Sally D’Italia: DC COVID-19 vaccine plan intentionally leaves child care educators behind
As an early childhood educator in DC, I thought I would be eligible to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine this week. It’s a promise Mayor Muriel Bowser made earlier this month. Early childhood educators have been working to keep their centers open and operating during most of the pandemic, so we expected the day to come without delay. But we were misinformed. The mayor’s team informed us Jan. 19 that we didn’t make this phase of the vaccine registration list while we were on a “Vaccine Information Session for School Child Care” call with DC’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and the Department of Health.
Dr. Ankoor Shah of the District’s health agency explained that the vaccine program would be employing an intentional two-pronged approach that prioritizes DC Public Schools (DCPS) teachers, public school support staff and contractors, and DC charter schools. When we asked about where we stood in terms of eligibility, they placated us with examples of other “groups” not yet eligible for the vaccine. In other words, the early care and learning community was once again an afterthought. Even after several DC Council members pressed the issue on our behalf, OSSE is saying that we’ll have to wait until February to get the vaccine — and we still don’t have a date for actual registration or vaccination.
The early learning community deserves better. We heeded Mayor Bowser’s call to open emergency child care programs (both center- and home-based) soon after the pandemic began to support the District’s first responders. As the crisis lingered, more of us reopened — despite the great health and financial risks of doing so — to serve other families who needed to return to work. And yet, even though we are essential workers critical to a functioning society, we were intentionally left off the list of those eligible in the latest phase of COVID-19 vaccinations.
The decision to exclude the early learning community is discriminatory. It is a health and safety issue that endangers early educators, the young and vulnerable population we serve, and their families.
This vaccine incident is not the first time — nor will it be the last time — that early learning educators have been treated inequitably by Mayor Bowser and her administration. The saddest part is that the early care and learning sector is composed predominantly of women and, in particular, women of color. Many programs and educators had to return to work in order to be paid, which meant ongoing exposure. Virtual learning is not an option for many early learning programs, especially those that have subsidy contracts with OSSE. So while DCPS teachers were afforded the ability to teach virtually and get paid, early learning educators and children had to return to in-person care last November. Many of these are educators serving our most vulnerable populations, largely in wards 7 and 8.
OSSE was sued in May 2016 by a community-based early learning program for violating educators’ Fourth Amendment constitutional rights: The District government had implemented a set list of rules for early educators that were different in school settings than in community-based programs. The plaintiffs won, and consistent rules were established for early educators in all teaching environments.
The District’s early learning community will not survive if Mayor Bowser and her administration continue to regard us as second-best or less-deserving. We don’t have the voice of a union or a famous spokesperson. But that does not mean it is OK to continue to take us for granted. The administration should do what is right and appropriate for us as educators and for the families we serve with pride. Equity matters, and so does our health and well-being.
Sally D’Italia is an early childhood educator, co-chair of the Under 3 DC Program Funding & Compensation Committee, and co-chair of the DC Directors Exchange.
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While an argument could possibly be made to prioritize teachers serving a specific age group over those serving another one, based on the inherent risk level posed by the children under their care, I don’t see a scientific basis for prioritizing same-grade public school teachers over their private school counterparts, who are also not included in this round of vaccinations. Vaccination decisions should be based exclusively on scientific considerations, with no regards to public pressure to open DCPS schools, or that from public school teacher unions.
Ms. D’Italia is correct on all fronts. It is dumbfounding that the city, the Department of Health and OSSE left childcare providers off the list of educators to be vaccinated. They were the FIRST to go back to work, before any other educators, be it public, charter or independent. DCPS teachers are still not in the classroom, and there is no guarantee that the vaccine will get them there anytime soon.
The caregivers are have been and are now caring for children of the doctors, nurses, AND teachers so they could teach, albeit remotely. Given the nature of the work and age of the children under their care, these women (yes mostly women) have to be in close contact with the children and each other. Given that they are paid less than their counterparts in education, they are more likely to take public transportation , increasing their exposure to the general public. With new variants of the virus increasing exponentially, would it not make sense to vaccinate people who are actually on the job working in close physical proximity of the children?
The Mayor should take immediate steps to rectify this situation. For the sake of these caregivers, the children they care for and their families.