In his State of the City last week, Mayor de Blasio bragged of having provided seats for 50,000 kids in his “universal pre-k” program. Well, not quite “universal”: It bars nine out of 10 kids at Jewish day schools.
A group of these schools, led by the Orthodox Union, says de Blasio’s pre-k plan left them “out in the cold,” because it requires six hours and 20 minutes of “secular instruction” a day, which leaves no time for privately funded religious instruction.
They say despite several easy fixes — i.e., using the state standard of just five hours a day or offering more part-time pre-k seats — the mayor’s folks haven’t offered any. As a result, 8,000 Jewish day-school kids missed out on this year’s “universal” pre-k and are set to lose out again next year.
As the city’s largest provider of private education, “Jewish day schools should be a partner” in the mayor’s pre-k program, says the Orthodox Union’s Maury Litwack. But the “restrictive hour requirements” make it nearly impossible for them to participate. In an ad, the group calls on de Blasio to “make universal pre-k universal.”
It’s a reasonable request.
De Blasio was more focused on scaling up pre-k quickly than making it a quality program open to different types of schools.
These schools aren’t asking for public subsidies for the religious parts of their programs. They seek to have only the non-religious periods included — in a plan the mayor vowed to offer to all city kids.
Of course, no one should be surprised that rigid, arbitrary requirements have excluded Jewish private-school kids.
After all, de Blasio was more focused on scaling up pre-k quickly than making it a quality program open to different types of schools. His staff set out one-size-fits-all rules — and didn’t even draft plans to measure success.
Big mistake.
Experts disagree on pre-k’s benefits. Many say results depend on a program’s quality, which can vary. Wouldn’t it have made sense to try a few models and see which worked before going citywide?
If de Blasio ever looks to tweak the program, here’s an idea: Forget bureaucratic requirements like minimum hours of instruction. Just focus on what’s likely to be best for the kids.