Nov. 20--BOSTON -- Gov. Deval Patrick last night chastised the Legislature for going on break with important work left unfinished, calling on the House and Senate to postpone its end-of-the-year recess in order to pass an important education overhaul and crime bill.

The governor made his appeal to reporters in a rare, impromptu visit to the press gallery in the Statehouse after his requests to House Speaker Robert DeLeo fell on deaf ears.

The House and Senate adjourned on Wednesday for the year, with no formal session scheduled again until January. The Senate passed a sweeping education-reform bill, as well as an overhaul of criminal sentencing statutes and the criminal offender records system this week. The House decided to delay action.

"It's more than a little frustrating that they would leave for six or seven weeks with so much of the vital business before the commonwealth undone...," Patrick said. "It's my hope that the members will realize that the rules are of their own making."

The governor also criticized the Legislature for declining to give him expanded budget-cutting powers to close a projected $600 million hole in the fiscal 2010 budget. The governor is seeking the expanded powers to trim $75 million from the budgets of the Legislature, courts and Constitutional officers.

"Thanksgiving is next week. I think (the House) can get this done and still get home for the holidays," Patrick said.

The House and Senate yesterday passed a

deficiency budget that cut about $484 million in state spending, but still leaves more to cut, according to the administration. House leaders, including Ways and Means Chairman Charles Murphy, D-Burlington, said the governor's projected $600 million shortfall is just one estimate, and may not be necessary.

Patrick said he reached out to DeLeo personally yesterday to discuss his concerns, but the two men "did not connect."

DeLeo's office issued a blistering response to Patrick's public scolding.

"Gov. Patrick's comments seem to be more about political necessity than 'moral obligation.' Speaker DeLeo's obligation is to the commonwealth's schoolchildren -- not Gov. Patrick's political calendar," said DeLeo spokesman Seth Gitell.

Some of the pressure to pass an education-reform bill quickly comes from the Jan. 19 deadline to file applications with the federal government for competitive grants through President Barack Obama's $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund. The Race to the Top program seeks to reward states for innovation in education, including an embrace of charter schools.

DeLeo, in a letter to House members Wednesday, committed to taking up the education-reform bill in early January in time for Race to the Top applications. He said it was imperative that lawmakers take time to study the bill rather than rush a vote.

Patrick, however, called the delay "brinksmanship." He said political leaders have a "moral obligation" to pass reform for the state's children, not just a piece of federal funding. He also said he worried that the extra time would slow any momentum the bill had and give special interests an opportunity to sway nervous lawmakers.

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