Mayor de Blasio is pushing his full-day, universal pre-kindergarten program for New York City school children and hundreds of religious leaders have endorsed the proposal. The funding would come from a tax on wealthy individuals but any tax must be approved by Albany.
The tax would give more than 50,000 young children full day, quality early education and intervention for children who need services. This would benefit all children, especially the ones with special needs, for the rest of their academic careers.
The program would create jobs and provide economic stimulation besides helping the children. The program would put poor children on an equal educational footing with their wealthy peers while permitting working parents to return to the workforce.
Governor Cuomo has opposed the program and offered $300 million of state money to provide a universal pre-K program throughout the state. However, that funding could disappear and leave the city holding the bag for the expense without revenue to pay for it.
New York City has sent tens of billions of tax revenue to Albany only to see a fraction of it return for services including education. New York City was forced to sue Albany for decades of education under funding which hurt our education system and our children. We are still waiting for that money. If Governor Cuomo has $300 million available for pre-K education, maybe he could spend some of it to settle labor contracts with state workers?
Mayor de Blasios reservations about an offer of help from Albany are sensible. Our education system needs every bit of help and reliable funding is the way to get it. A universal pre-K program could identify students with learning disabilities, language issues or other needs and provide early intervention.
In Washington D.C., Chairman Darrell Issa (R-California) of the House Oversight Committee paraded a partisan disdain for free speech or collegiality at a recent hearing of the committee. Issa turned off the microphone and walked away from the hearing to stop ranking the Democrat, Elijah Cummings (D- Md.), from asking any questions.
The committee had convened to question former IRS official Lois Lerner about the allegations the IRS targeted conservative organizations including the Tea Party for investigation. The committees investigation is a complete waste of taxpayer money but calling Lerner after she announced she would not answer a question without a grant of immunity was a political ploy to create a scene for use in a Tea Party or Koch Brothers television commercial.
Issa has no problem wasting taxpayer money for political gain but will criticize any effort to forge bipartisan agreements on spending that could produce a more balanced budget. His slogan should be Billions (of tax payer money) for disinformation and not a penny for practical bipartisan legislative work.
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