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De Blasio: Charter School Money Won't Necessarily Be Used For Pre-K

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio disputed reports Sunday that his plan to divert $210 million from charter school expansion is aimed at funding universal prekindergarten.

"We were simply saying we do not believe the money should be devoted to charter expansion," de Blasio told reporters, including WCBS 880's Monica Miller. "We think it should be freed up for other priorities. So we didn't say specifically what those will be. That's something that we will be delineated in the future."

De Blasio said education officials have many issues to address, including overcrowded public schools across the five boroughs.

De Blasio: Charter School Money Won't Necessarily Be Used For Pre-K

"The capital budget has to address the capacity of our schools and a lot of other things," he said.

The move represents a huge shift from the Bloomberg administration, a big supporter of charter schools.

De Blasio said he supports improving traditional schools, rather than replacing them with charters.

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