Mayor Bill de Blasio is proposing free, full-day early childhood education for all of New York City's 3-year-olds by the fall of 2021.
De Blasio said Monday that the city hopes to launch a pilot of the "3-K" program next fall year at a cost of $36 million. But the state and federal governments would have to pitch in.
The cost would rise to $177 million when the program is fully in place.
"The human mind has this extraordinary spongelike capacity in those first years," de Blasio said. "We've gotta make the most of that moment."
"We know if we lose that opportunity, it never comes back. It literally never comes back after those first few years," he said. "Children continue to learn but not the way they can in the very beginning."
The pilot program would focus on low-income districts in the South Bronx and Brownville, Brooklyn. It's welcome news for parents who don't have thousands of dollars a year to send their toddlers to pricey private nursery schools.
De Blasio has promoted universal pre-K as his administration's signature achievement.
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The administration says the city has more than tripled the number of 4-year-olds enrolled in free, full-day pre-K.
