Free 3-K, everywhere in New York
NYC families can get free 3-K. Outside the five boroughs, almost no one can. We won a statewide Pre-K guarantee — now we’re finishing the job with 3-K, so a family in Buffalo or Binghamton has the same shot as one in Brooklyn.
LIVE NOW
Updated September 2026
A ZIP code shouldn’t decide whether care is free.
Free 3-K exists — but mostly in New York City. Cross a county line and, for most families, it simply isn’t there.
That leaves working parents upstate and on Long Island paying full price for care their downstate neighbors get for free. Same state, same taxes, a very different bill.
96%
of 3-year-olds outside NYC can’t get a free seat
$XX
a month for private care where no free 3-K exists
“My sister in Brooklyn got a free 3-K seat. I’m two hours up the Thruway and there was nothing — I went back to paying a full daycare bill. Same state, completely different reality.”
AN NYUC PARENT
Upstate New York
XX
counties with little or no publicly funded 3-K
We’re fighting for a statewide 3-K guarantee.
A statewide guarantee
Free 3-K for every 3-year-old in New York — the same promise, whatever county you live in.
Full-day, full-year seats
Hours and months that match a working parent’s schedule — not a half-day that ends at pickup.
Real funding to reach every district
Money that actually follows families outside NYC, not just a line that funds the five boroughs.
Fair pay for the workforce
A living wage for the educators who make the seats real, so districts can actually staff them.
Press or legislative staff: email us for the printable one-pager, the numbers behind it, and someone to quote.
The full story
FROM A PRE-K GUARANTEE TO A 3-K GUARANTEE
Parents already changed what New York thinks it can afford. We helped win a statewide Universal Pre-K guarantee — free Pre-K for every 4-year-old in the state — and defended and expanded 3-K in the city.
3-K statewide is the next step, not a new idea. The programs, the applications, and the classrooms mostly exist; what’s missing is the guarantee that funds them everywhere, so availability stops depending on which county a family happens to live in.
This background is placeholder copy for the build-out. Replace with the campaign’s real legislative history, current bill status, and county-level numbers before publish.
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Parents already changed what New York thinks it can afford. We helped win a statewide Universal Pre-K guarantee — free Pre-K for every 4-year-old in the state — and defended and expanded 3-K in the city.
3-K statewide is the next step, not a new idea. The programs, the applications, and the classrooms mostly exist; what’s missing is the guarantee that funds them everywhere, so availability stops depending on which county a family happens to live in.
This background is placeholder copy for the build-out. Replace with the campaign’s real legislative history, current bill status, and county-level numbers before publish.
Add your name.
Every signature from outside the five boroughs makes the case in Albany that this is a statewide fight.
We’ll tell you when there’s a budget vote, a rally, or major updates.
LIVE NOWA free seat that ends at 2pm doesn’t work for parents who work full-time. We’re going to make every 3-K and Pre-K seat full-day and full-year.
ONGOINGPermanent Funding for 2-K
Parents won the first 2-K seats in New York’s history. Now we’re fighting to fund them for good.
Full-Day, Full-Year Care
(NYC)
ONGOINGUniversal Child Care
Our vision: free care for every child, from birth to five, full-day, full-year, in every zip code across New York.
