City Council Approves Budget; Restores Day Care Funds

June 26, 2012 Heather Chin

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Hurrah! The City Council and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have fully restored what was feared would be Draconian cuts to child care and after-school services in the city’s 2013 budget, giving students and parents something to cheer about.

“Working parents need to have their children protected and cared for while they are at work. Children need to receive a high quality educational experience at an early age. We are creating a program that responds to both of these needs,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. “We are saying that child care can and must be part of a lifelong education that continues with pre-k, through kindergarten and that ultimately leads to every child graduating high school ready for college. That is our ultimate goal, and it begins with academic day care, and it begins with what we have built here today.”

The budget agreement also adds about $150 million in combined funding to the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) child care program and the Department of Youth and Community Development Out-of-School (OST) budget, — about $75 million more in funds than the programs received last year.

Locally, after school and OST programs will be restored at

Day care slots have also been maintained and even increased by

Councilmember Stephen Levin said

In addition, about 1,000 new teachers will be added to the school system and the overall funding levels to schools will be maintained.

City libraries, which also faced drastic cuts, were also saved. The budget restored $90 million in funding, which means that staff will keep their jobs and libraries will continue to offer free services to the public.