De Blasio Calls on Mayor Bloomberg to "Hold the Line" on Childcare Spots in Tomorrow's Budget

A day before Mayor Bloomberg announces his Preliminary Budget for the coming year, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio challenged the Administration to hold the line on the current number of children participating in Head Start, universal pre-K and childcare. De Blasio warns that the projected loss of 8,200 seats would devastate working families. The losses were anticipated in a City Request for Proposals issued in the fall, and result from the City’s shift to a new model of childcare. In a letter to the Mayor, Public Advocate de Blasio identified early childhood education as a top priority in the coming budget and called on the City to invest in children today for the sake of the City’s future economy and stability.

“We need a City budget that reflects the priorities, the values and the reality of working people. Everyone from President Obama on down has emphasized early childhood programs are critical not just for our children but for our economic future and helping parents work,” said Public Advocate de Blasio. “We cannot allow shortsighted policies to rob kids of the educational foundation they need to thrive. This fight is about championing the next generation and positioning them for a more prosperous future.”

“Losing your childcare is devastating. Working mothers and fathers shouldn’t have to choose between taking care of their kids and earning a paycheck,” said Nancy Wackstein, Executive Director of United Neighborhood Houses. “This is one of the most important investments we can make in our families and our own future as a city. We applaud Public Advocate de Blasio for making it a top priority.”

“The Bloomberg Administration’s approach to childcare misses the essential link between early childhood programs and success later in life. Strong investments early on can help reduce the need for costly interventions later in life,” said Andrea Anthony, Executive Director of the Day Care Council of New York, Inc. “We fully support Public Advocate de Blasio’s commitment to maintaining and building upon the City’s early childhood infrastructure.”

Read the full text of Public Advocate de Blasio’s letter:

January 31, 2012

Hon. Michael R. Bloomberg
Mayor
City of New York
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

I am deeply troubled by the dramatic projected loss of child care seats attributable to the EarlyLearn initiative, which would restructure Head Start Program, Universal Pre-Kindergarten, and child care funding. This will undoubtedly leave too many of New York’s youngest and most vulnerable children without access to the support that is fundamental for future achievement. Moreover, these programs play a vital role in helping parents work and provide for their families. It is essential that the Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2013 include funds necessary to, at minimum, maintain current capacity levels for the child care system.

Our city’s budget must reflect our priorities and values. As a city, we simply cannot afford to withdraw our investment in the future of thousands of children and rob working families of critical support they need to work and make ends meet. While adhering to current fiscal constraints, we can and must ensure that the Fiscal Year 2013 budget maintains funding for early childhood programs at current capacity levels. The consequences of inaction are striking: the Administration for Children’s Services has projected a loss of more than 8,200 seats for children in very low-income families based on EarlyLearn implementation.

Promoting school reform efforts while disinvesting in early childhood education is not credible. If we fail to prioritize access to quality early childhood care and education, we cannot expect children to succeed later in school, and in life. Your administration’s commitment and investments to improve the city’s K-12 education system -- and complementary initiatives in the juvenile justice system and your fatherhood initiative -- will garner limited results if children enter school unprepared to learn and without the tools they need to succeed.

Your administration – in developing PlaNYC 2030 – has been forward-thinking in considering the city’s long term structural needs. We must be equally forward-thinking when it comes to developing the human capital we need in that same future. Children born this year should be graduating from high school in 2030, ready for college and the workforce. Ensuring this will take the same kind of prudent investment in children as we are making in our city’s physical infrastructure.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged the pressing need to invest in our youngest children in a speech last year. As Chairman Bernanke said: “[n]o economy can succeed without a high-quality workforce, particularly in an age of globalization and technical change. Cost effective K-12 and post-secondary schooling are crucial to building a better workforce, but they are only part of the story. Research increasingly has shown the benefits of early childhood education … for both individuals and the economy as a whole. The payoffs of early childhood programs can be especially high.”

Nationally, 70 percent of families with children include two working parents or one unmarried working parent. Working parents here in New York not only need access to good early education and care to help their children prepare for school, they need it so they can work and support their families. If the city’s budget does not reflect crucial support early childhood care provides for working families we threaten to leave parents with an impossible dilemma: leave their in unregulated, informal care settings or leave the workforce in order to care for their children.

Living within our means and investing in our future must not be opposing positions. Indeed, even in these difficult economic times our city’s budget must pursue both goals in a fiscally responsible manner. I hope you share with me a vision for our city where opportunity is cherished and strategic investments in early childhood development are prioritized so that the next generation is positioned for a more prosperous and secure future. I look forward to working with you and your administration in the coming days and months to ensure that New York City’s early childhood programs are funded at responsible levels in the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Bill de Blasio