3-year-olds to be covered by NYC universal pre-K under expansion

Dive Brief:

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called for expanding his universal pre-K program to all 3-year-olds in the city, which could eventually include about 62,000 children, according to an NPR interview with WNYC education reporter Yasmeen Khan.
De Blasio oversaw an expansion of pre-K to 4-year-olds that Khan said had been successful, and with his bid for re-election this year, he hopes to continue to expand what has been one of his signature achievements thus far.
Expanding the program will be difficult due to costs and finding qualified educators, and the city is starting in two community districts and will expand the program by two districts every year. Within four years, the program could cover about 20,000 children.

Dive Insight:

One of the difficulties advocates encounter when trying to convince lawmakers to fund early childhood education is that the economic benefits of the funding can be difficult to quantify. Research indicates that investing in students early will lead to an economic windfall later, but it can be difficult to sell to lawmakers when the benefits will be decades down the line and hard to contextualize in the present.

There is also an enthusiasm gap for funding early childhood education, despite its benefits to students and families. As Helene Stebbins, a senior policy director for the Alliance for Early Success, said at a recent education conference hosted by The Atlantic, "while people think [early childhood education] is important, I don’t think they think it’s more important than cutting tax."

One of the reasons conference attendees thought New York had been successful was due to the fact that it was promoted as a universal system, rather than one that solely targeted low-income or vulnerable communities. Therefore, framing early childhood education as an economic boon may be a more successful approach when trying to convince lawmakers of its need. Advocates are increasingly framing the issue through the lens of dollars and cents, touting the $13 return on investment for each dollar spent. The economic potential of funding could help convince lawmakers who are typically reticent to education spending increases.