New York

City Lights, a publication of the NYC-based Center for the Urban Future, has an excellent if disheartening profile of botched pre-k implementation in New York City. Hundreds of pre-k slots are going unfilled even as other programs have long waitlists. Millions of state pre-k dollars could go unspent,--and pre-k advocates fear that, given the tightening fiscal climate in New York, dollars that don't get used and are returned to the state translate into dollars that the state legislature won't appropriate for pre-k in the years ahead.

The main problem is that much of the state pre-k funding the city received can only be used to fund half-day programs--but many working families need full-day childcare and so aren't able to enroll their children in half-day pre-k programs. There are long waiting lists for the limited numbers of full-day slots available. Moreover, the system, which includes both public schools and community-based providers, has proven complicated for parents to negotiate. There's no centralized way for parents to apply for pre-k programs or get information about the various options available, their quality and other features.

In April, New York changed its sales tax law to try to make a few large vendors subject to sales tax collection - most notably, Amazon.com.  The new law creates a rebuttable presumption that a vendor is soliciting business and thus required to collect tax if, per an agreement, they compensate New York residents for directly or indirectly referring potential customers. Referrals may be made through a website or other means. The presumption only applies to sellers with over $10,000 of sales to New York customers made via the referrals in the prior four quarters. Sellers may rebut the presumption by showing that the residents did not solicit sales in New York for them. (Bill Summary, p. 10)

Amazon's "Associates Program" causes it to have many associates who may be New York residents. Amazon filed a lawsuit as soon as the law went into effect challenging the new law as unconstitutional. It also started collecting the tax!

Another company that fell under the law change is Overstock.com. Their remedy was to cancel its agreements with its New York affiliates who were helping Overstock.com advertise.

Last week United Federation of Teachers (New York City’'s teachers union) President Randi Weingarten gave a major speech proposing a new accountability framework to replace the controversial school report cards that NYC schools chancellor Joel Klein instituted last November.

In contrast to Klein’'s report cards, which assigned schools a single letter grade based primarily on student test scores, UFT'’s proposed alternative would offer parents and the public a matrix of indicators concentrated in three areas: academic achievement; safety, order and discipline; and teamwork for student achievement. Each school’s report would also rate the NYC Department of Education on the quality of support it provides the school.

By now anyone with access to a television, radio, newspaper, or internet connection knows that New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has become ensnared in a federal investigation into an interestate prostitution ring. It's a major disappointment for both his family and the people of the state of New York. The internets are abuzz with speculation about the salacious details and whether or not Spitzer will step down as governor. As a family blog, we'll eschew the tawdry aspects of this story to ask a substantive question: What does this mean for early education in New York State?

Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman devoted her Huffington Post column last week to singing the praises of Excellence Charter School, an all-boys school in Brooklyn, New York that seeks to combat the high-dropout rates for African American men by providing a strong academic curriculum in an environment that supports students' social and character development. Excellence, a member of the Uncommon Schools network, currently serves 220 boys in kindergarten through fourth grade. [slideshow]

Wright Edelman is clearly impressed by the school, which she proposes replicating in thousands of urban and rural school districts nationally. She and the organization she runs have also been strong advocates for quality early education, including universal pre-k. But, ironically, the school Wright Edelman praises here is barred by law from providing the kinds of pre-k services CDF has advocated for.