As New York City promises to expand free childcare, a beloved Roosevelt Island preschool is struggling to cover the cost of its classrooms. Families are stepping up. Now New York City needs to do its part.
“Why were workers installing antennas on the tram?”
My 3-year-old daughter brought this question home one day after a walk outside with her Roosevelt Island Day Nursery (RIDN) class. As the children watched workers build support towers on the tram, my daughter’s teachers encouraged the children to ask questions, listen to the answers, and follow their curiosity.
That small experience captures so much of what my family loves about RIDN: teachers who take children’s questions seriously and help them explore the world around them.
For four years, RIDN has been part of our family’s life. My older daughter attended before starting kindergarten; my younger daughter is there now. We have watched them learn to share, take responsibility, and care for one another. Songs and books they brought home have become family favorites. Parents we met through RIDN have become friends.
But what means the most to me is the teachers’ attention. At pickup, they tell us about something our child said, a discovery she made, or a challenge she is working through. When we need advice, we have people who know our children — their personalities, their strengths, and the ways they are still growing.
There is such comfort in knowing that while you are at work, your child is with people who notice these things. People who know her and care about her.
So when a neighbor invited me to support a petition for free preschool for two-year-olds, my reaction was more complicated than I expected. More families could have what ours had, starting even earlier.
And yet, I know how hard it has been for RIDN to keep its doors open and sustain the free 3-K and pre-K seats it already provides.
Not Just a Roosevelt Island Problem
RIDN has been part of this community for more than 50 years. Today, it runs free 3-K and pre-K classes for 60 children in partnership with the city’s Department of Education. Every seat is full, and more than 100 families are on the waitlist.
So why is a school in such demand struggling to cover its costs? Because the City doesn’t reimburse RIDN for the full cost of those seats.
According to our figures, the DOE pays RIDN an average of $15,500 per 3-K and pre-K child, but each seat costs an average of $17,100. That rate has not increased since 2014, even as teacher pay and other expenses have risen. Across our classrooms, it adds up to an annual funding gap of about $100,000. On top of that, the DOE owes RIDN about $123,000 for the 2025-2026 school year.
Who covers the difference? Families.
For years, parent fundraising has helped the school make ends meet. Last year, 92% of RIDN families contributed to our annual fundraiser. Families give because we love this school and the people who care for our children. Yet each year brings another funding gap to close.
In other words, private contributions are helping subsidize publicly funded preschool — and it’s still not enough. Revenue from tuition-based daycare programs helps cover the remaining costs.
And this isn’t just a Roosevelt Island problem.
In an October 2026 report, Growing Pains, the New York City Independent Budget Office examined the challenges facing the City’s early-childhood education system. The report identified delayed contracts, late payments, and insufficient reimbursement as threats to existing early childhood programs and the rollout of 2-K.
The report illustrates why expanding the number of seats alone will not guarantee families access to them. Its analysis of the 2024-2025 school year found that 54% of ZIP codes had shortages of 3-K seats, even as other areas had surpluses.
Community-based organizations (CBOs) like RIDN are essential to this system. They deliver a substantial share of the City’s early-childhood education, according to the reports, yet financial pressures threaten their ability to continue doing so.
That is why the Mayor’s 2-K announcement matters. Expanding early-childhood education is the right goal. But the City cannot keep adding seats without addressing the funding problems confronting the schools it already relies on.
If nothing changes, schools like RIDN may eventually have to eliminate classrooms, serve fewer children, or reconsider participation in free 3-K and pre-K. That would mean cutting existing seats as the City is working to add more.
For Roosevelt Island, it could mean losing a neighborhood institution that has served families for half a century, helping to make the community a place where families can thrive and caregivers can stay in the workforce.
What the City Needs to Do
We want more two-year-olds to enter classrooms where teachers notice their questions, encourage their curiosity, and know when they need a little extra help. Making that possible means funding the teachers and schools our families already count on.
Our requests to city and state leaders are straightforward:
1. Pay the real cost. Increase reimbursement rates for community-based 3-K and pre-K providers to at least $18,000 per seat, to cover operating costs, payroll, benefits, required meals, and enrichment activities.
2. Pay on time. Clear outstanding payments, including the approximately $123,000 RIDN says it is owed, and address the chronic payment delays that leave schools struggling to meet their obligations.
3. Fix the systems. Make DOE budgeting, contracting, and payment processes reliable, transparent, and responsive so providers can plan ahead and pay their staff on time.
4. Protect community-based providers. Treat these schools as essential partners in the City’s early-education system, not an afterthought in its expansion plans.
How You Can Help
You don’t need to have a child at RIDN to care about what happens next. A sustainable public preschool system benefits families across New York City.
Here are four ways to help:
- Contact city and state leaders: Visit ricivica.org/ridn to send a ready-made letter advocating for sustainable funding. It takes about two minutes.
- Help bridge RIDN’s funding gap: If you’re able, contribute through RIDN’s fundraising campaign.
- Spread the word: Share this article with friends, neighbors, and other families who care about early-childhood education.
- Make the issue visible: Post the RIDN flyers in your building, around your neighborhood, and on social media.
A free preschool is a wonderful promise. Keeping that promise takes investment in community-based programs like RIDN and their staff.
Roosevelt Island families are doing their part. We’re asking the City to do its part, too.