Early-education advocates are proposing that prekindergarten programs be part of the solution to New York’s school funding litigation.
Prekindergarten funding should become part of the state’s funding formula, and a spot should be guaranteed for every eligible child, the Center for Early Care and Education argues in a brief submitted to the panel of judges that will recommend changes to the state’s school finance program.
New York currently makes grants to individual schools and provides enough money for just one-third of the state’s 4-year-olds, the Albany, N.Y.-based group said in a statement. The court should order the state to make formula grants available so that schools can provide a full-day program for every 3- and 4-year-old, the group says.