Several lawmakers and educators gathered at Montessori School 31 in Yonkers Thursday to request that Gov. Andrew Cuomo fully fund full-day pre-K for the entire state in his 2020-2021 executive budget.

New York City receives $300 million for full-day pre-k, but districts outside of the city are allocated $40 million in funding for the same program.

“The value of our children is the same throughout the state,” says Assemblywoman Amy Paulin. “We should be paying $10,000 a child as we do in the city of New York and we do for some districts upstate – because Westchester expenses are just as high, and our children are just as important.”

There are currently 300 children on the wait list for pre-K in the city of Yonkers.

Forty-three members of the Assembly sent a signed letter to Gov. Cuomo, calling on him to fully fund universal pre-K.