Bill de Blasio for Mayor, Bill de Blasio for Early Child Care?

Image from NY Daily News

In this year’s mayoral race, Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio set himself apart from his opponents by proposing a bold idea: to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers to fund “truly universal pre-kindergarten and after-school programs for all middle school students”.  It seems that was the tune New Yorkers wanted to hear. After a historic margin of victory, Bill de Blasio came out on top (73 percent to Joe Lhota’s 24 percent). So the question is: can the new mayor-elect deliver on his promise? How will de Blasio’s administration affect the early child care arena in NYC?

Image from Politicker article

From the beginning of his campaign, Bill de Blasio acknowledged the issues within our education system. He has fought to ensure every child in New York City has access to a quality education and believes lasting change is needed to remedy our education and economic systems. “This is a prerequisite today to the kind of education that can succeed in the modern economy,” said de Blasio.

The mayor-elect plans to raise the city’s tax rate from 3.87 percent to 4.4 percent on income over $500,000. Accordingly, the increased tax rate would raise an expected $530 million per year for the city, with $340 million to be spent on pre-kindergarten classes, and $190 million on after-school programs for middle school students.

The benefits of pre-kindergarten are well-documented. Earlier this year, President Obama challenged our country to make early care programs available to every child. De Blasio would create an additional “48,000 full-day slots, which would make pre-kindergarten available to 68,000 students in the city.” However, creating seats does not always mean they will be filled. Recently, the city has tried different ways to reach out to families and has even expanded an additional 4,000 full-day pre-kindergarten spots. But the growing concern has been quality.

Community organizations run two-thirds of preschool programs; therefore program quality and staffing vary. De Blasio’s plan would increase salaries and provide certification opportunities for some teachers in community preschools to help attract and develop more skilled teachers. He also said he would create a “deputy mayor’s position to oversee early childhood education.”

Only elected last week, de Blasio has already begun taking steps to smooth his transition into office January 1. Last week he announced newly appointed leaders for his transition team. His team will be co-chaired by Jennifer Jones Austin and Carl Weisbrod, who will lead the assembly of "a progressive, effective and diverse city government made up of outstanding professionals and public servants." Jennifer Jones Austin has held senior leadership positions in city and state government where she has focused on early childhood education, economic empowerment and civil rights.

It is still too early to determine how Bill de Blasio’s administration will play out, especially for early child care in New York City. One thing is certain; pushing his bold tax increase in Albany will be a struggle. De Blasio has expressed optimism in Governor Cuomo’s “openness” and it is possible that his plan can garner support from New York’s business leaders and city interest groups.

Bill de Blasio was able to capture voter sentiment by promoting equality and fairness in New York City. "Our greatest source of wealth is the diversity of our people," de Blasio said in a prepared statement. "We're going to create a government that reflects the face of our city- the greatest on earth.” We can only hope Bill de Blasio’s proposals for more accessible, quality, universal preschool programs can be realized with this new administration.