ALBANY, NY (March 20, 2017) — The Ready for Kindergarten Ready for College campaign applauds the New York State Assembly’s one house budget proposal for putting the state on a path toward finally fulfilling the promise of pre-kindergarten for all children in New York. The proposal expands access to pre-kindergarten, while moving the state toward a streamlined, coherent system to deliver programs to our youngest students. It includes $45 million in additional funding, bringing the total funding invested in pre-K for three- and four-year-olds to $50 million. The proposal also ensures that expansion of access to quality pre-K programs continues without obstacles such as competitive grants. The Senate Majority’s proposal also consolidates the expiring competitive grant into the Universal Pre-K program, but it rejects the governor’s investment of $5 million in new full day seats for three- and four-year-olds.
“We are pleased with the Assembly’s proposal to not only ensure that four- and three-year-olds have access to full day quality pre-K programs by investing $50 million for new seats, but also with their inclusion of language that ensures that programs do not lose existing funding when consolidating Priority Pre-K into the Universal Pre-Kindergarten program. While we are also pleased to see that the Senate Majority’s proposal includes language that would take the step toward consolidating the Priority pre-K program, we are disheartened that they reject the proposal to invest additional funding to expand access to children,” said Marina Marcou-O’Malley, Policy Director for the Alliance for Quality Education. “There is a great deal of need for Pre-K outside of New York City. Investing in quality full day pre-K makes sense and yield substantial benefits for children, their families, schools and communities.”
“With 81 percent of the four-year-olds outside of New York City still waiting for full-day pre-K, the Assembly’s proposal represents not only a welcome next step, but one that is urgently needed to put the state’s children on the path to success in school and beyond – and it is progress toward the promise made by state leaders to make pre-K truly universal for the state’s children,” said Betty Holcomb, Policy Director, Center for Children’s Initiatives. “We also applaud the steps taken by the Governor, Assembly and Senate to reform pre-K financing and move toward a single high-quality pre-K effort. Parents, children and school districts need to be able to plan and count on pre-K funding from year-to-year.”
“The Assembly is helping our whole community by pushing for more kids to have access to Pre-K,” said Karen Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York. “Quality early learning programs help make sure young students are ready to take full advantage of all of their future educational opportunities. Our communities will be stronger when every child has access to quality Pre-K programs.”
“If we are serious about improving school readiness, high school graduation, and family economic security, we have to invest in pre-K,” said Kate Breslin, President and CEO of the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy. “Access to high-quality pre-K, along with childcare and paid family leave, can significantly increase parents’ employment and income. And this improves short- and long-term outcomes for children, including their economic security as adults. Access to high quality pre-K has been shown to reduce income inequality, and make income mobility over the course of a child’s life possible. The Assembly’s proposal is significant and takes us closer to achieving the State’s promise of true universal pre-K. We thank the Assembly for recognizing the great importance of investing in the futures of our youngest New Yorkers.”
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