EQUAL PAY FOR BLACK STAFF: DECE must (1) address disparities in compensation between white employees and employees of color, especially Black employees, who have similar titles and work experience and (2) ensure that our colleagues who joined the Division from the Administration for Children’s Services in July 2019 are paid at the same rate as their DECE counterparts in similar positions."

Conduct a Division-wide pay analysis along lines of race, gender, age, supervisory position (manager or non-manager), years of experience, and arrival to DECE (transfer from ACS or non-transfer). The results must be shared with the entire Division as soon as they are analyzed, and used to drive action for DECE senior leadership and HR to arrive at equal, fair pay for all internal employees. Increase transparency regarding salary, pay increases, and the negotiation process during hiring and throughout a staff member’s time with the DECE. The Division must encourage managers to take accountability for being advocates for their staff in these areas, and push DCAS to make transparent their rubrics for qualifying staff under all salary levels.
EQUITABLE HIRING: DECE must adopt changes in its hiring and promotion practices to reduce barriers to entry and growth within the organization – barriers that especially hurt Black people.

Factor racial equity into decisions on promotions and pay increases. Interrogate the attributes and behaviors that are valued for recognition and promotion. We must ask ourselves: Who is given projects that bring them to the attention of management? How are behaviors like long work hours and constant availability privileged, and who is able to perform them? Ensure Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQIA+, and employees with disabilities hold roles in the highest-levels of DECE. As is our expectation for all staff, senior leadership must be representative of New York City and the predominantly low-income communities that we serve. Ensure that people in administrative support roles, disproportionately filled by Black and brown employees, have opportunities for growth across many parts of the Division, and that their growth is supported by their managers. Seek racial diversity as well as representation across a range of social factors when hiring, including class, gender, sexuality, immigration, and education status. Our workforce must be representative of New York City and the predominantly low-income communities that we serve. Conduct outreach to communities and institutions of higher learning to encourage and support Black and brown people in navigating the civil service and pedagogical process, in partnership with Teacher Recruitment and Quality (see more in Advocacy Recommendations) Require each team within the DECE to set equity goals pertaining to recruiting, hiring, retention, and promotion practices, reporting progress toward their goals to the Leadership Forum and RECT quarterly. The Leadership Forum and RECT will support teams in developing equity-based goals and hold teams accountable for progress toward meeting these goals. Hire existing consultants into full-time positions with union representation and benefits. Immediately hire a Senior Executive Director of Talent and Culture, with multiple staff reports, dedicated to supporting the Division in becoming an anti-racist organization. Secure flexible work schedules, including permanent options for working from home, that make it easier for all staff, including consultants, to adjust their schedules on an ongoing basis.
FAIR COMPENSATION FOR CBO STAFF: DECE must fund and enforce equitable and adequate compensation for all educators and program staff working in our contracted portfolio, the majority of whom are Black and brown women."

Assess remaining pay inequities across our contracted providers. As the City’s largest child care provider, we must: Collect demographic information on all early childhood educators across the birth-to-five contracted system, including Family Child Care (FCC) and 4410 programs. Conduct a system-wide pay analysis for all teaching and support staff along lines of race, gender, age, title, years of teaching and caregiving experience, certification status, and union membership. The results must be shared with the entire Division as soon as they are analyzed, alongside steps for how we’ll arrive at equal, fair pay for all teaching team members in all program types. Fund real cost-of-living raises for all educators and support staff working in the contracted birth-to-five system, including Network affiliated FCC providers and ECE Certified Teachers in 4410 programs. The planned 2% funding raise for all program staff does not keep pace with inflation – over the five years of Pre-K for All the cost of living in the New York metropolitan area has risen by more than 17%. To support all staff, we must work with the Mayor and City Hall to: Supplement the reimbursement rates set by the Office of Children and Family Services for Network affiliated FCC providers to ensure that providers can pay themselves and their support staff a living wage. Fund longevity bonuses for long-standing employees. Fund equitable compensation, beyond wages, for all contracted providers. Fully fund health benefits for any NYCEEC employee working more than 20 hours per week on a DOE contract budget. Fund public transportation costs for NYCEEC staff, FCC Network staff and affiliated FCC providers to attend DECE professional learning days. Increase funding to FCC Networks to ensure that their contracted providers have access to benefits and paid time off. Assist NYCEEC and Network affiliated FCC providers in attaining their ECE certification. Interrogate the barriers to certification faced by CBO staff and provide funding and staff time to dismantle those barriers. Join school leaders in reassessing the cultural biases in NYSED’s teacher certification testing. Fund scholarships, including stipends for after-hours childcare, for CBO staff and FCC Network contracted providers who wish to obtain a higher education degree in Early Childhood Education or a related field. Appoint a task force of DECE employees from all levels committed to pushing City Hall and working with our union partners to secure equal pay for all teachers. The task force will provide frequent updates to the entire Division. Invest in low-performing “Focus Quality” sites with the support and resources needed to improve the quality of instruction. Conduct a quality review of the entire contracted system to identify lower-performing sites and higher-performing sites. When complete, the data team will share an analysis that outlines geographic and demographic trends based on the quality of instruction and environment.
INVEST IN CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH: DECE must ensure that we provide ample support for children’s mental health and social and emotional learning in ways that are responsive to the needs of communities and focus on the families hardest hit by the dual traumas of systemic racism and COVID-19.

