By David Cruz

Carrying on his agenda for public school reform, Mayor Bill De Blasio announced a $23 million boost for arts education. The earmark adds a major boost for an arts component that dwindled through the school system in recent years.

“For so many young people, their coming of age, their moment of awareness, their moment of really believing in themselves and locking into their overall academic path, came through arts and culture,” said De Blasio, flanked by officials, including schools Chancellor Carmen Farina, at the Bronx Museum of the Arts on July 1. It’s the same day the New York City Budget kicked for Fiscal Year 2015-16.

De Blasio was inspired by a report released in April from city Comptroller Scott Stringer entitled “State of the Arts,” showing the disparities of art class in some parts of the city, including the South Bronx. There, roughly 42 percent of schools lack a full-time, certified art teacher.

“[F]or too long, we had under-invested in arts education and cultural education in our schools,” said Stringer. “And it was time to right that wrong and do something aggressive about it.”

Funds would go directly to hire 120 full-time teachers at middle and high schools, art supplies, and improve art-related facilities such as classrooms and auditoriums, where students perform.

“One of the things we did…is to ensure that all the auditoriums in the city would get a little sprucing up,” said Farina. “One of the core curriculum mandates is that kids perform before an audience, that they have a point of view, that they have a sense of confidence. This happens when you get on the stage.”

She added that attendance rates tend to increase when a thriving arts component exists.

The announcement also underscored the smoother relationship between De Blasio and Stringer, particularly when compared to the animosity displayed by then city Comptroller John Liu and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“Comptrollers and other elected officials can issue all the reports in the world, everyone can crunch the data,” said Stringer. “But many times, those reports don’t get to  he main person. But Bill de Blasio understood when he looked at the report that action was needed.”