July 9, 2019Contract follows de Blasio Administration’s budget handshake commitment to address issues of early childhood teacher recruitment and retentionNEW YORK––Mayor Bill de Blasio, Speaker Corey Johnson, Labor Relations Commissioner Renee Campion, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, District Council 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido, District Council 1707 Executive Director Kim Medina and Day Care Council of New York Executive Director Andrea Anthony today announced a tentative contract agreement between early childhood care providers, District Council 1707 Local 205 and the Day Care Council of New York (DCCNY). The contract extension will benefit 4,241 early childhood education employees with over 10,000 students in their care and serve as the model for remaining certified early childhood education providers. The tentative agreement provides a pathway to pay parity between certified early childhood education teachers and entry-rate Department of Education salaries by October 1, 2021.This agreement builds on the deal reached in 2016, which provided the first comprehensive salary increases since 2006 for day care employees.“There are few things as valuable as early childhood education and our youngest New Yorkers deserve the very best,” said Mayor de Blasio. “With this agreement, we’re ensuring whether you’re in one of our schools or teaching in a community based organization, you get the same starting salary. That means our kids and parents can rest assured that they’ll always have our best teachers in the classroom, helping our future leaders develop the skills they need to succeed.”“This deal ensures that certified teachers who work in community based organizations will earn the same starting salary as their DOE colleagues. More importantly, this deal enhances the educational opportunity of our City’s students by helping to provide stability in their classrooms, instead of losing effective teachers due to the lack of pay parity. All NYC teachers deserve the same pay, the same benefits and the same respect, and when we provide pay parity in education, we provide better educational opportunities for our students,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.“For too long the dedicated early childhood educators/DC 1707 members have provided thousands of our children with the caring and vital education they need during their early years – but without the compensation they deserved. The long struggle is finally over, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and DC 1707 Executive Director Kim Medina are to be commended for their leadership. The DC 37/1707 partnership with the Mayor and the City Council, led by Speaker Johnson, achieved just compensation for the hard dedicated workers of Early Childhood Education,” said District Council 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido.“I want to thank the Mayor for his leadership, in recognizing the need to rectify this on-going problem of paying public center-based educators less than their counter-parts in the DOE.
I also want recognize the members of the City Council and advocates for their support. I want to thank Executive Director Henry Garrido of DC37 AFSCME for his support and assistance and the support of the NYC Labor community as well. This great achievement in pay equity will reverberate across the country and again NY is the progress voice of the people. Together we made history,” said District Council 1707 Executive Director Kim Medina.“FPWA commends both Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Johnson for their commitment to the children of this great city and to the workforce and community organizations that work tirelessly to serve them every day,” said Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies. “Because of the Mayor’s vision, our City Council and Speaker Johnson’s leadership, the work of DC37 and Executive Director Garrido, and the Campaign for Children, one of the greatest threats and barriers to educational quality — staff turnover and resulting program instability — is being addressed, and we are headed toward pay parity.”“The pathway to pay parity will help community based organizations recruit and retain qualified staff. Our members and their staff, many of whom are women of color, provide high quality and crucial child care services to New York City’s families. It is only fitting that these educators be compensated on par with their peers in public schools. Our work, and this achievement, would not have been possible without continuous support from City Council members Laurie Cumbo, Daniel Dromm, Stephen Levin, Mark Treyger and many others, as well as Comptroller Scott Stringer and our partners in the Campaign for Children,” said Andrea Anthony, Day Care Council of New York’s Executive Director.According to the tentative agreement, DC 1707 Local 205 certified teachers will receive the following salary increases over three years:Increase ScheduleWith Master’s DegreeWith Bachelor’s DegreeOctober 1, 2019$53,581$48,372October 1, 2020$62,295$55,651October 1, 2021$68,652 ($20,784 more than previous rate) $61,070 ($17,435 more than previous rate)The tentative agreement also includes:Additional compensation for non-certified teachers and support staff: Non-certified teachers and support staff will receive a 2 year contract extension, a $1,800 ratification bonus and a 2.75% wage increase on October 1, 2021.Health care cost reductions: This agreement provides many DC 1707 Local 205 members with significant reductions in co-pays and/or an approximately 10% reduction in co-premiums, depending on their Metroplus plan. The City, Health+Hospitals, MetroPlus, and DC1707 Local 205 will also review medical claims over the next year to find opportunities for additional reduced premiums and/or co-pays.While DC 1707 workers are employed by providers who are members of the Day Care Council and the contract was negotiated between those two parties, the City funds these early childhood education programs and supported the negotiations. At full ramp up, the cost of the tentative DC 1707 Local 205 settlement in Fiscal Year 2023 is approximately $15 million, with a net cumulative cost of $5 million, as $10 million is already reflected in the City’s labor reserve.
The tentative agreement covers the period through September 30, 2022. The agreement must be ratified by DC 1707 Local 205’s membership. This settlement continues the Administration’s commitment to early childhood education and ensuring we have the best talent in our classrooms so our children have the tools they need to succeed.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 RFP and Head Start/Early Head Start RFP from July 15th to August 5th. The DOE will provide more detail in the coming days through an RFP addendum about what information proposers will be required to include in their final submission as it relates to their program budget and staff salaries.“I am happy to have assisted the Day Care Council and District Council 1707 in reaching this important agreement. I commend the parties for sitting down together with me in a respectful and thoughtful manner to find solutions to these challenging labor issues. This agreement ensures that daycare providers will be able to meet the current recruitment and retention challenges for those workers who are entrusted to teach our youngest New Yorkers,” said Renee Campion, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Labor Relations.“Thanks to the leadership of Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Johnson, we’re taking an important step forward in our partnership with community-based providers across the City. 3-K, Pre-K, and EarlyLearn would not be possible without these educators, and I’m excited to continue working together to provide free, full-day, high-quality education for New York City’s youngest learners,” said Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza. “As Education Chair and as a member of the Council’s Budget Negotiation Team under the leadership of Speaker Johnson, we made clear that pay parity for early childhood educators was a top priority in the FY2020 budget,” said Council Member Mark Treyger. “We made sure to incorporate the resources necessary for the Administration to strike a fair deal with providers and labor to achieve parity. I commend DC37, DC1707, and all stakeholders for their work towards reaching an agreement that will achieve parity. Thank you Speaker Johnson, Mayor de Blasio, my Council colleagues, and all of the dedicated advocates for making this parity agreement possible and for stabilizing NYC’s early childhood education system while honoring equal pay for equal work.”