Harbus Richard for New York Daily News
Jackie Buchanan with students at her pre-K day care center, a spare bedroom in her Bronx home.
As Bill de Blasio and Joe Lhota argue over how to raise funds to pay for universal pre-kindergarten, a new report offers a fresh take on how New York City and the state could share the cost of the program.
Albany will have to pay $ 225 million to fund the first year of a universal pre-K plan beginning in 2014, says a study by the Campaign for Educational Equity and the Center for Children’s Initiatives.
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The report’s author, Michael Rebell, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo should be able to come up with the cash.
“It shouldn’t be a problem to find $ 225 million,” said Rebell, director of the Campaign for Educational Equity.
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Mayoral front-runner de Blasio favors taxing New Yorkers who earn more than $ 500,000 to pay for universal pre-K, while Lhota has said the program can be funded through budget trims.
Under Rebell’s plan, the state would fund the expansion entirely for the first two years and priority would go to high-needs districts, including in the city.
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The city would pick up half of the tab for the program starting in the third year, 2016. By 2017, the city would foot the entire $ 390 million bill for pre-K.
Currently the state funds only half-day pre-K, paying the city roughly $ 2,500 per child. Because spots are scarce, each year roughly 22,000 city 4-year-olds are denied the chance to enroll in pre-K.
City education officials said they’re working to create more slots.
“Our strategy aims to expand offerings while ensuring the seats we create are high quality — and our strategy is working,” said agency spokesman Devon Puglia.
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