For the first time in 20 years, state legislators, assemblymen and the governor have passed a budget on time for the Fiscal Year. What they have not done, however, is adress service cuts to child care or funding concerns for education throughout New York State. Due to the ruling on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, and follow-up decisions by the Special Masters, Judge LaGrasse of the New York State Supreme Court is holding New York State responsible for increasing its education budget by millions of dollars to properly educate its children. Differences in the Assembly, Senate, and the Governor's office still exist, and for this budget, the situation has been de-prioritized.
In 2003-2004, Governor Pataki had proposed the elimination of Universal Pre-K, early grade class size reduction, expansion of full-day kindergarten and experimental pre-k. The petitions and public outcry was heard by the legislation, and legislation proposed their own budget, which the governor vetoed. In turn, the legislators overrode his veto, and in doing so, ensured that $3.8 million in education cuts will be restored for these programs. The funding for Universal Pre-K was allocated at former budget levels and supported only programs already in place. New programs were not accepted, so it was unable to grow UPK beyond the 180 (out of 680) school districts located throughout the state.
Creating solutions to provide for continuous funding need to be further explored to prevent the possibility of this recurring in the future. Early care and education helps shape the way children think, learn, and behave in their worlds. Emphasis needs to be placed on developing quality programs to positively influence children's school experiences and to prepare for future successes.
The need for quality childcare is a daily concern for millions of American working families. Three-fifths of preschoolers are in childcare while their parents are at work. State funding is sufficient only to cover a half-day (2.5 hours) for a 180-day- per-year program. While some programs are using State Universal Pre-K to extend existing half-day programs, there are too few all day programs to support the needs of parents. In addition, sites are not required to provide transportation, thus adding to the stress of working parents. Many programs have been successful in blending funding from various sources in order to expand a programs hours, however programs need to continue to look at creative ways of expanding services in order to meet the diverse needs of families.