Anthony Weiner has made no secret of his intention to run for mayor, and all of the signs of a ripening political campaign are evident.

During the past few months, the Democratic representative appears to have made a concerted effort to raise his profile and increase his name recognition beyond his Brooklyn-Queens district. A consistent technique is exploiting the slow news day of Sunday to release studies on everything from homeland security to city debt.

Yesterday was no exception. Accompanied by parents and public-school advocates, Mr. Weiner attacked Mayor Bloomberg’s school reorganization effort for backlogs in special-education assessments.

“Reorganization is something you do with a scalpel, not a machete,” Mr. Weiner said in front of Manhattan’s P.S. 116 as he released the results of a report about how the mayor’s education reform has failed on several fronts. “The mayor removed people from decision-making who were vital, and students are suffering as a result.” Mr. Weiner attacked the mayor’s reorganization of special ed, saying the elimination of 1,400 staff positions and consolidation of 32 special district offices into 10 regional offices resulted in an increase in service delays, a decline in referrals and enrollments, and massive backlogs.

He said 28,640 public-school students the city evaluated last year for special-education needs are still waiting for results – more than double the number a year before and the highest in six years – basing his findings on the mayor’s management report.

“The 28,000-odd kids awaiting an evaluation don’t have the luxury of time,” Mr. Weiner said, criticizing Mr. Bloomberg for asking patience with restructuring when children were waiting.

His attack may have been hasty. While the number of students awaiting evaluation is still high, they are not as elevated as they were last June, the numbers reported in mayor’s report. As reported October 5 in The New York Sun, according to the city Department of Education the backlog has actually dropped, by more than half to about 14,000, with more than half of those students already in special-ed classes.

Last year, the city had 171,782 children enrolled in special education – about 16% of the public schools’ population.

The education department defended the reorganization, saying it transferred attention from administration to students.

“Our special ed reforms are aimed at redirecting resources back into classrooms and ensuring that schools take responsibility for all students in the building, including those with special needs,” said a statement from a department spokeswoman, Michele McManus.

The press secretary for the city’s public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, who has been an outspoken critic of the changes in special education, said she could not understand how the numbers could have dropped so drastically during four months, especially since children were not in school during three of them.

The department’s “philosophy on special ed and their reorganization of special ed is causing a nightmare for these children and their families,” Anat Jacobson, a spokeswoman for Ms. Gotbaum, said, agreeing with Mr. Weiner’s criticism of the reorganization. “What Anthony says is right on the money.”

Mr. Weiner is one of a pool of contenders eyeing the Democratic nomination and the chance to oust Mr. Bloomberg. With the City Council speaker, Gifford Miller, and a former Bronx borough president, Fernando Ferrer, considered the leaders in the race so far, other potential candidates include the city comptroller, William Thompson Jr., and the Manhattan borough president, C. Virginia Fields.

Mr. Weiner has sent back contributions that were earmarked for a congressional campaign, asking donors to send him the money as a donation he could use for a city campaign, and he has opened a citywide office. He has not, however, made a formal announcement yet.

“Mr. Weiner is running for re-election for Congress this term and is strongly considering a run for mayor after that,” a spokesman for Mr. Weiner, Anson Kaye, said, “but we have to get through this election first.”