We Like to Pretend Enriched Child Care and Pre-K Are Important: Are We Willing to Pay the Price?
Because New York mandates that its legislature approve enabling legislation even for local taxes, New York City’s new mayor, Bill deBlasio, may not actually get his tax on people with incomes over $500,000 per year to pay for universal pre-kindergarten and after-school programs for middle school students, but I rate the mayor high for honesty. New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo,on the other hand, says he will cut New York’s taxes, but at the same time the state will pay for any new pre-kindergarten program created by any city or town in New York. Governor Cuomo is engaging in today’s very popular game of playing pretend with the voters. deBlasio prefers honesty; he has even worked hard with helpful explanation—telling New Yorkers that his local plan will guarantee a stable funding stream for five years in contrast to funding that depends on the ups and downs of the state budgeting and appropriations process. What refreshing candor.
The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), a Washington, D.C. organization that tracks the operation of programs to support the well-being of very young children once again last week exposed our popular game of pretending that the wonderful programs we talk about are actually being funded at a level that meets the purpose they were intended to serve. CLASP’s new report is about funding for child care assistance for poor families. These families include those who used to receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children but since 1997 are eligible only for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which has a parental work requirement that pretty much ensures the children in those families need child care.
CLASP reports that combined federal and state spending on child care assistance—mostly