Mayor Bill de Blasio will be in Albany today lobbying for his pre-kindergarten plan but it is unclear what exactly he can achieve. The mayor scheduled meetings with a number of legislative leaders but the lines of support already seem to have solidified. De Blasio told reporters that he "hopes" to meet with Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the issue but no meetings have been scheduled. This is de Blasio's fourth trip to Albany since becoming mayor. Supporters of de Blasio's pre-k plan will rally in Albany as will pro-charter school activists. Cuomo and de Blasio appear headed toward another education showdownover charter schools as Cuomo has reportedly pledged to back legislation to fund space for charter schools that are kicked out of NYC school locations. De Blasio reversed three Bloomberg-approved charter school co-locations last week.
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The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to release a report today detailing its plan to double the number of after-school programs for middle school students. The programs would provide 95,000 slots at 512 schools across the city. The de Blasio administration says the after-school program expansion could be in jeopardy if Albany does not approve the mayor's plan to raise income taxes on the wealthy. De Blasio is scheduled to travel to Albany on Tuesday to lobby for the tax increase that would allow for his universal pre-k plan and the after-school expansion. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Senate GOP oppose de Blasio's plan. The state budget is due April 1 and this month will feature both intense lobbying and negotiating in Albany as legislators try to hammer out details.
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Mayor Bill de Blasio said yesterday he will block three charter schools from opening in public school buildings yesterday. All of them are part of the Success Academy system, run by former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz. The mayor will allow 14 charters to "co-locate" within public schools as planned, including five run by Moskowitz. He left untouched a majority of plans affecting charter schools. But he opposed the three because he won't allow elementary schools to open on high school campuses or schools to cut programs for students with disabilities. Moskowitz said the move will affect about 600 students and there is no contingency plan yet. The Bloomberg Administration had been accused of favoritism toward her schools. A number of City Council members were unhappy with how many co-locations de Blasio allowed.
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