More than 600 schools get a funding boost in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s preliminary 2017 city budget. The mayor also demonstrated his commitment to college readiness with support for an array of programs that will better prepare high school students for higher education.

His $82.1 billion budget proposal, released on Jan. 21, puts money behind the education agenda he mapped out for city schools in the fall, including more Advanced Placement courses, additional guidance counselors in high-need schools and more literacy coaches to work with 2nd-graders.

“This budget invests in education initiatives that will move our school system forward,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. “We’ll be able to build on the improvements that we’ve already seen under this administration.”

Under de Blasio’s plan, the city would spend $159 million to raise the minimum funding level for all schools, which would give a boost to 657 schools currently below that threshold.

The effort to equalize the funding formula would result in an average increase per school of $242,000.

Among the preliminary budget’s other education highlights:

• $189 million — a slight increase — for struggling schools in the city’s School Renewal Program;
• $20 million for the Department of Education’s “Algebra for All” initiative to prepare 8th graders for algebra and provide professional development for algebra teachers;
• $16 million to hire 400 literacy coaches to ensure more 2nd-graders are reading at grade level;
• $15 million for 134 new positions to teach Advanced Placement classes;
• $15 million for 130 additional guidance counselors in the Single Shepherd program, which will assign a counselor to every child in grades 6–12 in District 23 in Brooklyn and District 7 in the Bronx;
• About $1 million for training in restorative justice practices in District 18 schools to reduce the number of suspensions.

The mayor also released an amended five-year capital plan that allocates $868 million to add 11,800 new school seats to address overcrowding.

Months of negotiations with the City Council lie ahead. The final budget must be approved by the Council by July 1, the start of the 2017 fiscal year.