Mayor Eric Adams is reversing nearly $170 million in proposed cuts to the already-bloated Department of Education — announcing Wednesday he’ll be expanding early childhood education programs citywide.
The $167 million, which had been left out of Adams’ preliminary budget plan for the 2026 fiscal year, will go toward expanding access to the city’s free preschool program for 3-year-olds, dubbed 3-K, and to universal pre-K special education.
“To truly make New York City the best place to raise a family, we know we must invest in our children’s future, and today, we’re making bold investments in early childhood education — to ensure our youngest students have the tools they need to succeed, and so parents don’t have to choose between earning a paycheck and caring for their children,” Adams said.
Hizzoner made the announcement alongside Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos and former Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose signature platform was expanding universal pre-K and 3-K for working class families.
Speaking later to CNN’s Dana Bash, Adams said the funds would be part of an annual commitment.
“We’re going to make it a permanent part of the government,” he said on “Inside Politics.”
The cash infusion comes after Adams said last week he’d be shelling out to hire 3,700 new teachers next year to meet the state’s new class size law mandate.
His preliminary budget, released in January, already allocated a whopping $41.2 billion for the DOE — a third of the entire city’s budget. Adams’ finalized budget plan is expected in June.
But City Council members had been calling on Adams to restore even more funding for early childhood programs — to the tune of another $30 million — in its own budget proposal this month.
“I’m glad the mayor is restoring the cuts that he made. If I take $100 from you, I don’t get to tell people I just gifted you with $100 because I’m just returning the $100,” Council Committee on Finance
Chair Justin Brannan said Wednesday.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is also running for mayor, and Education Chair Rita Joseph also issued a joint statement with Brannan later Wednesday that poured cold water on Adams’ celebratory announcement.
“Access to a strong early childhood education system is imperative for working- and middle-class families to remain in our city and raise their children here,” the statement said. “While it is positive that Mayor Adams is returning and baselining some of the money withheld from his budget that the Council fought for, he is still cutting tens of millions of dollars from our children.”
The tension underscores a long-standing clash between the Council and City Hall over Adams previously similarly announcing severe budget slashes, before eventually reversing the cuts.
De Blasio, speaking on CNN alongside Adams, noted that the funding announcement comes as President Trump’s administration takes aim at the state Education Department’s resources.
“What Mayor Adams is doing is even more important given the backdrop of what’s going on in Washington,” he told Bash.
But saving de Blasio’s sole legacy initiative wasn’t enough to snag Adams a re-election endorsement from his predecessor.
“It’s early still in this election here in New York City,” de Blasio, sitting next to Adams, said when Bash asked who he’d be backing.
— Additional reporting by Haley Brown and Craig McCarthy
