Under Mayor Mike, Chancellor Joel, more kids stay after school

The number of New York City schoolchildren enrolled in high-quality after-school programs has risen from 48,000 in 2001, when Mayor Bloomberg was elected, to 140,000, according to a nonprofit dedicated to expanding the programs.

At a snow-dampened event on Monday, The After-School Corporation celebrated its 10th anniversary by honoring philanthropist George Soros, who originally funded the group, and thanking Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein for their help bringing after-school programs to 600 city schools. During a 6-minute video that depicted city leaders as superheroes, the group noted that under Bloomberg, New York City has become “the largest municipally funded after-school system in the country.”

Research shows that after-school programs in the model TASC promotes can help boost students’ attendance, motivation, and performance in school, the organization says.

But after-school programs could be at risk as school budgets are tightened. I reported in December that principals who had to cut their budgets opted to slash overtime pay for teachers who worked before and after school.