\n\tHappy Friday to all! Here are our top picks for early childhood education news in New York this week! Enjoy!\n<\/p>\n
\n\t–<\/strong><\/span>'Nature-Based' Preschool to Open on LES With Outdoor Forest Classroom<\/span><\/a><\/strong> – DNAinfo<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\tA new Manhattan preschool set to open later this year will include a 3,500-square-foot outdoor space with a classroom, garden and climbing boulders.\n<\/p>\n \n\t–<\/strong><\/span>Gender Gap in Education Cuts Both Ways<\/span><\/a><\/strong> – New York Times<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\tEduardo Porter: The 'most troubling imbalance' in a new report on the achievement gap between boys and girls is that of less-educated student groups: Six of 10 underachievers are boys, including 15 percent who are American boys compared with 9 percent American girls.\n<\/p>\n \n\t–<\/strong><\/span>Assembly Budget: Mayoral Control Until 2022, Adds $1.8B, Scraps Cuomo’s ED Proposals<\/span><\/a> – Chalkbeat NY<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAssembly Democrats have put forth a budget proposal that adds $1.8 billion to the state’s schools outlay and scraps the education-policy proposals made by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.\n<\/p>\n \n\t–<\/strong><\/span>Mayor de Blasio Is Quietly Soliciting Donations for Future Policy Battles<\/span><\/a> – New York Times<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\tMayor Bill de Blasio is working to amass a "financial war chest" to help fight for his policy ideas, including getting more state funding for schools.\n<\/p>\n \n\t-Slow-Motion de Blasio on School Fixes<\/span><\/a> – Daily News<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\tEditorial: The fact that some schools in the city's turnaround program are waiting for specific help, and that it's unclear when schools will get an extra hour of instructional time, as Chalkbeat reported last week, means the de Blasio administration is not moving fast enough.\n<\/p>\n