Educare DC

Yesterday afternoon the DC Council finalized the Local Budget Act for FY25 and restored $70 million to the Pay Equity Fund. This is approximately 80% of the $87 million that OSSE says the program costs. While it’s not the full funding we hoped to win, it’s still an incredible victory considering the Mayor proposed entirely eliminating the program. I am grateful the Council understood the injustice of the Mayor’s proposal and reversed the vast majority of cuts in an exceptionally difficult budget year when the District faced a $700 million budget shortfall. We left it all on the field: 15 Educare DC teachers and staff met with DC Councilmembers, 6 testified in Budget Oversight hearings, 5 were interviewed and featured in media stories, and dozens made phone calls to Councilmembers. It made a real difference and I am so proud to be in this fight with them. The work continues to ensure early care and education teachers earn the equitable compensation they deserve.

We are excited to fill this role within our organization. If you are interested or know a Development professional that may be a good fit, please click below.

Next-generation leader Jamal B. joins our June 6 CAYL Catalyst webinar panel! We hope you'll join us, too! Register at: https://lnkd.in/ejgFnGUA About Jamal: Jamal Berry is Educare DC’s President and CEO. In 2013, Mr. Berry began his career with Educare DC as an infant and toddler Mentor Teacher, later becoming the school director and then vice president of programs. Over the years, he has applied his knowledge of leadership and early childhood development to steer Educare DC to earning high-quality program ratings and to earning accreditation with the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Mr. Berry is an advocate for young children as well as for early childhood educators. Mr. Berry earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Pedology from Bowie State University. At George Washington University, he earned a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education and a Specialist of Education degree in Leadership and Early Childhood Special Education. Mr. Berry was named a PBS Early Learning Champion, and he is a 2019 UCLA Head Start Management Fellow. Also in 2018, he presented on The Importance of Leadership at the Annual International Education Exhibition and Forum in Saudi Arabia. He is a contributor to New America’s blog Moving Beyond False Choices for Early Childhood Educators and most recently was featured on Gloria Riviera’s Podcast No One is Coming to Save Us. Mr. Berry believes wholeheartedly that if everyone does a little, no one has to do a lot. He is passionate about the future of early childhood education and is focused on having a lasting impact on the lives of early childhood professionals and families with young children.

We are excited to fill this role within our organization. If you are interested or know a Development professional that may be a good fit, please click below.

We were delighted to host our 8th Annual Learning Event this morning where we were joined by business leaders, philanthropists, advocates, and policy makers who came together united in our mission to ensure all children have a strong start to life. This year's featured speaker, Dr. Jack Shonkoff of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, described his latest research which shows that a child's developmental environment plays a critical role in shaping development and lifelong health. Their developmental environment is composed of the full range of experiences and exposures that they have in the places they live, learn, play, and grow. That's why Educare DC's two-generation model of high-quality education and intensive family engagement is so important. We aim to improve our students' environments at school and at home. Keep an eye on our website for information about future events for our supporters! www.educaredc.org/events #EducareDC #AnnualLearningEvent #excellenceineverything #earlychildcarematters #armyandnavyclub #DC #growingyoungminds #growingthefuture #earlychildhoodeducation #ECE

This morning our Parent Ambassadors were honored to meet with DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. We advocated for full funding of Head Start so every eligible child is served and teachers earn the salaries they deserve. #HeadStart National Head Start Association

We are proud to share Educare DC's 2023 Annual Report! Watch the 1-minute video for a quick overview of what we achieved together in 2023. Read the full report here: https://ow.ly/wabS50Re9UC Our annual report demonstrates the incredible work our staff does to implement our whole-family approach, to prepare children for kindergarten, and to help make a lasting impact on the lives of children and their families. This work is important and life changing, and we could not do it without our high-quality early childhood educators. We also could not do this work without your support. Thank you for helping to ensure that all children get the strong start they deserve! #EducareDC #AnnualReport2023 #ExcellenceinEverything #growingthefuture #growingyoungminds #DC #heartwork

Endlessly inspired by early childhood teachers, especially after this morning’s rally for the Pay Equity Fund. Over 400 teachers, parents and caregivers, advocates, and our allies showed up to demand that the DC Council fully restore funding for the #PayEquityFund in FY25. As Educare DC Lead Teacher Jaqueline Strickland said, “Mayor Bowser’s budget shows that she undervalues early childhood educators. But after today, she won’t underestimate us!” 🫡 Thank you to Travis Ballie and the team at Under3DC and DC Action for organizing. #ProtectPEF #ece #childcare #fairshot

I am heartened to see so many people testifying about the necessity for the DC Council to restore full funding to the Pay Equity Fund in today's Committee of the Whole's Budget Oversight Hearing for education agencies. Below is an excerpt from my remarks: "The Mayor’s proposed FY25 budget is devastating for the District’s early childhood programs. The draconian elimination of the Pay Equity Fund and outrageous cuts to the childcare subsidy program will demoralize early childhood teachers, destabilize the early childhood sector already struggling with teacher shortages, raise childcare costs for families that are already unaffordable, and derail the District’s economic comeback. The Pay Equity Fund is designed to be a long-term solution to the long-term problem of pay inequity for early childhood teachers, and it requires a long-term commitment from you. Tough budget years will come and go, but you must keep this commitment. The 4,000 teachers benefitting from the Pay Equity Fund are finally making the higher salary they deserve after decades of pay inequity. They have structured their lives around these new salaries, including buying the new homes they have always dreamed of but previously couldn’t afford. If you eliminate the Pay Equity Fund, teachers in this situation face a choice: leave teaching for a higher paying job so they can afford their house, or sell the house and continue doing the same work for less money. Early childhood teachers are often called the workforce behind the workforce, but they are so much more than that. They are highly-skilled professional teachers with expertise and degrees in early childhood education that the District requires them to earn. I know you are familiar with the research on the value of early childhood education, but given the circumstances, I think it’s worth revisiting. Early childhood teachers teach children the early reading, early math, and social emotional skills that are critical to success in kindergarten and beyond. The research is clear about the impact of this teaching: children who receive an early childhood education are 25% more likely to graduate high school, four times more likely to earn a Bachelor’s degree, earn up to 25% higher wages as adults, and notably are 20% less likely to be involved with crime as adults. Early childhood teachers deserve to be compensated commensurate with the value of their work. I will conclude my remarks by sharing a quote from one of Educare DC’s Lead Teachers, Jacqueline Strickland, who wanted to testify today but is currently teaching in the classroom. "I have worked hard. I have done my part... I have gotten my BA, so I just ask that they fairly compensate me." As Jackie said, she has done her part, and so have 4,000 early childhood teachers across the District. Now we ask that you do your part, keep your commitment to early childhood teachers, and restore full funding for the Pay Equity Fund in FY25." #ProtectPEF #PayEquityFund #ECE

#WashingtonDC Mayor Muriel Bowser released her proposed 2025 fiscal year budget today that decimates the #childcare sector with massive, multi-year cuts to subsidies for families and permanently eliminates the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund and HealthCareChildCare. At a time when high-quality child care in the District remains unaffordable and hard to find, Bowser will single-handedly be responsible for educators fleeing child care for higher-paying jobs, leading to lower incomes for families, lower productivity for businesses, and decreased tax revenue. Join us Friday at an 8 am rally to push back - http://bit.ly/49pXnhw