{"id":112195,"date":"2026-01-25T21:32:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T21:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/112195\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T21:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T21:32:07","slug":"4-5b-taxpayer-funded-ny-plan-for-pre-k-not-enough-for-li-dem-pol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/112195\/","title":{"rendered":"$4.5B taxpayer-funded NY plan for pre-K not enough for LI: Dem pol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s move to spend a staggering $4.5 billion in taxpayer dough on childcare and pre-Ks<\/a> is far too little to address Long Island\u2019s \u201cchildcare desert,\u2019\u2019 according to a local Dem pol.<\/p>\n

State Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages,<\/a> who represents Nassau County, unveiled a proposal last week for additional spending to kick-start elite universal childcare and pre-K on Long Island before the state\u2019s goal of 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ask is very simple \u2014 we want to increase UPK [universal pre-K] capacity on Long Island, increase funding, invest more than a million dollars to expand [the Long Island Regional Technical Assistance Center],\u201d which is a key resource for school districts and local providers, Solages said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democratic state Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages of Long Island says Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s $4.5 billion taxpayer-funded pre-K and childcare plan is not enough to properly address the needs of her region. Stefan Jeremiah<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also want to make sure that we have universality sooner than 2028, our 4-year-olds and our zero-to-3s can\u2019t wait,\u201d the assemblywoman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Education leaders and child-care advocates backed Solages as she called for the state to expand the program\u2019s classroom capacity in areas where demand far outpaces space, commit to spending more than the state\u2019s $10,000-per-pupil minimum, increase child-care subsidies for working families and invest $1 million to help open and sustain new pre-K classrooms as well as fund workforce training to keep schools properly staffed.<\/p>\n

Education leaders and child care advocates back Solages. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The push comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul has made expanded child care and universal pre-K a centerpiece of her 2026 executive budget, pledging roughly $4.5 billion statewide<\/a> for child care and early education programs this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Solages argued the state\u2019s baseline funding isn\u2019t enough in high-cost regions outside of New York City \u2014 such as Nassau and Suffolk counties \u2014 where she said inflation, staffing costs and classroom shortages have driven up expenses and left families on waitlists as enrollment has more than doubled since 2021.<\/p>\n

The Long Island Regional Technical Assistance Center is a key resource for school districts and local providers \u2014 and desperately needs more money, Solages said. Google<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate [Gov. Kathy Hochul] is making a minimum of a $10,000 investment into universal childcare for every student \u2014 but in high cost areas like Long Island and the Hudson Valley \u2014 that money is spread thin,\u201d Solages said, adding that the state\u2019s promised funding \u201cjust meets the basics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to ensure that the conversation around childcare is just not limited to New York City, that we\u2019re talking about all of the state in a statewide plan.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s move to spend a staggering $4.5 billion in taxpayer dough on childcare and pre-Ks is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[426,776,57,774,9,24,55,54,56,47350,773],"class_list":{"0":"post-112195","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-kathy-hochul","9":"tag-long-island","10":"tag-metro","11":"tag-nassau-county","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","15":"tag-new-york-city-news","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-pre-kindergarten","18":"tag-suffolk-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}