2-K to be full-day, full-year starting in the fall
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that most 2-K seats will shift to a full-day, full-year schedule beginning this fall. The change is intended to help parents who work full-time and struggle with early pickup times.
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Traditional 2-K child care schedules will change for many centers this fall, as city officials move to expand hours in an effort to better support working families.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that most 2-K seats will shift to a full-day, full-year schedule beginning this fall. The change is intended to help parents who work full-time and struggle with early pickup times.
“Holding down a 9-to-5 job and managing pickup and drop-off at a traditional 3 p.m. time can be unmanageable,” Mamdani said. “We see parents who are forced to either miss important work obligations, reduce work hours or pay for additional child care.”
Under the new plan, a majority of the city’s roughly 2,000 2-K seats will operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., for 260 days a year — up from the traditional 180-day schedule.
Mamdani said the expanded hours could save working parents at least $20,000 per child.
The change is part of a more than $1 billion universal child care budget aimed at increasing access and affordability.
But some providers say the extended schedule, while beneficial for families, adds financial strain on child care centers.
Nick Kats, who owns multiple day care centers across the city, said rising costs and limited reimbursement are making it difficult to keep up.
“The minimum wage keeps going up, and we adhere to those requirements, but we’re not able to pay more to our teachers because we’re not receiving higher reimbursement,” Kats said.
He added that increasing food costs, rent and staffing expenses are creating additional challenges, particularly when it comes to hiring qualified teachers.
Kats said educators with bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education — a requirement for teaching 2-year-olds — typically earn between $22 and $25 an hour, which he described as inadequate.
Kats is urging the mayor’s office to work more closely with providers to address funding gaps. The city is expected to release more details on which child care centers will be included in the expanded 2-K program.
