Public advocate tells city's elite he'd raise taxes to pay for pre-K

Comptroller John Liu wasn’t the only possible mayoral contender to put forth a major education policy proposal today. In a speech to some of New York’s wealthiest individuals, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio called for new taxes on top earners to fund an expansion of pre-kindergarten programs.

New Yorkers who earn more than $500,000 a year would see their tax rate rise from 3.86 percent to 4.3 percent under the plan, which de Blasio outlined in a breakfast meeting held by the Association for a Better New York, a consortium of business and civic leaders. New Yorkers earning $1 million would see their tax bill rise by nearly $40,000 under the proposal.

The rate hike would generate $532 million a year, de Blasio said, allowing the city to create or expand 50,000 pre-kindergarten slots and extend the school day for 120,000 middle school students.

“This is not just a discussion of fairness or how we address inequality,” de Blasio said, according to his prepared remarks. “This is a very economic discussion, because we’ve seen time and time again that this is where our education dollars have the biggest impact.”

Advocates for early childhood education were quick to support de Blasio’s proposal.

“We applaud Public Advocate de Blasio for today putting forward a bold, expansive, fully funded plan to ensure quality pre-K and after-school for many of New York’s children,” said Stephanie Gendell of the Campaign for Children, a group that emerged to fight child care cuts this spring.

But Mayor Bloomberg, the city’s second-wealthiest resident, said he thought placing an additional burden on the city’s wealthiest taxpayers would backfire.

“He wants to drive everybody out of the city, but that’s okay, he’s a good guy,” Bloomberg said about de Blasio during a press conference in Brooklyn about the Young Men’s Initiative, a privately funded program to help black and Latino young men.

De Blasio, whose bid for public advocate in 2009 won the support of the labor-driven Working Families Party, acknowledged in his prepared comments the challenge of selling a tax increase to the very people who would be affected.

“Some of you may be thinking that this is an interesting place to come and make this proposal. You might say, ‘You have come to the lion’s den,'” he said. “Well, I think it’s a room full of people who care about New York City. I think it is a room full of people who know our educational status quo is unacceptable. And I also think it’s a room full of people that know what a smart and strategic investment looks like and this is the kind we need.”

The Bloomberg administration announced last month that it would use $20 million in city funds to turn 4,000 half-day pre-K slots into full-day slots, which families prefer. Under de Blasio’s plan, the number of slots that would go from half- to full-day would be more than 38,000. He would also create 10,000 new full-day slots to accommodate children who currently are not attending any pre-K program at all.

He would also award schools grants of up to $1 million to partner with nonprofits and community groups with a track record of providing high-quality extended day programming.