Mayor de Blasio is leaving the door open to supporting pre-K classes in charter schools, even though he has previously been hostile to the expansion of the privately run schools.
A surprisingly receptive de Blasio said he wants to study the recommendation of a state commission that’s called for adding more early education classes around the state, including in charter schools.
“We’re certainly going to look at that proposal,” de Blasio said during a press conference in Queens Wednesday.
“I haven’t seen the report that came out from the commission. But we’re going to look at that and see how that might fit with our plan.”
New York law currently prohibits the state’s 233 charter schools, including 183 in the city, from running pre-K programs.
But the Education Reform Commission appointed by Gov. Cuomo suggested Tuesday that legislators change the law to include charters in any early childhood expansion plans.
A Cuomo spokesman declined immediate comment, saying the governor would address the issue in the state budget being released next week.
Commission chairman Richard Parsons, former chairman of Citigroup, said universal pre-K instruction is critical for young children no matter where they’re enrolled.
“The commission believes that all public schools should be first and foremost about educating kids,” Parsons told The Post.
“That’s their only agenda. All the testimony and research we received and reviewed indicated that the sooner we can start educating kids, the better.”
De Blasio campaigned on a pledge to fund universal pre-K programs by hiking taxes on city residents making $500,000 or more. That puts him at odds with Cuomo, who is proposing state tax cuts.
De Blasio also said he’d look to charge rent to charters that have the resources to pay, a move charter advocates charge would make it harder for existing schools to expand and for new ones to open.
Political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said the Cuomo panel’s recommendation puts the new mayor on the spot.
“If pre-K is the issue, not taxing the rich, then you do whatever you have to do to get there,” Sheinkopf said. “The governor’s commission has offered the mayor a way to get it done without conflict.”