Eric cools ed. aid hopes
Casts doubt on Banks’ optimism over reversing preschool cuts
Mayor Adams poured cold water Tuesday on Schools Chancellor David Banks’ optimism that preschool cuts could soon be reversed, just 24 hours after the chancellor said he had “great confidence” there was money to undo the reductions.
The Education Department’s early childhood division is facing two rounds of cutbacks for next school year that, combined with a looming fiscal cliff as federal pandemic aid expires after this school year, amount to an almost $263 million funding gap.
Adams, whose administration is currently using almost $1 billion of the temporary dollars to fund education programs, did not back his own chancellor’s sunny assessment.
“This is an emotional time for all of us,” Adams said at a Tuesday afternoon
City Hall press briefing, “and I think the chancellor has a right to display that emotion. But at the end of the day, he’s going to do what’s best for the city of New York.
“I want my team to be authentic with their emotions, but, at the end of the day, if we are unable to identify the money, he’s going to carry out the direction that’s coming from the entire team,” the mayor said of Banks.
At a hearing on the education budget Monday, Banks said he had “great confidence” that the city will have “really good news around early childhood” — and that Adams was on the same page.
“Parents of New York City are waiting to see if these cuts are going to be restored,” Banks told the City Council’s Education Committee. “I’m fighting for that to happen. And I believe that is exactly what is going to happen in the coming weeks.”
The Department of Education did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday on the mayor’s remarks.
The back-and-forth between Adams and Banks quickly sowed confusion for parents who, in an increasingly unaffordable city, are wondering whether all families who want a free preschool seat will get one.
“Thousands of parents across the city need to know if their child will have a Pre-K or 3-K seat — yet the mayor refuses to answer this simple question,” New Yorkers United for Child Care Executive Director Rebecca Bailin said in a statement.
“Amid mounting confusion, the mayor’s silence is deafening,” Bailin said. “It’s time for City Hall to give a clear answer to this pressing question.”
Data shared at Monday’s Council hearing showed 19 of the city’s 32 school districts had more applicants for 3-K than kids enrolled. Elsewhere in the city, 23,000 preschool seats are sitting vacant as education officials try to tweak the age-eligibility and program schedules to match demand.
Adams said he’s “going to try” to find local funding for preschool programs, as he did for the Summer Rising, which for the first time this year will not rely on pandemic-era federal stimulus. Middle school students in the popular program — which combines summer school with camp activities — will run on an abbreviated schedule that’s two hours shorter and closed Fridays.
But Adams blamed former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration for propping up permanent programs with sunsetting dollars, creating tight fiscal straits that were only exacerbated by the costs of caring for migrants.
“People think we are out of the woods,” said Adams, citing the fact that he called off a third round of budget cuts planned for this spring. “They think everything is fine, but it’s not. We’re dealing with real challenges.”
Adams himself bankrolled an expansion of preschool special education with temporary dollars that has created a more than $90 million funding gap after this school year.