#By folding schools again, de Blasio proves his spine on permanent furlough

For all his talk about children’s needs and the importance of in-school learning, Mayor de Blasio folded again Thursday, putting off the start of in-person school for most kids.

Rather than face down the unions representing school administrators and teachers, he announced that live instruction will be phased in by age-group over the next two weeks, unless there’s another delay.

It was a cringeworthy performance.

Flanked by Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza (who is clearly in way over his head), principals’ union prez Mark Cannizzaro and United Federation of Teachers boss Mike Mulgrew, de Blasio cited the pandemic and (hold your nose) a struggling democracy for his retreat.

Most bizarre was his claim that it was only on Wednesday that he made a list of 20 “different concerns” that were “real” and needed to be satisfied if schools were going to re-open on Monday as he’d been promising since the last time he postponed it.

Hizzoner sounded like a hostage heaping praise on his captors, telling reporters that union leaders “acknowledged that [although] some real progress had been made that not enough had been made and more had to be done to make sure that things would be as strong as they needed to be.”

Huh? Mulgrew publicly mused about calling an illegal strike and going to jail if City Hall didn’t make his members feel safe.

De Blasio even managed the feat of making Public Advocate Jumaane Williams look like a practical leader, since the mayor’s newest “plan” strongly resembles the blueprint Williams set out last July, with kids kept home until October and their return to classroom instruction staggered by age group.

So, where all grades were to return next Monday, now only pre-K and District 75 special-ed kids will start in-person then. K-5 students are to begin instruction Sept. 29; middle- and high-schoolers Oct. 1.

Again, if the mayor doesn’t delay again.

Meanwhile, all-remote learning started with a host of glitches, including an embarrassing hacking incident — and a last-minute reneging on live instruction hours.

All this, when virus spread is minimal in the city, and the minuscule number of school staff testing positive show no symptoms.

De Blasio’s spine, clearly, is on permanent furlough.