Hire enough DECE social workers to ensure that every center-based ECE program, in particular those in the hardest hit neighborhoods, receives intensive social work support (visits at least weekly). New social workers should have manageable caseloads and direct knowledge of and experience working with the communities they are hired to serve. In the long-term, ensure that all children and families have access to a mental health professional at school. Fund FCC Networks to hire social workers to provide intensive support to all FCC programs in these neighborhoods. As much as possible, new social workers hired to support FCC should have direct knowledge of and experience working with the communities they are hired to serve. Encourage the Mental Health and Wellness Team to develop, share, and lead a long-term strategy for trauma-informed care that extends beyond our immediate response to the COVID-19 crisis
FULLY FUND SPECIAL EDUCATION: DECE must address the racial disparities in special education, which particularly impact Black boys, by funding special education programs and services in all early childhood settings, providing supports to early childhood teachers and staff, and expanding supports for families."

Provide support to early childhood teachers and staff to keep children in general education settings where possible. Procure resources to implement a data-based, tiered model of school-based support to reduce the impacts of implicit bias in the selection and implementation of behavior and academic interventions across all programs, as opposed to the subset that are opting-in to the small-scale inclusion and tiered support training opportunities currently available. Expand funding to partner vendors to provide ongoing training to educators and leaders on how to support children of all abilities in a general education settings. Develop a strategy for bringing 4410s into the DECE portfolio, allowing them to benefit from the infrastructure that supports other contracted community-based programs. Expand preschool special education programs and services within 3-K for All and Pre-K for All to address the shortages of 4410 classrooms and related service providers in Black and brown communities, particularly in the Bronx, that leave children without services or with delayed services. Open 3-K Special Classes in an Integrated Setting (SCIS) programming as part of the 3-K for All expansion, so that children with disabilities have a developmentally appropriate, inclusive program option other than special class when they are three. Open more preschool special classes (6:1:2’s, 8:1:2’s and 12:1:2’s) in inclusive programs such as District Schools and Pre-K Centers, where children served in special classes will have access to typically developing peers. Advocate for more DOE-related service providers to serve children on-site in all early childhood settings, including NYCEECs, FCCs, District Schools and Pre-K Centers, particularly to serve Black and brown communities that have been most impacted by related service provider shortages. Expand supports for families transitioning from Early Intervention to preschool.
ELEVATE FAMILIES: DECE must adopt a robust family engagement framework for all early childhood settings that is anchored in a two-generation approach.

Actively seek the perspectives of families and community stakeholders when making decisions. The decisions should be made public using the Division’s current outlets for communication. Commit funding for Family Services Staff in all early education settings to support family partnership, voice, and advocacy that will build a strong foundation for each family’s long-term school experience. Provide comprehensive training around effective family engagement practices for family workers, teachers, administrators, Network staff, and FCC affiliated providers. Develop a family engagement assessment, required as part of an annual self-evaluation for program quality. Offer citywide training for families on an array of topics (e.g., differences between Pre-K for All and FCC, promoting home-school partnerships). Fund a comprehensive, organized online family resource portal where families can independently access developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant resources, maintain reciprocal conversations with program staff about their child’s growth, stay updated on important programmatic changes, access authentic assessment data and screenings, and become aware of opportunities for involvement with the program and community. All digital family resources must be released with opportunities for low- or no-tech engagement for families without access to technology
HONOR MULTILINGUAL CHILDREN: DECE must honor the strengths that Emergent Multilingual Language Learners (EMLLs) bring to all classrooms, including Dual Language (DL) classrooms, and adopt a division-wide approach for supporting and celebrating multilingualism."

