Publications and Research
Document Type
Report
Publication Date
Spring 2022
Abstract
Former Mayor De Blasio made the expansion of 3-K for All and Pre-K for All a top priority of his administration. In its re-procurement of contracts for community-based early childhood education providers, the De Blasio administration’s Department of Education made it a priority for programs to “foster socio-economic integration at the classroom level.” Mayor Eric L. Adams has spoken of his own experience being educated in segregated schools and has called for students to be exposed to more diverse environments (Shapiro, 2021). It is up to his administration to implement the changes that will foster desegregation in New York City’s early childhood education system.
To achieve these laudable goals, the voices of parents and families whose children attend early childhood programs have not been heard. Research shows that consideration of parents' perspectives on integration is critical to the success of integration efforts (Stuart Wells, Fox, & Cordova-Cobo, 2016). This paper highlights voices from New York City’s parents(1) on their experience and opinions on the integration of early childhood education.