Concerned parents rallied on the steps of City Hall Monday to save what they believe are critical early childhood education programs.
“My son attends a publicly funded pre-K and he also attended the same 3-K,” Veronica Ades, a mother of a five-year-old, said. “I loved his program, he did amazingly well. The teachers are so wonderful. It was made possible because of the public funding."
Advocates for Children of New York and the Emergency Coalition to Save Education Programs said they are alarmed about hundreds of millions of dollars in temporary federal stimulus money the city used to fund permanent programs – and how that funding is set to expire. The popular programs include special education, pre-K expansion, social workers in schools, and coordinators who work with children in shelters.
The City Council Monday questioned the Department of Education about Mayor Eric Adams’ budget plan for the 2025 fiscal year.
"The cuts that are being affected in early childhood [education] are extremely hurtful to the entire enterprise of early childhood [education]," Schools Chancellor David Banks said at the City Council hearing. "But I am fighting like heck to make sure that those cuts are restored and I have great confidence that in the coming weeks we will have really good news around early childhood [education]."
City Council Education Chair Rita Joseph talked about its real-world impact on “Mornings On 1.”
“Child care is important, that’s one way we notice that folks who are leaving work, because there was no child care, but 3-K changes that,” Joseph said. “This is just the first stage, and we continue to negotiate with the administration until we get a fair and a just budget for New York City.”
The negotiations come after Mayor Eric Adams cut 5% from all city agencies last year, noting the rising cost of the migrant crisis and the end of federal pandemic funding.
Meanwhile, students and parents at the rally expressed frustration. Many parents said they wanted the city to invest in them and their educational success.
“There are more cops in my school than guidance counselors,” Brielka Rodriguez, a high school senior from Staten Island, said. “We also need more social workers available to provide us with mental health support, because a lot of my classmates are dealing with trauma and have no one to talk to.”
Mayor Adams is set to release an updated proposed budget in April based on the City Council's response, and then another round of negotiations in hearings take place at City Hall before a final budget has to be reached by July 1.