Commit additional resources to support EMLLs in all programs Create new trainings and professional learning for supporting EMLLs citywide. Commit additional resources to support EMLLs by opening and supporting Dual Language programs. Provide $2,000 to new DL programs. Funds will cover: Professional learning in DL best practices for both teaching teams and administrative staff. Costs of books and materials appropriate to the languages used in the program. Fund at least two early childhood Subsidized Bilingual Extension Program cohorts each year, in order to help more teachers secure an expensive certification that is required for teaching a DL classroom. Fund a 15% pay raise for lead teachers who attain their bilingual extension. Fill each DL class with a higher proportion of children who speak the target language at home, moving away from the 50:50 model. While DL instruction and multilingualism benefit all children, we must especially work with multilingual families to preserve their children’s home language.
DISMANTLE WHITE DOMINANT CULTURE: DECE must dismantle deep-rooted white dominant culture by investing in continuous training and programming around anti-racism, reevaluating instructional resources and frameworks, and altering decision-making processes to incorporate race from the start."

Acknowledge the pain by providing space for Black and brown colleagues to heal. Host forums to foster conversations around race, class, gender, education, sexual orientation, and other identities. Promote the continued formation of affinity groups that provide supportive spaces for traditionally marginalized groups Create separate spaces for white people and non-Black people of color to interrogate their own internalized anti-Black racism and unlearn white dominant behaviors without causing harm to Black colleagues. Establish Division-wide processes rooted in the ideals of restorative justice for quickly and effectively responding to racism in the workplace. Managers must (1) model for their teams how to create and prioritize making space for dialogue around race and (2) engage in conversations around race with vulnerability and humility, accepting discomfort when it arises. To facilitate this outcome, the DECE must: Require additional, intensive training for managers and senior-level staff beyond Implicit Bias to increase their understanding of and professional commitment to issues of race (aligned with the Racial Equity Core Team’s recommendation for executive coaching for senior leadership). Create and enforce transparent decision-making processes and protocols that embed racial justice checks into every decision-making process. Model racial justice checks by including data on the likely effects of any decision on Black and brown communities in communications with the Division. Invest in ongoing professional learning for central and borough support staff around culturally responsive practices and anti-racist instruction Provide resources and training so that all site support staff can embed culturally responsive sustaining pedagogy and antiracist practices in their work with teaching and leadership teams. Evaluate our current instructional guidance (i.e, Units of Study, Explorations, Connections), professional learning offerings, and assessment tools (CLASS, ECERS, authentic assessment) to determine how we can make each more culturally responsive and challenge definitions of “quality” that have a bias toward white cultural norms and values. Using the findings from the internal evaluation and current literature/research, DECE must continually produce recommendations on how our materials and work can be more culturally responsive. Evaluate our current Early Childhood Framework for Quality (EFQ) with an anti-racist, culturally responsive lens.
CREATE SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS FOR DISMANTLING RACISM: DECE must (1) invest in transparent data, research, and community expertise that furthers our system-wide commitment to anti-racist education and (2) end the practice of relegating racial justice work to unpaid committees."

Charge the Program Evaluation and Research Committee (PERC) with the focused task of evaluating all DECE efforts to further racial justice. To help PERC become a sustainable engine for data analysis on equity, the DECE must hire and assign data analysts to PERC. In this period before PERC is supported with a designated team, deprioritize all non-COVID and non-equity-related work for all members of the data team. Empower Racial Equity Core Team members with the agency needed to embed the values of anti-racism into all parts of the Division and end the practice of relegating racial justice work to unpaid committees by establishing permanent, well-paid racial justice staff roles. Empower the current members of the RECT with clearly articulated decision-making power. In the absence of full-time racial justice staff, the RECT is our transitional vehicle to lead racial justice work, and must have the authority to push for real change. Devise and share a clearly articulated plan for how the Division will eliminate the racism embedded in our early childhood system. The plan must: Address the items listed in this letter and the recommendations made in the DECE Equity Strategic Plan, developed by the RECT. This plan must also account for the allocation of additional resources for early childhood programs in historically underfunded communities and boroughs, success metrics for progress toward becoming an anti-racist organization, a clear timeline of expected outcomes, and external accountability measures. Charge the Leadership Forum with holding DECE teams accountable for setting and meeting equity goals, and continually reassessing the equity goals set for the entire Division. Define a process for adding members to the Leadership Forum that ensures representation along lines of race, class, gender, and title. Deepen opportunities for research on culturally responsive early childhood teaching and leadership practices by building connections with universities and expert organizations (for example, NYU Metro Center and the Center for Culture, Race and Equity at Bank Street College). Collaborate with local cultural and education organizations that have studied the history of anti-racist movements in education (such as the Schomburg Center in Harlem) in order to inform our approach to anti-racist instruction.

