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Good morning, Mike here with Chalkbeat New York.

For more than a decade, payment delays have bedeviled mayors overseeing New York City’s sprawling early childhood education system, which relies heavily on contracts with private providers. Now, as Zohran Mamdani prepares to launch his signature 2-K program in just 10 days, he’s facing that same challenge, as late payments are pushing some providers to the brink of closure.

On Monday, Mamdani unveiled a suite of new efforts to fix the problem, including reassigning staffers from other parts of city government and investing $43 million to rebuild staffing in the depleted Division of Early Childhood Education. Today’s top story has more.

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