City Council Member Shekar Krishnan (D-25) joined childcare workers and advocates at a Woodside daycare Thursday to advocate against city-wide budget cuts for early child care.
Krishnan and the advocates toured the Woodside Friends Daycare, located at 60-10 Roosevelt Ave.
During the tour, Krishnan called on Mayor Adams’ administration to reverse its proposed $170 million in budget cuts to the city’s early care and education (ECE) and youth services systems. Members of the Campaign for Children (C4C) advocacy group were also in attendance and echoed Krishan’s call to the administration to address childcare needs and enrollment accessibility. The advocates cautioned that the cuts could burden already struggling working families that spend up to 63% of their annual income on childcare services.
“With New York City families already facing overwhelming challenges, the mayor’s proposed $170 million budget cuts to 3-K and Pre-K programs are exactly the opposite of what we need,” said Council Member Krishnan. “If we believe in our city’s future, we must invest in our children and families, starting with a full reversal of these cuts.”
According to Krishnan, the proposed cuts to the ECE series come during an ongoing childcare affordability crisis in New York. A Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York study showed that 80% of New York City families with children cannot afford childcare or after-school programs. Although Mayor Adams announced the city will replace $92 million in lost federal stimulus funding for 3-K expansion, there are still $170 million in budget cuts for 3-K. but there is still the proposed $170 million in cuts.
Gregory Brender, chief policy and innovation officer at the Day Care Council of New York, said that Mayor Adams’ proposed cuts are perilous for the NYC early childhood education system. “With less than a month left in the budget process, now is the time to fully restore the cuts made to 3-K and Pre-K and invest in salary parity for the early childhood workforce,” he said.
Alice Bufkin, associate executive director of policy at Citizens’ Committee for Children, shared that Woodside is one of many early education sites across the city that have a long waitlist for families trying to access 3-K. “It’s clear that the demand for affordable childcare options in New York is enormous, yet this budget includes devastating cuts to 3-K and Pre-K. The mayor must stand by his promise that every child who needs a 3-K seat will receive one,” she said. Bufkin urged the mayor’s office to restore the $170 million cut from the Early Care and Education system.