OUR ADVOCACY RECOMMENDATIONS

In addition to the demands listed above, we urge your persistent, visible advocacy on many of the demands outlined in letters shared by our DOE colleagues and school leaders, all of which are connected to the well-being and safety of the children, families, and communities we serve.

(1) Fighting for Black lives means severing all ties between the DOE and the NYPD – we urge you to encourage the Chancellor and the Mayor to consider non-police alternatives to school safety. In addition to the threat in-school police pose to Black and brown children and their families, the funding allocated to the NYPD necessarily keeps money away from the social services that keep children safe and secure, and therefore better able to learn and grow. We urge you to push the Chancellor and the Mayor to sever any ties between the DOE and NYPD.

Our 85 Pre-K Centers offer spaces where the DOE can pilot a shift away from School Safety Officers, a role that can be placed under the training and supervision of the Office of Safety and Youth Development.

(2) While DECE and our union partners have made efforts to clarify the civil service system for DECE employees, the current testing and title regime remains overly complex and difficult to navigate. The practices and procedures governing DOE Central HR are only understood by a small number of specialists. The DOE at large has been forced by legislation and the courts to more actively use the civil service system in our hiring practices over the past year. We believe that this moment offers an opportunity to include conversations around equity and inclusion into the design of the civil service system going forward. The DECE must work with our partners at DOE Central HR, the Unions, and DCAS to advocate for a set of Education Civil Service Titles that recognize the skills and accomplishments most likely to build a system that works for traditionally marginalized employees and communities.

DECE leadership, in consultation with the RECT, must work with our Union partners and DOE Central HR to pressure DCAS to evaluate the current system of Education Civil Service Titles. We must ask:
- What value do the Exams for current titles place on educational attainment and other markers that may not be open to those from economically or racially marginalized communities? Are there requirements in the current Exams for types of education or experience that might exclude qualified candidates?
- What is the value of a high stakes test over a portfolio review or other alternative assessment method?
- Is there important work being done in the Division that is not represented in the current Civil Service Title list?
- How does an individual’s ranking on a civil service exam correlate to their job performance?
- Does the current exam regime actually predict performance?
- How often are Exams offered? How and where are they publicized? How well is their impact on pay and promotion understood, within the division and within the general population?

DECE leadership and HR must work with Central DOE HR to increase the number of DECE central roles that are open to those who hold pedagogical titles. For pedagogical staff, accepting a position at a central office can mean forfeiting their Union, a reality that can deter qualified and experienced educators of color, especially Black women, from moving up within the organization.

(3) Advocate for investment in the social services that keep New Yorkers safe. We are disappointed that the de Blasio administration has forced the DOE to shoulder $800 million in budget cuts, which include defunding Equity and Excellence initiatives, yet remains reluctant to make comparable cuts to the NYPD.

Through the Summer Youth Employment Program, tens of thousands of young people across the city are paid to learn and explore their interests each summer. In the absence of robust social services and affordable housing, SYEP has become an essential source of financial support to poor families and teens. In our increasingly expensive city, and amid a pandemic that has left nearly 900,000 New Yorkers unemployed, the de Blasio administration’s choice to end a program that provides supplemental income to young people is especially regressive. We urge you to advocate for full funding to be restored for SYEP.

OUR ADVOCACY RECOMMENDATIONS

​

In addition to the demands listed above, we urge your persistent, visible advocacy on many of the demands outlined in letters shared by our DOE colleagues and school leaders, all of which are connected to the well-being and safety of the children, families, and communities we serve.