Before NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ budget was released, NYC Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez offered her support to two sides of child care by speaking out for the need to fund 3K and Pre-K and speaking with community-based organization (CBO) child care workers about fair pay parity.
On April 4, Gutiérrez met with child care workers at Small World Early Childhood Center (211 Ainslie Street) and the leadership of St. Nicks Alliance and Nuestros Niños. These early childhood educators are fighting to be paid similarly to their counterparts who work for the Department of Education (DOE). The City’s promise to provide a pathway to parity for certified teachers employed by CBOs, based on the agreement between Local 205 and Day Care Council of New York City (DCCNY) in 2019, has yet to be fulfilled. The contract language does not provide funding that would allow CBOs to pay their teachers for parity in regards to raises achieved by DOE teachers due to collective bargaining or their years of teaching experience. In basic terms, these educators feel that if experience and credentials are equal the pay should also be equal.
On April 18, Gutiérrez held a 3K and Pre-K funding rally at City Hall in hopes to safeguard funding for these in the NYC budget. Her enduring support for child care is demonstrated by her dedication to the effort. At a press conference on September 21, 2023, when NYC council members called for Universal Child Care she said, “The existing system is deeply flawed, and while the administration’s efforts represent a step in the right direction, they fall short of the comprehensive transformation that is desperately needed by parents, providers, and our economy of care.”
The Greenline 