Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 1 p.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 1
Committee: Subcommittee on Early Childhood Education
The Council's Subcommittee on Early Childhood Education, joined by the Committees on Higher Education and Workforce Development, held an oversight hearing on the early childhood educator workforce shortage and pipeline, and considered Intro 2606, which would establish a child care workforce grant and services program. Chairs Gutiérrez, Joseph, and Won opened by citing estimates that the City needs roughly 5,000 new early childhood educators each year, high turnover, and low wages relative to educational costs. Administration witnesses from the Mayor's Office of Child Care, NYC Public Schools, CUNY, and NYC Talent described current recruitment, apprenticeship, and credentialing efforts, and the Mayor's Office of Child Care said it supports the intent of the bill while raising implementation and cost concerns. Council members questioned witnesses on vacancy data, special education and bilingual teacher shortages, pay parity, back pay, benefits disparities, and two-K/three-K seat planning. No votes were taken; a large public testimony session followed in which providers, educators, unions, and advocates overwhelmingly called for pay parity, wage subsidies, faster clearances, and inclusive credentialing pathways.
0:53 Your seats. Good morning
0:53 .welcome to New York City
0:55 council hearing for the
0:55 comedian early early childhood
0:56 k joined with the committee on
0:58 workforce development and the
0:59 committee on high education at
1:00 this time. Please sign all
1:01 cell phones, electronic
1:02 devices to minimize
1:05 interruption. Moving forward
1:06 .no one is to approach today is
1:07 chairs. We are ready to.
1:09 Begin. Thank you. Thank you
1:11 all for your patience. Good
1:13 afternoon. I'm Council Member
1:14 Jennifer Gutiérrez, chair of
1:15 the New York city's
1:16 subcommittee on early
1:17 childhood education. Welcome
1:19 to our hearing centering on
1:20 the early childhood educator
1:22 workforce development and
1:23 pipeline. I'm excited to be
1:24 joined by the chair of the
1:25 committee on higher education
1:26 Council Member reader Joseph
1:29 and the chair of the committee
1:30 on to work development council
1:31 member Julie one we've taken
1:32 some big steps towards
1:34 universal child care since our
1:35 last hearing, and this is
1:36 exactly the type of progress.
1:37 We've all been pushing for
1:39 ,but we can't stop here today's
1:40 hearing will examine a
1:42 significant problem in our
1:43 early childhood education
1:44 system, a growing shortage of
1:45 the educators that sustain it
1:48 as the City moves towards
1:48 implementing a universal child
1:50 care system, the workforce
1:51 will need to double in size in
1:54 order to accommodate projected
1:55 future enrollment a recent
1:56 analysis found that based on
1:57 average turnover rates in
1:59 earlyhild chood education
2:00 class, the City needs at least
2:02 5000 New educators every year,
2:05 childcare programs continue t
2:06 ohave some of the highest rates
2:08 of turnover with a survey of
2:09 New York City childcare
2:10 programs, finding that 52% of
2:12 centers report New, leaving
2:15 within five years with a
2:16 sizable percentage of our
2:18 teachers having over 20 years
2:20 of experience and nearing
2:21 retirement while our New
2:22 teachers are simultaneously
2:24 exiting the field we're about
2:25 to be on the brink of a stark
2:29 staffing shortage independent
2:29 of the expansion. If this City
2:30 is going to achieve a
2:32 universal child care system it
2:32 has to start with the pipeline
2:34 of teachers that will support
2:35 it to do so, the subcommittee
2:37 today will also hear pre
2:39 considered intro 2606,
2:41 sponsored by myself in
2:43 relation to establishing a
2:44 child care workforce, grant
2:46 and services program. And
2:46 while this hearing will not
2:48 acutely focused on the issue
2:50 of pay, parody and improved
2:53 benefits educators for
2:54 educators educational
2:54 assistance and staff with or
2:57 without union affiliations. We
2:58 . Do expect the admin to
2:58 answer some of those questions
3:01 today and we'll get an entire
3:02 hearing in the future to it.
