting for Segarra and three abstaining – amounting to a no-confidence vote.

“A fractious board is not a good thing,” he said.

In an extraordinary turn of events, Manhattan representative Irving Hamer – one of the board’s most liberal members – provided the tiebreaking vote to make Segarra president.

And he did so with the blessing of Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields, who appointed him to the board.

Hamer disagrees with Segarra and the mayor on a host of issues. And Hamer admitted switching to Segarra at the 11th hour.

One board source involved in the negotiations said Hamer and Fields cut a deal with the mayor.

Queens member Terri Thomson, who was also a candidate for president, had withdrawn her candidacy after Hamer declared his support for Bronx appointee Sandra Lerner.

But then Hamer and Fields – assuming that Thomson was providing the fourth vote for Segarra – exchanged calls with mayoral officials to switch their vote to Segarra in return for Giuliani’s backing on other issues, the source said. But, in fact, Thomson was backing Lerner.

Hamer and Fields insisted there was no quid pro quo for the vote change.

WHERE NINFA STANDS

Ninfa Segarra on the issues:

* Board of Education – supports elimination

* Privatization – supports

* Vouchers – supports

* End social promotions: voted yes

* Tougher standards on high-school Regents requirements: supports

* Bilingual education: supports



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