Buried in New York City’s latest budget is a rare initiative that rewards saving: a $1,000 college savings account for every kindergartener who enrolls in public or charter schools. The commitment expands NYC Kids RISE, a public-nonprofit collaboration championed by City Council Speaker Julie Menin, its founding board chair. 

The program won’t solve K-12 public education’s deeper problems, nor can it substitute for stronger college preparation or high-quality technical and vocational training. But it can help cultivate responsibility, industry, and aspiration among children who might never imagine higher education as a real possibility.

NYC Kids RISE launched as a Queens pilot in 2017 to seed each kindergartener’s account with $100, funded by a $10 million gift from the Gray Foundation. It expanded citywide in 2021. Every kindergartner in NYC public and charter schools is now automatically enrolled unless their family opts out during a........

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