Don't Starve Universal Pre-k

A better education for our children – and all the attendant benefits that comes with it – is what every parent wants. To a great extent, educational success is dependent on providing children with the best possible start in school.

Universal prekindergarten (pre-k) - publicly funded preschool services available to 3- and 4-year olds on a voluntary basis - has been shown to be of great educational value. This is especially true for children from low-income households. Since the overwhelming majority of New York City’s public school students are from low-income families, it should follow that funding for universal prekindergarten should be a priority.

Underfunding pre-k
is shortsighted

In 1997, the New York State Legislature established the Universal PreKindergarten program for 4-year-olds. Local communities decide what criteria to use in selecting age-eligible children for enrollment. Approved providers can include public schools, Head Start programs, day care centers, nursery schools, private schools, family child care providers, and approved special education providers. The program is administered by the State Education Department.

When the Legislature first funded the program, it did so with the wholehearted backing of Governor Pataki: “Let’s declare, once and for all, what we all know to be the case: Pre-K works.” But his commitment didn’t last. The 2001-02 budget froze funding for universal prekindergarten. Worse was yet to come. Having to close a budget gap of $11.5 billion, in January 2003, Governor Pataki sought to fold universal prekindergarten funds into a block grant that would eliminate the program.

Legislative Action

Realizing that the universal pre-k program in New York City – the oldest and largest in the state – was threatened with extinction, Mayor Bloomberg exhorted legislators to save it. The Legislature rebelled against the governor’s actions. Both the State Senate and Assembly passed budgets restoring substantial resources specifically for universal prekindergarten plus a number of other education funds. Though the governor vetoed the budget, both houses of the Legislature overrode the veto.

Even with this action, universal pre-k has been continuously underfunded. In the last five years, while the original agreement on funding called for $500 million a year in funds, the state actually appropriated about $200 million each year. The projected state funding for the next fiscal year is about $250 million.

Compare this to the amount of tax breaks under the STAR Program. STAR is the New York State School Tax Relief Program, which sounds like something concerning education, but is actually a $2 billion a year tax reduction benefit for homeowners. When it comes to budgeting our tax dollars, our priority should be the best possible educational opportunity for our children, not a tax break for those wealthy enough to own their homes.

At least 40 states offer some type of state-supported prekindergarten. Across the country, advocates for children are arguing for more classrooms that develop 3- and 4-year-old preschoolers mentally, emotionally, and socially. Education experts point out that what happens in a child's preschool years heavily influences how successful the child will be in school. Since the reduction in funds for prekindergarten has significant long-term effects on the education of children, underfunding the program is a shortsighted policy.

Better Prepared

There have been several studies documenting the benefits of participating in a prekindergarten program for children from poor communities. They found that since pre-k children are better prepared for school intellectually and socially, they are more likely to achieve success in school, with higher passage of reading and mathematics tests than non-pre-k children. And they are less likely to end up dumped into special education classes and more likely to graduate from high school. This last point is of great importance because of the high dropout rate in New York City’s high schools.

The verdict on prekindergarten is that it provides children, especially those at risk of failure, with better education opportunities at the time in their lives when it matters most. The state should be honoring its commitment to fund universal prekindergarten at a level that allows all school districts across the state to actively participate in the program.

From the New York Amsterdam News
June 15 - 21, 2006