NEW YORK — Despite the lack of hard data on the effectiveness of year-round schooling in the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday evening once again touted the benefits of his statewide proposal, which many view as a policy peg for a potential run for governor.
The outgoing mayor last week unveiled his year-round public school programming proposal on his revamped political website.
But when NY1 political anchor Errol Louis, on Monday during their weekly "Mondays with the Mayor interview," pressed the mayor for hard data on the effectiveness of the city's attempt this past summer, de Blasio said collecting and analyzing the information this early on remains difficult.
“We’re only a couple of months into the school year,” de Blasio said. “In terms of hard facts, I think it’s hard to measure because of all the disruption. We’ll get a good sense in the course of the school year the difference between the kids that were in that program and the kids who were not. But it’s no question to me about the value added so far.”
Earlier this year, New York City rolled out "Summer Rising," a free program combining academics and recreation, which saw hundreds of thousands of children sign up.
According to de Blasio's team, offering such a program on a statewide level would cost about $5.4 billion and would be paid for by taxing the state’s wealthiest residents.
In lieu of hard data, the mayor in his interview Monday pointed to the city’s implementation of universal pre-k and 3-k as success stories.
“Two things where the jury is definitely back: pre-k and 3-k. I think there is a strong educational consensus that those are pieces of the puzzle that truly elevate students’ learning later in life,” de Blasio told NY1. “Longer school day with an academic component — I don’t think there’s a lot of debate.”
The mayor went on to claim the benefits of year-round public school programming extend beyond academics. Providing free after-school and summer programs would relieve parents of the financial burden of sending their children to expensive camps and other forms of child care, de Blasio said.
De Blasio, who is term-limited and will leave office at the end of the year, has been widely rumored to be readying a run for governor, after filing paperwork earlier this month with the state Board of Elections to create a fundraising committee.
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This story includes reporting from Courtney Gross and Jillian Jorgensen.
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Watch the full interview above.
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