NEW YORK — Thousands of families in New York City are on the waiting list for the city’s free 3-K program, even as Mayor Eric Adams promised that every child who wanted a spot would get one.
As families look for other child care options, the mayor blames his own education department for confusing parents.
Thousands of NYC kids on waiting list for free 3-K program
In April, Mayor Eric Adams said“We are going to make sure that every child who wants a seat has access.”
But after the letters from the Department of Education arrived Thursday, more than 2,400 New York City children were left without seats, out of 43,000 who registered.
The childcare pleads guilty millions of dollars in cuts to early childhood education programs by the Adams administration, of which the mayor recently returned $500 million.
In a statement, a City Hall spokesperson told CBS New York:
“The mayor was clear: every child who wants a seat will have access to a seat and he will keep his word. The guidance that New York City Public Schools sent to a limited number of families unfortunately did not fully transfer all seats. still available to New York City students. NYCPS is sending an updated letter making it perfectly clear that approximately 9,000 seats remain open for 3-K, and we will work with any family who has not received an offer for one of their choices. to find the nearest location with available seating that works best for them.”
Advocates argue that the city’s affordable education programs are critical to children’s development and ensure that lower-income children grow up on a level playing field with their peers.
“If the mayor wants to retain middle- and working-class New Yorkers, rather than just the very wealthy, he must fully fund and prioritize the rollout of universal 3-K,” said Rebecca Bailin, executive director of New Yorkers United for Childcare.
‘It feels like the mayor lied to parents’
Brooklyn father Ben Lowe applied for dozens of different 3K school programs for his 3-year-old daughter, Alexandra, but when the letter from the DOE arrived Thursday, it said, “You have not received an offer from any of them.”
“It feels like the mayor lied to parents like me and other parents, I’m sure, who are also facing the same bad news today,” Lowe said. “The mayor promised us that we could participate in one of these programs, so we didn’t look at private options. Moreover, not only are those programs full, but some cost $40,000 per year. We can’t factor that into our budget anyway, so we really expected this to work.”
The Lowe family is waiting to hear if Alexandra will get a seat and if that seat will be near them.
‘If we come from a waiting list, does that mean we have to walk half an hour in the wrong direction every morning to drop her off? If we don’t get off a waiting list, does that mean we’re going to spend money? tens of thousands of dollars a year for child care?” Lowe said.
