Day-Care Union Prays To Head Off Cuts to Programs

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow LIVING ON A PRAYER: DC 1707 President Kim Medina gathered with City Council members and religious leaders in a last attempt to sway the budget process and restore funding to day-care centers, universal pre-kindergarten and Head Start. 'A lot of parents are more comfortable with the children being in day care or Head Start, because it's more familiar, it's safer, there's more comfort,' she said.

Leaders of District Council 1707 gathered with City Council Members and religious leaders June 10 to pray for help fighting the city's proposed cuts to day-care, universal pre-kindergarten and Head Start programs.

But with budget talks in their final days, the union, which represents day-care and Head Start workers, was also hoping for help from the Council in rescinding cuts to the Administration for Children's Services before day-care centers began to close.

'Trying to Help Us'

"We're trying very hard, [the] City Council's been very supportive of us, they're working diligently to help us get the money we need to have reinstated back into day care and Head Start," DC 1707 President Kim Medina said in an interview, before leading members in prayer on the steps of City Hall.

The cuts, which ACS has proposed to close a $62-million budget gap created by declines in city and state aid, also involve the shifting of more than 3,000 kindergarten-aged children from day care centers to Department of Education schools, a move that is estimated to save the agency $15 million.

"The DOE already has a waiting list a year-and-a-half long," Ms. Medina said. "We went to the hearing on May 28 and it was clear that [the city] had no answers. It was a lot of 'could've, should've, would've, maybes, we're unsure, but everybody will be seated.' But that's not so."

DC 1707's central argument against the cuts is that the centers are well-regarded in the community and are not an example of budget bloat. "A lot of parents are more comfortable with the children being in day care or Head Start, because it's more familiar, it's safer, there's more comfort, the Teachers are skilled, they all have to have master's degrees in education." Ms. Medina said. "And it's three hot meals a day for their kids and sometimes for themselves."

City Council Members at the rally agreed. "We need the day-care centers where they are now, they serve an essential function," said David Weprin, the chair of the Council's Finance Committee. "The public schools are overcrowded. They cannot accommodate these additional day-care students. It makes no sense to move them out of facilities that they're in now."

"It's not even a budget issue that we're talking about here," said Councilman John Liu of Queens. "We're not talking about excess money, or saving money or reducing the budget. What we're talking about is leaving a system that has worked well for families for a long time . . . maybe [the city's] using this just as a bargaining chip, but that would be tremendously shameful."

DC 1707 Local 205 President Mabel Everett, who represents Day-Care Teachers, agreed that the budgetary justification by the city was specious. "If these children are removed from day-care centers, the city will spend millions more for busing and building modifications," she said. "The city didn't factor those costs into the estimates. In the end, taxpayers won't save $15 million—the proposal is likely to add even more debt to our deficit."

Councilwoman Letitia James said, "Low-income people and poor people should have a choice . . . the Mayor again has demonstrated a disconnect with the working people of New York."