The Day Care Council of New York and the Council of School Supervisors & Administrators (CSA), AFSA Local 1, have reached a contract agreement on behalf of administrators working at publicly funded day care centers that includes 33.62% in compounded raises over nearly eight years.
The agreement, which was ratified this month with 91% of the members voting for the contract, covers 150 directors and assistant directors, and spans from Oct. 1, 2020, through March 2028. The tentative deal includes a ratification bonus, annual retention bonuses and increases to the union’s welfare fund.
The Day Care Council highlighted that one achievement obtained in the contract would also provide pay differentials for administrators who supervise extended-year programs, which unlike day care centers in the city public school system run through the summer.
“We are glad there is an acknowledgement from the city that our directors work longer,” Gregory Brender, a spokesperson for the Day Care Council, said during a phone interview.
Advocates, including the CSA, have been pushing for years to close the decades-long pay gap faced by directors in community-based day care centers, who were paidslightly more than half as much as their counterparts working as district directors for early education programs in city public schools. The union filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court in 2021 alleging that although directors at publicly funded day care centers performed work that was “virtually identical” to district directors, they were paid on average $77,010 a year after two years on the job, compared with the $138,135 salary earned by public school directors.
The suit also argued that the “racial and gender inequality” among directors at publicly funded day care centers contributed to pay disparity—while 92% of directors at community-based centers were women of color, district directors were predominantly white.
“Our early childhood directors and assistant directors provide essential leadership for our youngest learners, laying a foundation for lifelong growth, success and reinvestment in our great city,” CSA President Henry Rubio said in a statement. “We are proud to have delivered a contract that honors their incredible contributions to our public school system, and we thank the Day Care Council of New York for their ongoing collaboration.”
He continued, “We greatly appreciate the mayor’s recognition and critical investment in equity for our city’s workforce. We thank him for his commitment to educational leaders who deserve to be on a pathway toward parity. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the DCCNY and the city to build on this progress.”
Tara Gardner, executive director of the Day Care Council, said that while the compounded increases over the span of the contract wouldn’t boost administrators’ pay to the point that they reach parity with public school directors, the pact represented progress. “It’s a step along the path to parity. These increases are well deserved and long overdue,” Gardner said in a phone interview.
The pact was announced Monday by City Hall, which noted that the city’s Office of Labor Relations assisted in the negotiations.
“Our administration is committed to expanding access to early childhood education with over 150,000 children enrolled across our system, and this means making sure that our child care providers are well paid and work with dignity,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “With this agreement, we are helping put more money back into the pockets of working-class New Yorkers, investing in our child care centers, and helping achieve our vision of making New York City the best place to raise a family.”
This story was first published in the Chief-Leader.