3:05 Today we will focus on how t
3:05 equally as important to make
3:09 sure it is a sustainable one.
3:11 I looked to the success of the
3:12 New York teaching fellows
3:13 program of how we've been able
3:14 to increase our teaching
3:16 workforce and provide them
3:17 with unparalleled educational
3:19 support and remain committed
3:20 to providing the same support
3:23 to our hour
3:23 . Workforce will now pass it
3:24 to chair Joseph for her
3:28 opening statement
3:29 . Thank you, cec Gutiérrez as
3:30 a longtime public school
3:31 educator. The topic of
3:33 developing and recruiting
3:34 qualified teachers to wor
3:35 kwith our youngest children I
3:36 simportant to me as a chair of
3:39 the committee on highe
3:40 reducation. I want to know more
3:42 about how cooney place such a
3:44 significant role and ensuring
3:46 that our youngest New yorkers
3:47 get a good start on the
3:50 education path. I also want t
3:51 oensure that any New yorkers
3:52 who have interests in or
3:54 experience, but early
3:55 childhood education as a
3:56 career path are able to get
3:58 the credentials they need t
4:00 oenter or to advance that
4:03 workforce. I'm happy to say
4:04 that cuny is playing a very
4:05 active part in preparing these
4:08 workers.
4:08 Currently approximately 360
4:11 0working towards a degree and
4:12 early childhood education a
4:15 great variety of certificates,
4:17 advanced certificates
4:18 associate's degrees bachelor's
4:20 degrees, masters and other
4:21 credentials in early childhood
4:26 education, including with
4:26 bilingual and special
4:27 education. Focuses are offered
4:30 at various cuny community
4:31 college and senior college
4:33 colleges. In addition, the New
4:35 York the New York early
4:38 childhood professional
4:39 development institution, which
4:40 is a public private
4:41 partnership at cuny works t
4:44 oprovide comprehensive support
4:46 for early childhood
4:46 professionals at every stage
4:47 of their current korea journey
4:51 . As cuny chancellor phyllis
4:51 the felix.
4:53 Mottoes rodriguez recently
4:55 noticed, noted, this is a
4:56 moment where we need to meet
4:58 the demand for their workforce
5:00 . I look forward to this
5:01 discussion. I would like to
5:02 thank my staff and the staff
5:04 committee on higher education.
5:05 Giovanni piquant my chief of
5:06 staff julia goldman pickman
5:10 ,the committee's senior
5:10 legislative council region and
5:11 paul, the committee senior
5:13 legislative policy analysis
5:14 and allie. So for the
5:17 committee's financial analysi
5:18 s. Thank you, chair, Gutiérrez
5:21 . Thank you, chair, Joseph I
5:22 old non pass it to chair one
5:24 for her opening statement.
5:25 Thank you so much hair, goatee
5:26 and Joseph for your
5:28 partnership on this important
5:30 hearing three moms.
5:31 Here sharing this hearing,
5:32 so thank you so much for being
5:35 here and my name is really one
5:36 and I have the privilege of
5:37 sharing today's council and
5:38 committee of workforce
5:40 development in partnership
5:41 with early childhood education
5:42 and higher education and
5:45 today's hearing. We're looking
5:46 to understand chraonically
5:47 understaffed and underpaid
5:48 profession. We're we're here
5:48 to discuss what the city's
5:49 workforce development and is
5:50 doing about it because every
5:52 single one of us are living in
5:53 every single day. If my
5:56 aftercare, my child care
5:57 cannot provide the right
5:58 amount of teachers or student
6:00 ratio. It's going to be a very
6:01 hard day at work for me early.
6:04 Tallet educators are a
6:05 cornerstone of New York cit
6:06 yand without them, families
6:07 cannot continue to justify
6:08 raising their children in the
6:09 City we cannot have a
6:11 conversation about the future
6:12 of New York without talking
6:12 about the future of early
6:14 childhood educators
6:15 livelihoods before us today we
6:16 have New York city's.
