Gov. Cuomo’s expands pre-K, but not enough to provide access for all children
(Long Island, NY) Ready for Kindergarten, Ready for College campaign acknowledges that Gov. Cuomo’s budget proposal will continue to expand pre-K for all New York children, but it is still far from universal. The small increase to $24 million, including $2 million for QUALITYstarsNY, the state’s early care and learning quality rating and improvement system, announced Wednesday during his State of the State address, will provide full-day early education for an additional 2,000 children. We remain extremely concerned that thousands of 3- and 4-year-olds still will not have access to pre-K. We urge the Governor and the Legislature to not miss this crucial opportunity to fully fund pre-K this budget cycle, which would require $150,000 million.
“We would like to see more progress made on the important issue of pre-K,” said Jasmine Gripper, Legislative Director with the Alliance for Quality Education. “While this is an important step forward to provide pre-K for more children, we will not rest until all of the 3- and 4-year-olds in New York State have access to a quality pre-K. Early childhood education is essential to build a solid foundation for a child’s future growth and education. This is a promise that Gov. Cuomo and the legislature must fulfill.”
“We agree with the Governor that New York State needs to see all districts offer pre-K to 3- and 4-year-olds, and we are pleased to see the additional $22 million proposed to support pre-K for 3-year-olds this year,” says Nancy Kolben, executive director of Center for Children’s Initiatives. “But we think the state needs to move far more quickly to meet that goal – and not leave another generation of preschoolers behind. There is strong evidence that these investments help children succeed in kindergarten and beyond, and produce significant benefits for schools, communities and taxpayers alike. New York also has a well-developed system for distribution of these funds through the state Education Department which should continue beyond 2017.”
“We all agree that quality early childhood education lays the foundation for future success in school and beyond,” saidKaren Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York. “That’s why New York State should not wait any longer to make sure that every 3- and 4-year-old has access to quality pre-K.”
