She’s schooling the mayor.
Beloved children’s YouTube star Ms. Rachel has hit out at New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ for cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from early childhood education — stressing that investment in the program provides returns that last children’s “whole lives.”
“Parents are really struggling to find affordable, high-quality child care,” Ms. Rachel – whose real name is Rachel Accurso – said in a TikTok on Tuesday.
“Here in New York City, our mayor cut $400 million from early-childhood-education programs and is proposing more cuts,” the former preschool teacher-turned-influencer explained.
TikTok/Ms Rachel
“All children having access to the option of high-quality early-childhood education is going to help the children for their whole lives and is literally going to create a better world for all of us and for future generations,” Accurso added.
“For every dollar invested in early childhood education, you get four to 16 dollars back,” the mom of one – who amassed 9.2 million followers on YouTube with her “Songs for Littles” series – noted.
Accurso wrote in the post that she is headed to Washington, DC, to advocate for those impacted by the childcare cuts, and viewers signed a petition on the New Yorkers United for Child Care website.
Accurso did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Adams’ controversial cuts to the city’s free 3-K and pre-K has sparked panic among local parents, many of whom rely on the programs for childcare and early education.
The current administration plans to cut another 14% of the budget in 2025, New Yorkers United for Child Care told CBS News.
Last month, Schools Chancellor David Banks vowed that the education department was “fighting like heck” to salvage the programs from the steep cuts as COVID funding dried up.
“We all agree that we must find a long-term funding source for the 3-K program,” said Banks in the Times letter.
“We’re committed to doing that — to ensure that 3-K is here to stay and that we’re able to provide a full range of great early childhood programs to all our families,” he added.
The administration has also noted that it offered 46,000 3-K seats last school year, and filled roughly 83% of them.
Going forward, it is focused on shuffling seats among neighborhoods — so that programs are available where families are seeking them out the most, officials said.
In their response to Adams’ budget proposals, the City Council demanded that the administration restore the funding and increase the number of spots in the city’s 3-K and pre-K programs with an additional $45 million cash injection, Chalkbeat New York reported.
“Together with housing, early childhood education has risen to the top for working and middle class families. We need to strengthen our early childhood education system, which has been beset by bureaucratic challenges and undermined by budget cuts,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said of the issue.
