Chalkbeat | New York City is boosting funding for several early childhood education programs, including for preschoolers with disabilities and infants and toddlers in high-need neighborhoods, under a tentative budget deal officials announced Friday.

Fights over early childhood funding have pitted Mayor Eric Adams against the City Council for the past few years, usually with Adams threatening to cut programs to account for empty seats in some neighborhoods despite booming demand in others. The mayor has typically backtracked — and this year was no exception.

But the City Council and many advocates urged the mayor to go further to bolster the city’s strained child care and early education systems. And the budget deal, which is still subject to a final vote by City Council, includes a few new investments. The new $115.9 billion city budget would take effect on July 1.

The city is planning to expand access to free child care for children ages 2 and under, prioritizing families in high-need areas.

This $10 million pilot program will create hundreds of additional seats for infants and toddlers in programs operated by the Education Department. As of late Friday, however, there were few details. City Hall officials said it was not yet clear exactly how many seats they plan to add. Nor have they specified which neighborhoods will be prioritized.

City officials are kicking in $220 million for a child care voucher program that serves children from low-income backgrounds. This funding will ensure they can unlock state dollars to keep families enrolled.

Spending on the Child Care Assistance program has been growing due to increased enrollment and a rise in value of the vouchers to account for rising costs. About 80,000 children received a voucher last year, which is worth about $300 a week on average.

State officials demanded the city contribute more funding to keep state dollars flowing — and the city has now obliged. That means current voucher recipients will continue to receive them, though city officials had stopped enrolling new families in the program as of May.

Randi Levine, the policy director at Advocates for Children, said it’s unclear whether the increased city funding will be enough to enable new families to enroll.

“That’s another reason why the [Education Department’s] infant and toddler seats are important,” Levine said.