New York

Overview

During the 2021-2022 school year New York preschool enrolled 151,988 children, an increase of 36,391 from the prior year, as the program began to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. State spending totaled $838,781,998, with an additional $45,005,443 in federal recovery funds to support the program, up $990,703 (0.1%), adjusted for inflation since last year. State spending per child (including federal recovery funds) equaled $5,815 in 2021-2022, down $1,822 from 2020-2021, adjusted for inflation. New York met 7 of 10 quality standards benchmarks.

What's New

All preschool programs were physically reopened in fall 2021 and programs have returned to pre-pandemic conditions. ARP funding was also used to support the program in 2021-2022 including to fund additional 4-year-olds in full-day prekindergarten. An additional $230 million in funding enabled preschool to be provided in 167 additional districts. The 2022-2023 New York State Enacted Budget increased funding for preschool to $1.1 billion which will increase slots by more than 14,000 full-day slots. 

New York State is also updating preschool regulations to better support the needs of emergent multilingual learners. The New York Office of Children and Family Services received a Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B–5) planning grant in December 2022 for $4 million.

Background

In 1998, New York State began its Universal Prekindergarten Program (UPK) with the goal of making prekindergarten education available to all 4-year-olds in the state, regardless of family income or other risk factors. In 2007, the Targeted Prekindergarten Program merged with UPK. In the 2013-2014 school year, the state continued targeting its pre-K funding, launching the New York State Priority Prekindergarten Program (NYSPPK) offering competitive grants creating new full- and half-day slots for high-need children in low-income school districts and enabling districts to convert half-day slots to full-day. In 2014-2015, the Statewide Universal Full-Day Prekindergarten Program (SUFDPK) competitive grant for full-day pre-K was launched. Most of this funding ($300 million) went to New York City, resulting in a dramatic boost in access to full-day pre-K slots for 4-year-olds; $40 million was used to expand full-day programs in the rest of the state. Funding could be used to create additional full-day placements or to convert existing half-day slots to full-day. 

In 2015-2016, the Expanded Prekindergarten for 3- and 4-Year-Old Students grant began, creating new slots for both 3- and 4-year-olds. New York also was awarded a 2014 federal Preschool Development Grant (PDG) supporting enrollment of additional low-income 4-year-olds in five school districts. Eighty-seven percent of children were served in full-day programs in 2021-2022. 

The New York Board of Regents adopted revised comprehensive, multi-domain early learning standards in 2011 which are aligned with state K–3 standards, state college and career ready standards, and the New York State Common Core Learning Standards. In 2012, the state implemented a voluntary quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) called QUALITYstarsNY. 

In 2017-2018, all districts receiving state funds for pre-K were required to adopt approved quality indicators within two years, including, but not limited to, valid and reliable measures of environmental quality, the quality of teacher-student interactions, and child outcomes. To document districts’ progress in implementing the approved quality indicators, the State Education Department (SED) implemented the NYS Pre-K Self-Assessment. Districts rate themselves as Implemented, In Process, or Not Implemented. For each area marked In Process or Not Implemented, districts develop Quality Improvement Action Plans to assess strengths and weakness in seven areas of program quality. SED staff review the plans and provide feedback to inform technical assistance and monitoring.

New York State Administered Prekindergarten Program

Access

Estimates children in Head Start not also enrolled in state pre-K or Head  Start. Estimates children in special education not also enrolled in state pre-K or Head Start.
Total state pre-K enrollment	151,988
School districts that offer state program	89%
Income requirement	No income requirement
Minimum hours of operation	2.5 hours/day; 5 days/week
Operating schedule	School or academic year
Special education enrollment, ages 3 and 4	40,058
Federally funded Head Start enrollment, ages 3 and 4	34,654
State-funded Head Start enrollment, ages 3 and 4	0

Resources

Pre-K programs may receive additional funds from federal or local sources that are not included in this figure. K–12 expenditures include capital spending as well as current operating expenditures. Head Start per-child spending includes funding only for 3- and 4-year-olds.