Two days after releasing his plan on how to promote diversity in the public school system, Mayor Bill de Blasio faced some tough questions Thursday on his approach to addressing racial segregation in the classroom. NY1 Education Reporter Lindsey Christ filed the following report.

Mayor de Blasio brought a group of students to City Hall on Thursday to highlight his push to expand Advanced Placement courses.

Instead, he faced a series of pointed questions about his plans to address the extreme racial segregation of students in the city's public school system.

"The plan that was put forward in terms of diversity is a first step," the mayor told reporters. "There's a lot more we intend to do."

It was the first time de Blasio spoke about the plan, which was announced Tuesday by email.

Under pressure from parents, advocates, and researchers, the de Blasio administration had promised for more than a year to develop a comprehensive roadmap for tackling school segregation.

But the final report was a series of smaller changes not likely to alter the racial divisions among most schools.

Thursday, de Blasio made it clear that his focus is on improving schools, not integrating them. 

"We have a right-now problem and it's not abstract; it's practical and it's real," de Blasio said. "We've got kids right now that we have to reach better."

The mayor was asked about research that shows students perform better in racially integrated schools:

"I don't think it's as simple as that," de Blasio said. "I think the question is, What is going to help each school be the best it can be in the here and now."

The mayor said it would take years and would be incredibly challenging to desegregate the school system. Housing segregation, he said, is a major barrier.

Reporter: Do you personally believe that it is possible for the children of this city to get the education that they deserve without attending fully integrated and diverse schools?

De Blasio: Absolutely.

NY1 asked the mayor whether that meant he believed that racially-separate schools could still be equal, an idea the Supreme Court struck down in 1954. 

"You're asking it in a way that I think is leading the witness. I don't want that. I don't want that. I would love perfectly diverse and integrated schools," de Blasio said. "If I could achieve that with a stroke of a pen, I would do that right now."

But he said he doesn't think he can solve the problem — at least not anytime soon.