The Onondaga Citizens League (OCL) applauds Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal in the 2014 State of the State message to make full-day pre-Kindergarten universal in New York.  Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, last year New York State launched a pilot program to provide full-day pre-K to children in some of the highest-needs communities. OCL fully agrees with the Governor’s observation that it is “time to fulfill the State’s goal of truly ‘Universal Pre-Kindergarten’ access for all children.”

OCL, a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic group based at Syracuse University, is completing its year-long study on the current early childhood education landscape in Onondaga County to consider how we might more effectively deploy our existing resources to ensure that all children enter school ready to learn. It is clear that high-quality, full-day Universal pre-kindergarten is an integral part of the strategy needed to ensure healthy children and families and that State support is necessary to make that happen.

For more information on OCL, visit http://onondagacitizensleague.org