What's happening
This bill removes competitive funding for universal full-day pre-kindergarten and requires enough funding for all qualifying programs outside New York City.
Why it matters
Shifts funding from competitive to guaranteed access. for qualifying universal full-day pre-kindergarten programs outside New York City, meaning more predictability and equity in funding distribution for districts and providers.
Removes incentives for program "creativity through competition,". signaling a move away from favoring innovative proposals in favor of ensuring all qualifying programs receive funding, which may impact the diversity of program models.
Ensures that all eligible children in qualifying programs (outside NYC) have access to a pre-K slot. , which could significantly expand early childhood education opportunities in underfunded or underserved regions.
Retains a fixed funding cap for New York City. but mandates sufficient funding for other regions, potentially shifting how resources are allocated and impacting the balance of early childhood education availability statewide.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Expand Pre-K Slots Statewide
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
18 Co-sponsors
1 Multi-sponsor
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Expand Pre-K Funding Statewide
In Senate Committee · Education · Sponsor Patrick M. Gallivan
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
353
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, STECK, SIMON, SANTABARBARA, LUPARDO, McDONOUGH, MAGNARELLI, COOK, TAYLOR, VANEL, HYNDMAN, COLTON, WEPRIN, JONES, LAVINE, WOERNER, RIVERA, RAMOS, CHANDLER-WATERMAN -- Multi- Sponsored by -- M. of A. RA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the universal full-day pre-kindergarten program; and to repeal subdivision 4 of section
3602-ee of such law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 3602-ee of the education law is REPEALED.
§ 2. Subdivisions 1 and 5 of section 3602-ee of the education law, as added by section 1 of part CC of chapter 56 of the laws of 2014, are amended to read as follows:
1. The purpose of the universal full-day pre-kindergarten program is to incentivize and fund state-of-the-art innovative pre-kindergarten programs [and to encourage program creativity through competition].
5. The department shall develop a scoring system, which it shall use to evaluate which applications shall be funded [on a competitive basis] based on merit and factors including but not limited to the criteria listed above and student and community need. [Upon review of applications, if the program is oversubscribed in any region or regions of the state, the department shall notify the division of the budget, which shall develop a plan for distribution of available slots within any oversubscribed region.] The subscription for the New York city region is three hundred million dollars. The subscription for each region of the state other than the New York city region shall be in an amount sufficient to provide slots for all qualifying programs. The department shall allocate full-day pre-kindergarten conversion slots and new full-day
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01061-01-5
pre-kindergarten slots based on available funding and shall make payments upon documentation of eligible expenditures in the base year, which shall be limited to the actual number of slots operated and paid on a per-pupil basis pursuant to subdivision fourteen of this section.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.