Health & Fitness
Abinanti: We Need Statewide Pre-K/After School Paid for by NYC Tax Increase and Gambling Proceeds
The State should immediately establish a fully funded statewide universal pre-k/after school program. We ought to approve Mayor de Blasio’s plan for New York City to pay its own way and dedicate all casino/racino proceeds to a lockbox to fund pre-k/after school for the rest of the state.
First, we need a dedicated funding stream - New York City’s tax increase and gambling proceeds. Relying on State budget funding is inadequate as it fluctuates wildly – witness that state education aid is still lower than 2008-9 levels.
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Second, we need enough funding for every program statewide. The Governor’s proposed budget provides only $100 million when a statewide pre-k program has an estimated cost of $1.6 billion annually.
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Third, we need to pay the full cost of every program. The Governor’s proposed pre-k program merely adds $100 million to the present state pre-k aid program which few schools have joined and some are considering dropping because the State pays for half the cost.