READERS & LEADERS
What happens when the annual city budget tug-of-war seriously threatens the very programs that the evidence from study after study confirms will improve educational outcomes and help to build a more equitable city? Especially when those reductions in funding affect our youngest children? Little kids can’t speak for themselves.
YOU MOBILIZE!
Thank you to all the individuals and partner organizations that joined City’s First Readers in advocating for early literacy throughout this spring’s heated city budget negotiations. The threats were real: initial budget proposals combined with 5% reductions implemented in the fall of 2023 ($547 million) would mean a total of $2 billion in reduced education funding in Fiscal Year 24 and 25. Plus 653 schools – 43% of the school community – have lost enrollment, further reducing their operating budgets which are based on per pupil funding.
From its sharp questions during preliminary budget hearings in March through its formal written response in April, again during May’s executive budget hearings, and up-to-the-wire, just-barely- concluded-before-the deadline-negotiations, it was evident that the New York City Council was committed to sustaining a full array of early childhood programs - child care, school based 3K and PreK programs, and the community literacy programs provided by City’s First Readers 17 partner organizations:
Many individuals attending a City’s First Reader program filled out a letter, or submitted an online petition or joined us at a press conference on the steps of City Hall.
Photo: Christina Baute.
IT WORKED!
It wasn’t easy for the Council to hold firm on its position in the face of so many compelling and competing priorities. But we had their backs. We all know that investing in children is a long-term proposition; the dividends won’t fully be paid out until well into the future. Thanks to the Council’s foresight, we can honestly say that our city is committed to ensuring that all children have the opportunity to develop their full potential, moving us one step closer to achieving the more equitable New York we all desire.
If you live in the city, the next time you happen to see your City Councilmember in your neighborhood or the next time you check out a library book, attend an early literacy event or receive services from one of the organizations above, remember that it was the power of working together that made it possible.
WE ARE PROUD & GRATEFUL TO HAVE YOU AS OUR PARTNER
IN SUPPORTING NEW YORK CITY’S CHILDREN!
To learn more about City's First Readers (CFR), visit: www.citysfirstreaders.org.
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