In 2025, New York State must:
Continue the momentum in full day pre-K
NYS has made significant strides in expanding full-day pre-K to all four-years-olds and to some three-year-olds, yet some issues persist. These include the lack of transportation, wraparound services, and, more importantly, the lack of adequate pay for teachers working in community-based organizations that contract with school districts to provide pre-K programs. Many of these issues persist partly because of the low per-child rates that some school districts receive to implement UPK, the number of different pre-K programs with the different requirements, and the siloed approach the state has toward early care and learning.
The evidence is overwhelming. It shows that pre-K and early care and learning programs are not only some of the most effective educational strategies for addressing inequality, they also are some of the best ways to ensure that parents and guardians can be part of the workforce. For every dollar invested in early care and learning and pre-K, the return on investment is $3 to $7. Every year, the state spends an enormous amount of funding in special education, in remediation, and in incarceration, all of which are decreased when children have access to a quality full-day pre-K program. By raising rates to at least $10,000 per-child to all districts that need to implement pre-K, particularly for those districts who implemented pre-K decades ago and saw no increase since, the state can begin to ensure that children are put on a path of success early on. In addition, the state should move toward updating the per-student amount for pre-K based on the amount that each school district receives from basic operating aid (Foundation Aid). Pre-K functions as another grade in the education system, and should be funded as such. With more than half of all pre-K services offered in community programs, the state, in collaboration with local districts, needs to do more to promote equity in funding between public school and community-based programs.
Cost: $25 million
Move Toward Universal Child Care
Early care and education is a right, not a privilege. High quality early childhood education creates long term benefits for children, families, and communities. It is an essential part of our early education system, and critical to our state’s economy. Yet early childhood educators earn poverty wages and are leaving the workforce for better paying jobs. Parents can’t afford to pay more for child care, but programs can’t afford to charge less. This impacts both the quality of care and how many families can access it.
Invest $1.2 billion to increase compensation for every member of the child care workforce so they have a significant boost of wages in order to continue to care and support children and families.
All families in New York must be able to access child care assistance, prioritizing low income families.
- Make child care a state-funded right/entitlement for families making less than 250% of the federal poverty threshold.
- Increase state funding for the Child Care Assistance Program by $300 million to account for growth in CCAP enrollment
Children with special needs must face NO barriers to accessing child care.
Το do so, reimbursement (enhanced) rates for children with special needs must be increased to be 30% above the market rate. The state must also take steps to make it easier for child care programs to receive the enhanced rate.
Cost: $1.6 billion
View our other 2025 priority campaigns.
Publications
Empire State Campaign for Child Care 2025 Legislative Priorities
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Take Action
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