Cynthia Davis of Kings and Queens Childcare Center sits on her porch. Behind her is a toy rack with individual sets of toys for each child — a safety precaution undertaken because of the pandemic. (Photo by Eli Turner Studios courtesy of the Bainum Family Foundation)

David Daniels: New DC tax is a win for early childhood educators, young children and families

By Commentary On Sep 24, 2021 Last updated Sep 24, 2021

Many of the District of Columbia’s early childhood educators ― who are predominantly women of color ― don’t earn sufficient wages and benefits to support their own families while they care for and educate the children of other families. The Birth-to-Three for All DC Act, passed unanimously by the DC Council in June 2018, was designed to rectify this situation by creating a comprehensive system of supports and services for infants and toddlers and their families. Although the act called for wage increases for these important but often undervalued educators, that provision has remained unfunded ― until now.

David Daniels is CEO and president of the Bethesda-based Bainum Family Foundation.

The DC Council approved a budget for fiscal year 2022 that follows through on this promise, and Mayor Muriel Bowser recently signed it into law. It includes a modest tax increase on DC’s wealthiest residents that will support increased compensation for thousands of early childhood educators across the District. These educators ― who are always essential to the functioning of our community, but whose critical role became especially clear during the pandemic ― are expected to finally see pay raises that acknowledge the vital work they do to support the healthy development of young children. It also will begin to address the pay discrepancy that exists between educators in early childhood education programs (or “child care”) and their counterparts who work in public elementary schools.

The 2020 Early Childhood Workforce Index published by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley, shows that the poverty rate for early educators in DC is 34.4%, much higher than for DC workers in general (12.4%) and nearly six times as high as for K-8 teachers (5.9%).

The DC tax increase will generate more than $170 million annually for this and other critical priorities, such as housing vouchers for people experiencing homelessness and tax credits for working families with children living on low and moderate incomes. As a result, $53 million in funding for FY 2022 and more than $70 million annually beginning in FY 2023 will be used to support early childhood educators.

This new development builds on the District’s track record of support for young children. Since 2008, DC has been a national leader in offering free, universal pre-kindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds. While our community rightfully takes pride in the pre-K program, that win didn’t come easily, and neither did this one. A broad-based group of local advocates, nonprofits, educators and families ― led by the Under 3 DC coalition ― worked tirelessly to achieve this important and unprecedented victory for early childhood educators. We are proud to support the coalition’s work and appreciate the passion, diligence and unity they have shown in addressing this critical issue. We also commend the DC Council and Mayor Bowser for providing dedicated and sustainable funding for early childhood educators in the FY 2022 budget, which takes effect Oct. 1.

The funding couldn’t come at a more critical time. Early childhood education programs have faced tremendous difficulty during the COVID-19 pandemic, whether they closed or remained open at partial capacity to provide care for children of essential workers. Programs that already operated on thin margins — or, in some cases, at a loss — faced reduced revenues, a flurry of new safety- and sanitation-related requirements (plus ensuing costs), and growing difficulty recruiting and hiring staff.

Pandemic-related support came through federal and local relief funds and via the DC Child Care Reopening Fund, which Mary’s Center launched last summer with support from our foundation and four others to help programs reopen and build back to full capacity. But these were temporary solutions. It was important that the District act now in a permanent way to provide sustainable, local public dollars to support this field. More is needed to build the comprehensive system envisioned by the Birth-to-Three for All DC Act, but this is a good step forward.

This new funding can help address several urgent issues, including a long-standing shortage of high-quality early learning programs in the District and high levels of turnover among early childhood educators. Turnover creates instability for programs; it interrupts the secure attachments young children need to form with their teachers before learning can occur. Stable funding for compensation will help create financial stability for educators and encourage them to remain in the field rather than leave in search of better pay. It also can attract and retain more educators in the field, particularly those with the professional credentials that employers seek.

This past April, we partnered with three leading professional associations in the early childhood field to virtually convene more than 1,000 people at the inaugural DC Early Educator Experience event. In a survey of attendees, more than 90% of respondents made it clear that a pay increase is the resource they most need to stay in the early childhood field.

The next step in this process is determining how to allocate the new public funding made available through the tax increase. A working group of stakeholders ― including early childhood educators, families, advocates and city officials ― will be proposed by the DC Council and appointed by Chairman Phil Mendelson. This group will be tasked with providing recommendations by early next year so that eligible early childhood educators can begin seeing pay increases in 2022. As an organization deeply committed to early childhood education and racial equity, we urge that close attention be paid to the groups and communities that have been historically denied adequate resources.

Fulfilling this promise to the early childhood workforce means that no matter where families choose to send their infants, toddlers and young children ― whether it’s a home-, center-, school- or community-based program ― educators and administrators are prepared and paid fairly for their work. And it means that DC will continue its leadership role in valuing and supporting early childhood education so that all children and families have access to high-quality programs with well-compensated early childhood education professionals.

David Daniels is CEO and president of the Bethesda-based Bainum Family Foundation, which has provided funding of more than $40 million over the past six years to support access to quality early childhood education in the District of Columbia.

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