Bill de Blasio is ratcheting up his lobbying campaign to get the support he needs in Albany to fund his ambitious pre-kindergarten expansion plan.
The mayor-elect unveiled a slick marketing campaign for his universal pre-K plan on Thursday and lined up another group of big-name supporters, including economist Jeffrey Sachs and New Visions for Public Schools chairman Roger Altman, as well as a long list of supportive nonprofit organizations.
De Blasio said he’ll be using those supporters to reach out to members of the state legislature, who would need to approve a new tax on wealthy city residents under de Blasio’s plan.
De Blasio provided few additional specifics of how his plan would work logistically, including how many teachers it would require and what they would be paid, saying his working group was coming up with those details. He did say that battles in recent years over co-locations in schools show that space is available in school buildings, and that he would prioritize giving that space to pre-K and after-school programs.