NYC to restore $500 million to bolster 3-K, other education programs on the chopping block

Mayor Adams and the City Council restored $514 million in spending Friday to bolster 3-K and more than a dozen other education programs previously funded by expiring pandemic aid.

Close to $1 billion in federal stimulus is still propping up the public school system this year, including key Adams administration priorities such as dyslexia services, special education preschool programs and school safety partnerships with outside organizations.

Those initiatives and more — including some 3-K program slots, shelter-based Education Department staff and arts funding — will receive additional funds in the mayor’s executive budget to be released next week, the Daily News first reported.

“We had to find a way to ensure that we can keep these programs in place,” Adams said at a press conference at P.S. 34 Franklin D. Roosevelt in Alphabet City.

“Thanks to our strong fiscal management, and a booming economy,” he continued, “we have stabilized the city budget and our fiscal outlook.”

While some funding for mental health staff and preschool special education programs is permanent, other temporary dollars for 3-K and the arts are only accounted for the upcoming school year.

“We are not using budgetary tricks,” he said. “You can’t have a cross-your-fingers government and hope for the best. You have to make smart decisions.”

The announcement also included new funding to help connect families with young children to education programs. The city is earmarking $5 million for outreach efforts to boost preschool enrollment and $8 million toward the child care portal, MyCity.

Some councilmembers have blamed tens of thousands of vacant preschool seats on the Adams administration scaling back outreach initiatives.

Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children of New York, cheered the restorations, but said additional programs remain on the chopping block, such as ongoing preschool special education budget gaps after Friday’s $25 million investment and free child care for undocumented immigrants.

“There’s still work to do on our education budget, but today’s announcement is surely a critical step forward,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said at the press conference.

The city’s public schools have received $7 billion in temporary funding since the pandemic.

Parents who, in an increasingly unaffordable city, are wondering whether all families who want a free preschool seat will get one, have been rallying for the restoration of 3-K funding. They joined members of the Council with young kids, who formed a “New Parents Caucus,” outside City Hall on Thursday to push Adams to reverse the preschool cuts.

Some early childhood advocates said the $92 million allocated for 3-K is not enough.

“While the Mayor’s decision to reverse some funding cuts is a step in the right direction, it falls entirely short of the investment and infrastructure needed to fund a truly universal 3-K and pre-K as so many parents in New York City thought they could rely on,” said Rebecca Bailin, executive director of New Yorkers United for Child Care.

The Education Department’s early childhood division faced two rounds of cutbacks for next school year that, combined with the looming fiscal cliff as federal pandemic aid expires, amounted to an almost $263-million funding gap.