Education
Waste of the Day: NYC Spent $350,000 on Study, Mismanaged Preschool Program Anyway
New York City spent $350,000 on a flawed study for planning a preschool program, then sited many schools in the wrong places.
Topline: New York City’s universal preschool program wasn’t so universal this year, as thousands of three-year-olds were denied a seat.
Preschool study had flawed data
That’s partially because a $350,000 study to determine which neighborhoods had the highest demand for preschools is filled with inaccurate data and is missing other important data, according to the education news site Chalkbeat.
Key facts: Mayor Eric Adams justified budget cuts to the city’s preschool program by saying there were too many unfilled seats and hired consultants at Accenture to fix it. But the 37-page report reviewed by Chalkbeat doesn’t offer any specific info on which schools have too many seats and which have too few.
The report also made recommendations to the city based on projections showing that over 54,000 students would apply for preschool. The actual number was 27% lower.
The study began in March 2023, but the city did not release the results to journalists or city council members until this July, months after parents received admissions offers for their toddlers. The Department of Education says the rest of the study is still ongoing.
Rita Joseph, the head of the City Council education committee, gave a simple statement to Chalkbeat: “I would try to get a refund.”
It’s a stunning case of mismanagement. This year, 43,000 families applied for 52,000 preschool seats, but over 2,500 children were rejected because they lived nowhere near the schools with open spots, according to nonprofit newsroom The City. Others were only offered enrollment in preschools miles away from their home.
Where will the rejected pupils go?
The Department of Education is working to find seats for the rejected students. The city is also planning a $5 million advertising campaign about free preschool, even though existing applicants are being turned away.
Background: Wacky studies are nothing new for New York. The city recently completed research on the effectiveness of trash cans and will hire scientists to figure out why commuters don’t want to pay subway fares.
The $350,000 preschool study stands out because Adams has consistently cut funding for universal preschool. He’s slashed the budget by $400 million since 2022 and wants another 16% reduction next year.
Meanwhile, the city is late with payments to its preschool providers, owing hundreds of them over $400 million as of early last year — leading Bloomberg Businessweek to declare that the program is “dying.”
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Critical quote: “I am flabbergasted that we’ve been waiting a year and a half for this,” Councilman Lincoln Restler told Chalkbeat when the study was released. “It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out where the applications are coming from and where to connect students and families with seats.”
Summary
Summary: If New York is going to reduce its preschool spending, it needs to make sure the money it does allocate is spent efficiently.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by CEO & founder, Adam Andrzejewski, with Jeremy Portnoy. Learn more at OpenTheBooks.com.
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) was the CEO/founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Before dedicating his life to public service, Adam co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). His works have been featured on the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes, Newsweek, and many other national media.
Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." In 2022, OpenTheBooks.com captured nearly all public expenditures in the country, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending; 50 of 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.
The group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments, and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings, and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits; Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports; federal legislation; and much more.
Our Honorary Chairman - In Memoriam is U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, MD.
Andrzejewski's federal oversight work was included in the President's Budget To Congress FY2021. The budget cited his organization by name, bullet-pointed their findings, and footnoted/hyperlinked to their report.
Posted on YouTube, Andrzejewski's presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida received 3.8 million views.
Andrzejewski has spoken at the Columbia School of Journalism, Harvard Law School and the law schools at Georgetown and George Washington regarding big data journalism. As a senior policy contributor at Forbes, Adam had nearly 20 million pageviews on 206 published investigations. In 2022, investigative fact-finding on Dr. Fauci's finances led to his cancellation at Forbes.
In 2022, Andrzejewski did 473 live television and radio interviews across broadcast, major cable platforms, and radio shows. Andrzejewski is the author of The Waste of the Day column at Real Clear Policy. The column is syndicated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates across USA.
Andrzejewski passed away in his sleep at his home in in Hinsdale, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. He is survived by his wife Kerry and three daughters. He also served as a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church and finished the Chicago Marathon eight times (PR 3:58.49 in 2022).
Waste of the Day articles published after August 18, 2024 are considered posthumous publications.
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