New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday said the city will allocate $167 million to support early childhood education programming in the fiscal year 2026 budget.
The money will fund citywide 3-K expansion and for pre-K students with disabilities to ensure continuity, according to a press release. Additionally, New York City Public Schools will be conducting a strategic realignment of the federally funded Head Start program to expand Early Head Start for younger children, the mayor said.
“To truly make New York City the best place to raise a family, we know we must invest in our children’s future, and today, we’re making bold investments in early childhood education — to ensure our youngest students have the tools they need to succeed, and so parents don’t have to choose between earning a paycheck and caring for their children,” said Adams.
He said the funding is baselined, meaning it is permanently part of the budget so a new administration cannot take it out.
Early childhood education is a major campaign issue for the November mayoral election, and funding these programs have been a point of contention between the City Council and the mayor for several years.
City Council members said there needs to be more funding for special education services, which are required by law, for children in general and integrated classrooms, as well as for extended-day/extended-year seats, childcare vouchers and outreach to help families access programs.
"While it is positive that Mayor Adams is returning and baselining some of the money withheld from his budget that the Council fought for, he is still cutting tens of millions of dollars from our children," said Speaker Adrienne Adams, Finance Committee Chair Justin Brannan, and Education Committee Chair Rita Joseph in a joint statement.
