This story is part of an EdSurge Research series about early childhood education.
One of the hallmarks of President Bidenâs $1.8 trillion American Families Plan is its ambitious proposal to create something tantamount to universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds. The plan calls for a national partnership with states that, when fully implemented, could put five million children into high-quality programs and save the average American family $13,000 per year.
The proposal has a long way to go before becoming a reality. And with the Senate split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, there is a chance the program may not materialize at all. But even the prospect of universal preschool, long embraced by other developed nations, is ginning up a great deal of attention and interest from the public, especially after a hard year that has revealed to many families just how critical early care and education is to a healthy, functioning U.S. workforce, not to mention its importance
A father brings his child to a Staten Island Pre-K program during the first day of school in 2019. New York City’s early childhood system is undergoing massive shifts, and many details about what next year’s pre-K program will look like remain up in the air.
Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
Families can now apply for New York city’s Pre-K for All and 3-K programs. But the backbone of the city’s heralded free preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds independent providers who contract with the city say they are facing an uncertain school year.
That is the case for Violet Rouse, who has taken care of children in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood for almost two decades. She spent last summer adding another classroom to her child care center, VernyKidz, in the hopes of expanding the 3-K program there.
arrow A student at PS 188 in Manhattan in September. John Minchillo/AP/Shutterstock
More District 75 public schools serving special education students will open for 5-days-a-week in-person instruction beginning January, a Department of Education official said Wednesday, as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to prioritize in-person education for the youngest and most vulnerable students.
About 3,250 kids attending District 75 schools for students with special needs are currently going to in-person class five days a week, said Josh Wallack, Deputy Chancellor for Early Childhood Education and Student Enrollment at a City Council hearing Wednesday.
When school resumes after the winter break on January 4th, there will be another 6,900 students able to attend school five days a week in D75, about 80% of the total 12,500-student enrollment for District 75 schools, he said.