Wednesday, February 05, 2014

De Blasio: Not Just Another Bullshitter

It has to feel like Spring in New York in the middle of a snowstorm:  a progressive mayor elected to serve the people that Wall Street predators and casino capitalists forgot.  From DNAInfo New York:

". . . . De Blasio sparked a political showdown earlier this month by rejecting Cuomo's offer to provide $1.5 billion for universal pre-K across the state over the next five years. Instead of using state funds to create thousands of new pre-K seats in the city, de Blasio wants to increase taxes on the city's most affluent residents, which he said would guarantee a more reliable funding stream.

Some education advocates, as well as de Blasio insiders, say the mayor is wise not to rely on state-based universal pre-K funding, since Albany has a long history of making pre-K promises it can't keep.
The advocates say Cuomo's $1.5 billion promise sounds worryingly similar to commitments made by former governors Pataki, Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson that fell through as budget priorities changed.
In 1997, Pataki promised hundreds of millions of dollars to fund universal pre-K across the state starting the following year, pledging a seat for every 4-year-old within four years.
However, by the 2001-02 school year, the state was spending just $207.4 million on universal pre-K, less than half of what was originally supposed to be allocated, according to a report by the Citizens Budget Commission. . . . ."


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