Chalkbeat | Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s preliminary budget plans to ramp up spending to comply with the state class size mandate and will continue to fund the city’s free summer program that combines academics and enrichment.

Advocates cheered the mayor for including the funding. But Maria Odom, executive director of the nonprofit Advocates for Children, stressed that “as the City moves forward with its plans for universal child care, it must ensure that young children with disabilities are not left waiting for the support they need and have a right to receive.”

The mayor’s proposed budget also includes nearly $50 million a year to open new classes in District 75, which supports students with more complex disabilities.