NYC DOE ‘fighting like heck’ to ensure prekindergarten programs don’t face cuts

New York City’s education department is “fighting like heck” to save pre-K, 3K and other popular programs from budget cuts as officials scramble to make up for tens of millions in dried-up federal COVID funds, Schools Chancellor David Banks said Monday.

The Department of Education boss was grilled by the City Council over what plans, if any, officials have in place to save a slew of initiatives currently backed by the $93 million in stimulus cash that’s set to expire June 30.

“It’s a tough seat,” Banks testified. “Because you recognize that there’s great programs — and there’s not necessarily enough dollars to support them.”

“I have personally been in deep conversation with the mayor and the mayor’s office around early childhood,” he told councilmembers. “Maybe this will prevent a whole series of questions that remain, but I am fighting like heck to make sure that those cuts are restored.”

Banks, during the same Council Education Committee budget hearing, also doubled down on his prior calls that Albany provide more funding to help the city comply with the new state-enforced class size mandate.

“We’re in the middle of a national teacher shortage and we basically have to triple the amount of teachers that we are hiring in order to meet this law,” Banks testified, adding the DOE also needed more “physical spaces” to hold the additional classes.

To meet the requirements of the class-size law, the DOE needs roughly $20 billion for capital improvements and to triple the rate at which it hires teachers, the schools chancellor said.

Banks has previously warned some school programs would be on the chopping block in the coming years due to the costly mandate.

The city’s free universal pre-K and 3K classes, which are funded by the soon-to-be expired stimulus cash, separately are facing $170 million in potential reductions overall this fiscal year amid a string of citywide budget cuts.

Other programs, too, are at risk of being reduced as a result of budget cuts to offset the surging cost of the migrant crisis, which is slated to set the Big Apple back $10 billion through next fiscal year.

Banks acknowledged during his testimony that questions remained unanswered about where the cash will come from to fund the popular school programs.

“I want you to know that we share the concerns of anyone around early childhood. This is a major priority for us,” he told councilmembers.

“I have great confidence that in the coming weeks we will have really good news around early childhood,” he added, without elaborating further.