6:20 Talent, the city's central
6:21 body for aligning agencies
6:22 with educational institutions
6:23 and provide private partners
6:24 around workforce priorities
6:25 and this committee wants t
6:26 ounderstand whether New York
6:27 City talent is treating this
6:29 crisis with the urgency it
6:30 deserves as well as the
6:31 celebrations that we've been
6:32 having a lot of victory laps.
6:35 There are over 36000 early
6:36 childhood educators in New
6:38 York City right now and the
6:38 City needs at least 5000 New
6:40 ones every single year just t
6:43 okeep pace, the weightless for
6:44 preschool special education
6:47 teachers is over 3400 students
6:49 , hundreds of classrooms are
6:51 currently empty because
6:52 there's no one to staff them
6:53 and over 40% of the current
6:55 workforce is nearing
6:59 retirement age. A recent
6:59 survey of the city's child
7:00 care found that over 50% of
7:02 center's reported their New
7:04 teachers leave within five
7:05 years. So even when we do
7:07 bring people in we struggle t
7:11 okeep them.
7:11 Why did they leave. What can
7:12 we report details that it is
7:14 because of abysmal wages
7:15 despite high educational
7:17 financial barriers to entry.
7:20 This includes $525 certificate
7:21 application with $250 renewal
7:25 for childhood development
7:25 associate or $160 exams a
7:28 hundred $4 or 50c for
7:30 fingerprinting and $600 for a
7:33 New york's New York state
7:33 teaching certification. This
7:34 does not include the cost to
7:36 go to college or training for
7:39 these positions so that means
7:39 that you're paying anywhere
7:40 from 75 200 k just for
7:42 undergrad. Then you're paying
7:44 an additional hundred k or
7:45 more for your higher education
7:47 for your master's degree and
7:47 then on top of that you're
7:48 throwing up about over a
7:50 thousand another thousan
7:51 ddollars for all these
7:52 certificates on the
7:56 fingerprinting yet despite all
7:57 those costs that's already
7:57 what over $200000 a debt that
7:59 you be in if you can't afford
8:00 to pay all that in cash. All
8:02 of that just for a median wage
8:05 of $69000 a year, which is
8:07 less than the 20 25 median
8:09 salary in New York City,
8:10 according to the state
8:10 department of labor
8:14 . It's not lost on me that
8:14 this policy is deeply gendered
8:16 most people who occupy these
8:17 roles are women, particularly
8:18 immigrant women and women of
8:20 color who take on this work
8:21 with pride and joy for our
8:25 future generations
8:25 . We're not just talking about
8:27 wages here as any parent with
8:28 a taller here knows kids will
8:30 always get sick and they also
8:31 expose our workers to
8:34 illnesses daily as I eat m
8:35 yhalls as I live with two
8:38 . Toddlers. It is important
8:39 for us to provide them with
8:41 adequate and fair access to
8:43 health care coverage to boost
8:43 our retention rates for our
8:43 teachers. We need to find a
8:48 way to connect these dots
8:49 before the spiral goes into
8:51 full blown crisis to give
8:52 credit words do New York City
8:53 talent has made some
8:54 investments by contributing t
8:56 ocuny early childhood education
8:58 apprenticeship program, but
8:59 last however, in New York City
9:00 talent release its workforce,
9:01 innovation and opportunity act
9:04 , also known as w ay oh ay
9:05 local plan for 20 25 2 20 29
9:09 and did not identify early
9:09 childhood education as a
9:13 priority sector. This
9:13 committee wants to understand
9:14 why that was and what New York
9:15 City talent plans to do about
9:19 it. We want to understand how
9:20 New York City talent
9:20 coordinates with you, the
9:22 department of education and
9:23 the office of trump and early
9:25 childhood education to build a
9:27 real pipeline into this field
9:28 and whether this
9:29 administration is prepared t
9:31 omake early childhood education
9:33 a genuine workforce
9:34 development priority through
9:35 budgetary commitments and
9:36 meaningful investments in the
9:37 sector as we come to we come
9:39 .we're nearing the end of
9:41 fiscal year 26 and finalizing
9:43 the negotiations for fiscal
9:45 year 27. I look forward to
9:47 hearing from the
9:48 administration on all of our
9:49 witnesses today and to a
9:51 productive discussion about
9:51 how the council can support
9:54 this work.
