Dear Friends,
Last week, I joined fellow parents and advocates on the steps of City Hall to release a new report on the true costs behind the Bloomberg Administration's proposed cuts to early childhood education and after-school programs.
> Read my new report "Cut Now, Pay Later"
These cuts--enacted year after year--hold dire consequences for future generations and future Administrations. Diminished school performance, poorer health, increased crime and spiraling costs will be the net result of these shortsighted--and preventable--cuts.
New Yorkers must not allow the Mayor to balance the budget on the backs of our children.
> Click here to sign the petition to stop the cuts
The facts speak for themselves. Studies have shown that every $1 invested into quality early education and care saves taxpayers up to $13 in costs for future public services, and that children who do not participate in such programs are at least five times more likely to be repeat criminal offenders when they reach adulthood.
We encourage the Mayor's commitment to fiscal responsibility but we also know that budget cuts should not fall on the programs that are the most valuable and effect the most vulnerable.
Join me in sending this message to the Mayor by visiting our online action center at http://advocate.nyc.gov/stop-the-cuts .
Thank you,
Bill de Blasio
NYC Public Advocate