Parents around the city are worried their day care programs will be cut under the mayor’s budget.

Hundreds of parents and children who attend after-school programs plan to protest the possible cuts at City Hall Park on Thursday.

The Campaign for Children says that 47,000 children would be cut from child care and after-school programs if the mayor’s budget does not change.

The group estimates as many as 700 children will be at the Thursday rally.

Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal, about 75 percent of after-school spots will have been slashed during since 2008, the group said.

Children who attend such programs are more likely to graduate and do better in school, according to the group.

Students who attend after-school programs rallied outside the City Council earlier this month, saying the after-school spots are important for kids like them to stay safe and learn.

Mayoral spokesman Marc LaVorgna told Metro, “We will be working with the Council to ensure we keep the budget balanced while providing as much of the services needed as possible.”

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A Council member painted a scene of screaming parents on the first day of school in September if the city cuts funding from after-school programs.

At a City Council meeting today, members discussed after-school programs for youth, which are in danger of being slashed under Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year.

Advocates estimate 37,000 city-funded slots for kids are on the chopping block.

Councilman Lewis Fidler warned that parents would be irate to learn on the first day of school that their children’s after-school plans were slashed.

“The screaming, the yelling, the upset would have dwarfed almost everything we have heard,” he said at the hearing. “Let’s not go down that road.”

Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna said the mayor wants to keep as many after-school programs as possible.

“Can we afford to pay for as much as we would like, no, but we will be working with the Council to ensure we keep the budget balanced while providing as much of the services needed as possible,” he said.

Children flanked the City Hall steps before the hearing to rally for their programs.

Programs like leadership seminars, chess clubs or simply a safe spot for kids to stay until their parents get home are at risk, according the Campaign for Children, a coalition of child care and after-school programs.

One of the people testifying at the hearing was Pobo Ekeforo, part of the chess team at Brooklyn I.S. 318 featured in the documentary “Brooklyn Castle.”

“These programs are so important for our kids, to keep students off the streets, engage in fun, educational activities that are productive,” he told the Council.

Through the after-school chess program, he found his passion, he said.

Others made clear that students may not have a safe alternative outside of school — a representative from Safe Horizon, which helps women and families fleeing abuse, said they recently helped a girl who had been staying in the corners of Penn Station for months.

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