GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

The city’s redesigned childcare system is safe for now, but faces cuts in the near future and increased funding uncertainties, according to a report by a budget watchdog.

Earlier this year, advocates successfully lobbied the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg to nix a plan that would have cut 7,200 contracted child care slots. The proposed cuts were the result of the city’s implementation of EarlyLearn — an initiative that aims to streamline and improve early childhood education.

But 4,900 of the seats were restored with one-time City Council funding, an annual stopgap solution that does not address “ongoing funding problems faced by the child care system,” according to the report, authored by the Independent Budget Office. (more…)