Dive Brief:
- New York City has more than tripled the number of preschool seats available, enrolling 65,000 four-year-olds in programs around the city this fall.
- In order to meet its goal of offering seats to every child, the city has moved aggressively in opening district-run options and reaching out to parents.
- The rapid increase of the city’s universal program has created a wave of unexpected effects, from raising questions about teacher licensing and pay to drawing critiques from academics who wish the city took a different approach.
Dive Insight:
One of the most persistent critics of New York’s program is University of California-Berkeley professor Bruce Fuller, who called for the city to focus on low-income students rather than all students. "We've got a half-century of research that shows that quality pre-K lifts poor kids," Fuller told Education Week. ”We don't have much evidence that verifies the same kinds of benefits for middle-class kids.”
The city has focused on opening programs in low-income areas first, but has built out seats in neighborhoods of all income brackets, as well. One other unexpected fallout has been a sense of competition between district-run programs and preexisting community-run programs, which often charge a small fee for a longer school year.