To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

Four-year-old Julia Rosenberg plays without a care in the world. But her parents feel like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Last week, they learned Julia was put on a waiting list for kindergarten at PS 41 in Greenwich Village.

"We never thought of it. We never thought it was possible that the public school system could basically say 'sorry, we don't have any room for you'," said David Rosenberg, Julia's father.

A letter from the Department of Education sent to the Rosenbergs, told them there aren't enough seats right now at the school they're zoned for. A week later, they got another letter confirming Julia's place on the waiting list for sister schools PS 41 and PS 3. She is number 82 of 90 kids on the wait list.

"I've lived in this neighborhood for 25 years, I've always taken for granted that the public school system is public, for anyone that lives in the zone," said Rosenberg.

Some say the tanking economy is behind the problem -- fewer people are moving and more are applying to public instead of private schools. But the Department of Education downplays the gravity of the situation.

It says this happens every year, and that waiting lists will shrink as some families ultimately opt for private schools or gifted and talented programs. But some parent advocates say the DOE has no excuse.

"There's no reason people weren't aware of this, that they didn't plan ahead. We'd been aware of it on the CEC which is the Community Education Council, very similar to the old school boards, since a year and a half ago," said Community Education Council District 2 President Rebecca Daniels.

And it's not just in District 2, there are waiting lists for kindergartens all over the city.

"It's a citywide problem in a couple of school districts, some in Manhattan, and a few in Queens. Different schools have different size wait lists, could be 20, 30 children," said Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

In Julia's district, parent leaders estimate there are nearly 400 kids on the kindergarten waiting lists.

The schools chancellor says rest assured everyone will get a seat somewhere and families will know where by the end of June, though there's no guarantee it will be in their zoned district.

He's encouraging them to take it anyway:

"Even as they do that, we'll keep them on the wait list for the schools they prefer," said Klein.

Meanwhile, the wait list limbo is of little consolation to the panicked Rosenbergs.

"I can't think of anything i've seen handled more unprofessionally and more uncompassionately," said Rosenberg.