REMARKS
Council Member Adams' remarks on Early Childhood Education implementation and funding
5:15:36
·
3 min
Council Member Adams addresses the implementation and funding issues of Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs, particularly 3K and 4K. She emphasizes the need for improvement and expansion of these programs.
- Adams highlights the success of efforts to reduce vacancies and increase applications for 3K and 4K.
- She expresses frustration with ongoing issues such as mismatched supply and demand for seats and lack of services for children with disabilities.
- The Council Member calls for ambitious action to expand the budget, add seats, and work towards universal access to ECE programs.
Adrienne E. Adams
5:15:36
Okay.
5:15:36
Alright.
5:15:38
Let's move on and talk about education and early childhood education implementation and PEG restoration.
5:15:45
In the November and preliminary plans, the administration took a combined peg of $170,000,000 to recognize the savings from existing vacant early child education seats, citing a vacancy rate of rate of 30% at the time.
5:16:00
The council understands the reason for this decision from a purely physical standpoint only given the realities of the program at the time.
5:16:09
The council's main criticism of the early childhood education program has always been how it was implemented.
5:16:17
Our support for 3 k and 4 k stems from our understanding that these programs form the foundation for students' educational attainment.
5:16:27
As I've stated before, if the city were to initiate a robust in person outreach program in our communities, offer full day seats to accommodate working parents, and align seats with the needs of our neighborhoods, we would actually have an early childhood education program that reaches the goals that both the administration and this council believe in.
5:16:50
When we adopted the fiscal year 2024 budget, the council added $15,000,000 to convert school day seats to full day seats.
5:17:00
It was a pilot program, but DOE has stated that it has been a tremendous success.
5:17:07
And council members themselves have worked tirelessly to alert their communities to opportunities to access 3 k and 4 k seats.
5:17:16
These efforts were not fruitless.
5:17:19
Since the start of the school year, the number of vacancies in ECE seats has decreased by more than 10,000 and we've had a significant number of families that applied to 3 k and 4 k for the first time this spring with DOE citing the over 43,003 k applications as the most they have ever received.
5:17:45
Yet we're facing conflicting issues.
5:17:47
Some families were still unable to find a seat for their child while at the same time, other centers have vacancies still available.
5:17:57
The administration added $5,000,000 for outreach in the executive plan and we're hoping to see more funding added by the time we get to adoption.
5:18:06
And we're hoping to provide more extended day seats for our working families by that time as well.
5:18:12
But more importantly, the council does not want to see real progress stalled.
5:18:18
We want to expand 3 k and 4 k and give every child a guaranteed opportunity.
5:18:25
You can understand both my and this council's frustrations because we're pretty much at the same place that we were last year.
5:18:34
I don't want to be at this place again next year dealing with the exact same issues.
5:18:41
The administration should not have to take vacancies as a savings option next year because there shouldn't be any vacancies.
5:18:49
There are wait lists.
5:18:50
There are parents crying out for help to get care for their children.
5:18:54
There are young learners with disabilities who are not receiving the services they're legally entitled to.
5:19:01
That is why I want the administration to be ambitious.
5:19:04
Let's work together in filling our current vacancies and right sizing our ECE system, starting now.
5:19:12
Let's start by expanding the budget, allowing for additional seats, and giving ourselves a goal of achieving universal access within the next few years.
5:19:22
Will OMB commit to budgeting additional seats starting next year and into the out years as part of the fiscal year 2025 budget?
