The New York Times (9/17, Taylor, Subscription Publication) reports that on Wednesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a half-dozen programs designed to boost the city’s poorest students “in a speech that framed the proposals as a way to address income inequality, a touchstone issue of his administration.” However, the “cost” of the programs is “high” and the “political risks are great.” The Times adds that “many questions remain about how these programs will work and what the impact will be on the school system.”         Chalkbeat New York (9/16) reports that the new plan is a follow-up to “the mayor’s widely heralded expansion of full-day pre-kindergarten,” adding that de Blasio said that “his disparate school initiatives would operate in tandem to propel students toward college.”         The AP (9/17, Lemire) also covers this story, noting that de Blasio called his pre-K program “the foundation for a series of new policy initiatives aimed at improving standards and leveling the playing field for students in the nation’s largest school system.” The “expensive new proposals” are “meant to achieve three major goals: to have all children reading by third grade, to improve on-time graduation rates and to give all students a shot at attending college.”