9:55 Because we know that the
9:55 governor and the Mayor has
9:56 been making a lot of
9:59 celebrations for the beginning
10:00 of two care to care for 200
10:02 0students as well as three k
10:04 fully funding and pre k. We
10:06 to camp three k because inre
10:12 districts like mine and in
10:14 neighboring districts. We're
10:15 still struggling to get kids a
10:15 seat of the table or at the
10:18 school before we begin. I want
10:20 to thank my committee staff
10:21 senior counsel outs pollen off
10:23 senior policy analyst william
10:24 hauge, knack deputy chief of
10:25 staff now live in my district
10:27 manager theresa tone my
10:28 financial analyst spencer kun
10:31 for their work and preparing
10:33 for today's hearing, I'll now
10:33 turn it back to two charge.
10:37 Joseph. Oh, just kidding. Sure
10:38 . What he did her opening
10:38 remarks. I'm going to turn it
10:39 back to the they were good
10:41 remarks we should hear it
10:42 again, but we but we won't,
10:43 but we want what we want. We
10:45 started it. Thank you bot
10:46 htoday we'll hear from the
10:47 mayor's office of child care.
10:49 The, uh, cuny, the City
10:50 university of New York, the
10:52 office of talent and workforce
10:53 development, the department of
10:55 education as well as other
10:56 early childhood educators
10:56 ,providers and stakeholders.
11:00 Additionally, I'd like t
11:00 oremind everyone that this
11:01 subcommittee has launched a
11:02 form for providers you can
11:04 check board on my website and
11:06 on socials. I want to thank
11:07 the members of the early
11:08 childhood education
11:09 subcommittee who have joined
11:10 us today, Council Member
11:12 Joseph Council Member Kevin
11:13 Riley, who is with us council.
11:17 Felder. Um, I think those are
11:17 the folks on the committee and
11:18 I'd also like to acknowledge
11:21 the problem on, um, obscene
11:25 areola, lewis Maloney
11:28 . You know, it's, of course,
11:29 education shared dinner with
11:30 who had to step out for a
11:31 second and is anyone on.
11:33 Two. Oh, and council membe
11:34 rfelt, I guess he's on my
11:37 committee. Thank you. One more
11:40 . Council members, some co
11:40 felda. Additionally, thank you
11:43 to the staff are set of staff
11:44 for the subcommittee, julia
11:46 goldsmith, pinkham, katie
11:47 selena great tomato angeline
11:49 lawless and margaret bronze,
11:51 barnsley as well as my own
11:51 staff on your lair, Frank luc
11:54 a, I'll allow further work on
11:54 today's hearing and finally
11:55 thank you to everyone who
11:56 assigned him to testify and
11:58 for being here instead of an
11:59 outside in a beautiful day. We
12:02 look forward to hearing from
12:03 all of you. I want to remind
12:04 everyone who wishes to testify
12:05 in person today that you must
12:06 fill out a witness slip, which
12:07 you can find on the desk of
12:08 the sergeant at arms near the
12:10 entrance of this room, please
12:11 fill out the slip, even if you
12:13 have already registered
12:13 advance that you will be
12:14 testifying in person, if you
12:16 wish wish to testify on any of
12:18 the legislation, please
12:18 indicate on the witness slip
12:19 whether you are here t
12:20 otestify in favor or in
12:23 sition. I also want to
12:24 point out that we will not be
12:25 voting on any legislation
12:25 today to allow as many people
12:27 as possible to testify. We are
12:28 limiting it to two minutes per