An internet sensation known for her soft-spoken children’s videos slammed New York Mayor Eric Adams for seismic cuts to young children’s education since he took office.
Rachel Accurso, known as Ms. Rachel, released a TikTok criticizing the city’s significant cuts to education and said she will be going to Washington to advocate childcare.
“I want to be the best advocate I can for families with young children,” Accurso said.
“Here in New York City, our mayor cut $400 million from early childhood education programs and is proposing more cuts.”
Adams will make $170 million in additional cuts to early childhood education in July, and parents are already reacting by yanking their children out of public schools.
New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks previously said he’s “fighting like heck” to restore funding for childcare and that the cuts are “extremely hurtful to the entire enterprise of early childhood.”
To justify the city’s investment, the YouTube star cited research from Nobel Prize winner James Heckman that indicated that for every dollar invested in early childhood education, programs could see returns of $4 to $16.
“All children having access to the option of high-quality early childhood education is going to help the children for their whole lives and is literally going to create a better world for all of us and for future generations,” Accurso said.
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Accurso also outlined that those in New York City can sign the “New Yorkers United for Childcare” petition that aims to halt cuts for young children. The petition cites that many working parents cannot get childcare in the city and that it will need “free, quality, and easy to access child-care” to retain families.
Accurso has about 9 million YouTube subscribers and more than 4 million followers on TikTok for her videos that aim to entertain young children with catchy songs such as “Icky Sticky Bubble Gum.”
