City Announces Deal on Early Education Salary Parity
Insights
July 9, 2019
Today, Mayor de Blasio, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and leaders at DC37, DC 1707 and the Day Care Council announced a labor agreement for early educators.
As you know, early childhood education has a transformative impact on children and families. Every day across New York City, early education teachers and staff are hard at work providing children with the foundation for school success and life-long learning. Their work also provides parents a vital resource that allows them to remain employed and be upwardly mobile.
These outcomes are made possible by the entire early education workforce – made up of teachers, directors, cooks, janitors, and more who work together to provide high quality care and education in community-based and school-based settings. Yet, historically early education teachers in community-based organizations (CBOs) have been inadequately compensated in comparison to their Department of Education (DOE) peers, with wide and growing gaps in salaries.
Today’s labor agreement marks a momentous accomplishment in addressing these pay disparities, providing the CBO workforce with the fairness and respect they have earned and providing children and families with the stability they need from their early education programs.
According to a press release from the city, the tentative agreement, which must be ratified by member vote, includes:
Salary parity for early childhood educators at nonprofit community-based organizations achieved over the next 3 fiscal years. This will help alleviate the retention and turnover issues experienced at CBOs due to pay inequity
The agreement brings down the out-of-pocket health insurance costs for CBO staffers by reducing their premiums and co-pays
According to the press release, to allow providers more time to consider what this information may mean for their program model, the DOE is extending the deadline for the Birth-to-Five and Head Start RFPs from July 15th to August 5th.
Today’s labor agreement impacts members of DC1707 Local 205. Importantly, city leaders also clearly articulated that this agreement establishes the model or framework for discussions with Head Start educators and non-union CBO educators.
Your Advocacy Made a Difference
We want to thank you for helping to make this historic victory possible. Your consistent willingness to write, call and turn out in support of salary parity has made our collective advocacy stronger, louder and ultimately successful.
