Mayor Zohran Mamdani pledged Monday that New York City’s early childhood centers, the backbone of its universal child care system, would have the supplies and funds needed to open next week for the first day of school, after many providers had said they were out of money and might close.
Mr. Mamdani and the chancellor of the city’s schools, Kamar Samuels, said in a news release that the city government would bring “every resource to bear” to ensure that the day care centers could receive interest-free bridge loans and boxes of art supplies, puzzles, toiletries and other items before school starts on Sept. 10.
City leaders announced the commitments after The New York Times reported last week that many providers had yet to receive funding to outfit classrooms or pay their teachers. Some operators said they had taken out high-interest personal loans or borrowed from family members.
Several providers, including those expanding to offer free child care for 2-year-olds for the first time as part of Mr. Mamdani’s signature education program, said they had also struggled to get the city’s Department of Education to return emails and calls about their funding and loans.
“We are changing this system so that providers are never again asked to carry the cost of the city’s bureaucracy,” Mr. Mamdani said in a statement.
The mayor’s office said that the current fiscal year’s budget directs an additional $43 million into the Department of Education’s early childhood education division, allowing it to hire more than 200 employees and overhaul the contracting process for day care providers to prevent future payment delays. City leaders also vowed to increase their communication and transparency with the early childhood centers.
“Our families shouldn’t have to worry about their child care provider being able to pay the bills, and our providers should be focused on getting their classrooms ready for learning — not wondering when a check will come,” Mr. Samuels said in a statement.
Owners and directors at the day care centers said they noticed an increase in communication from the Department of Education on Friday, the day after The Times published its report. Some said their applications for bridge loans had also advanced after weeks without updates, with promises from the department that they would be paid out soon.
Shortly before the city’s announcement on Monday, the Department of Education sent an email to early childhood centers detailing how they could request boxes of supplies. The boxes for 3-K and pre-K students include colored pencils, construction paper and paper towels.
A majority of children in the city’s universal early childhood program attend neighborhood day care centers and not its public schools. The centers have complained for years that the city does not treat them equally and routinely reimburses them weeks or months late. The providers’ annual budgets have not increased since 2021, forcing many to skip employee raises.
The Department of Education has had to offer bridge loans because the city has not yet approved the day care center’s contracts and sent them to the city’s Office of the Comptroller to be registered. In past years, centers received about 30 percent of their annual contract in a lump sum before the start of school.
Some providers said that the department had offered loans far below what they had requested. Theresa Hyland, who operates Little Tots Red Wagon in Queens and will have a 2-K classroom, said she had asked for an $80,000 bridge loan. The department countered with $29,000, she said.
Ms. Hyland said that after she complained on Friday to multiple department officials about the funding discrepancy, the agency promised to provide the remaining amount this week. On Monday, she said she was relieved she would receive the full amount.
“I’ll be able to pay my employees,” Ms. Hyland said.
Other operators were skeptical that the relief would arrive on time. Olena Olson, the educational director at Let’s Play and Learn in Brooklyn, said she received an email on Friday from the Education Department stating that “barring any unforeseen issues” her $76,316 loan would arrive this week.
“Let’s see what happens,” Ms. Olson said on Monday. “I’m not hopeful.”
The post Day Cares Will Get Funds to Open in Time for School, Mamdani Says appeared first on New York Times.
