Chancellor Joel Klein, visiting the Hudson Guild Children's Center, announced today that "thousands" of seats remain open in the city's universal pre-K program.

Worth asking: How did the seat surplus occur at all, given the high demand for pre-K seats? And, given this surplus, how did the seats go unfilled for this first month of the academic year?

The DOE has posted a pre-K page that lists schools and community-based organizations with current openings. Most are half-day, which limit their use for kids of working parents.

See this article for more information on the 6000 seats Chancellor Klein said are waiting for young pupils.