NYC to address lack of spots for preschoolers with disabilities

New York City is laying the groundwork to reverse a perennial shortage of spots for preschoolers with disabilities.

Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks committed Tuesday to a $130-million investment over two years that adds hundreds of special education seats to its universal preschool programs, and extends school hours and ups teacher pay across dozens of providers.

“We are making this historical leap forward ensuring that ‘universal’ means universal — and not with an asterisk that does not include our children with special needs,” said Adams, during an event at the ABC The Graham School at Echo Park.

The shortfall has often left young children with disabilities with no where to turn.

Roughly 800 preschool-aged children were waiting for seats in legally mandated preschool special education programs at the end of the last school year, according to city data.

“We’ve heard from family after family with the same story,” said Randi Levine of Advocates for Children. “Their young child had autism or other complex disabilities and needed a seat in a preschool special education class, but there was no seats available. Many of these children were sitting at home waiting months or longer in violation of their legal rights.”

Officials said the Department of Education, working with community-based providers, is adding 400 new seats in preschool special education programs, and committed to double that figure for all the city’s three- and four-year-old children by the upcoming spring.

And while much of the announcement focused on increasing access to programs, the city also committed to improving their quality.

“We’re not here just to be babysitters,” said Banks. “Children as young as those who are coming here are getting the seeds planted and the strategies every single day that helps to build their learning.”

Even before the new spots are added, the DOE plans to improve the quality of instruction on a number of front.

The changes, which include special education contract enhancements to 65 providers, will extend the classroom time of an estimated 3,000 special education students by one hour and 20 minutes — bringing the length of their school days in line with general education.

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“Children who needed more were receiving less,” said Adams. “That is just dysfunctional at its highest level.”

The contract enhancements also will offer increased salaries to teaching staff at sites operated by dozens of providers — including raises from in the $50,000-58,000 range to $68,000-$70,000, plus opportunities for professional development.

Kara Ahmed, who oversees early childhood education at the DOE, said it’s often hard to hire and retain special education preschool teachers because of pay disparities with their general education counterparts. The staffing issues, she said, have “contributed to a severe deficit of much needed seats.”

Still, the annual pay will not increase with experience, the way a kindergarten teacher’s compensation does the longer they work at city schools, advocates said.

“These are good steps,” said Gregory Brender, the director of public policy at the Day Care Council of New York, representing early childhood educators. “The thing we continue to advocate for is even with this enhancement, the salaries for both preschool educators and educators in CBOs (community-based organizations) are still less than their counterparts in public schools.”

It was not immediately clear how much of the funding announced Tuesday was new or builds on previously announced investments under the former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. The DOE had promised to spend $22 million of federal COVID-19 relief money this year and $88 million next year to add preschool special education seats, and aimed for 800 new slots by this fall.

A spokesperson for the education department did not immediately return a request for clarification.