On Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D-IL) held a press briefing to discuss his administration's efforts to lower childcare costs.
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00:00Good morning. Good morning. Thank you all for being here this morning. My name is Danette Connors and I'm the Chief Learning Officer for YMCA Metropolitan Chicago. Thank you to SEIU for helping facilitate this and thank you to Mayor Johnson and his crew for facilitating the conversation this morning. It's a very important conversation.
00:22YMCA Metropolitan Chicago is committed to strengthening our communities by connecting all people to their purpose, potential, and to each other. And that's demonstrated here at our North Lawndale site and across the city at over 100 different locations where we offer child care.
00:46At the cusp of that, those programs is our workforce. And so we value our workforce and understand that they really do uplift families. Unfortunately, however, we do not have the ability to fill all of our classrooms because, not because we don't have facilities, but because we have a teacher shortage.
01:08And so the discussion today will revolve around that is the bringing light to how we can provide resources in the community to teachers and make sure that they feel very valued. So with that, I'm going to turn it over to Mayor Johnson. Thank you for being here today.
01:29Thank you so much, Donetta, for your leadership and for the YMCA. Just bringing back so many memories. When I worked for the YMCA of Chicago, the New City YMCA in Cabrini-Green and just the value of child care providers.
01:51Having served as a child care provider, I was just reminiscing with my wife this morning because when she married me, I was in child care and I was earning $6.25 an hour.
02:12Listen, y'all didn't have to do it like that. I mean, listen, I know I put my wife through a lot, but you all understand that we are showing up for families.
02:21Every single day. And it's about time that we have salaries that show up for the people who are showing up for the family.
02:33And I want to thank my lovely wife for putting up with me for these last 26 years. But, you know, I quote a scripture, Matthew 621.
02:42You know, the Bible says where your treasure is there, your heart will be also.
02:45And our city's heart is with the children of this city.
02:51And when we invest in Chicago's youngest children, we undoubtedly are building a better, stronger, much safer Chicago.
02:59But we're also building a more equitable future for our people.
03:04Investing in early care and education is proven to be a transformative way to support our children and our young people.
03:13Research is clear that investing in the first five years of life has the greatest impact on our children and their development.
03:22Study after study shows the benefit beyond health and education that a single child can be transformed by those early investments.
03:33And we know that for too long, our childcare workers have not been seen and valued.
03:51They are the people and the spirit behind the child's success.
03:58These are the people that families drop their children off to every single day.
04:05I remember the after school program that I was also a part of.
04:08And being in that school age group where you're helping with homework, you're helping them mediate, you're helping them to learn the skills of conflict resolution.
04:19They're teaching you patients as an educator.
04:21And so today we are putting a down payment specifically on the workforce that's behind the workforce.
04:37Now, I have to give this special shout out to SEIU Healthcare.
04:42And you know, SEIU Healthcare, it's a tough group of people.
04:55And that's what's necessary in a city where we're going to make sure that these tough workers know that we will always remain the most pro-worker city in America.
05:09I'm going to give a special shout out, and I know she's going to be embarrassed, but she looks amazing today, by the way.
05:18Erica freaking Bland.
05:21And she doesn't like the spotlight, but, you know, one of the driving forces behind the fact that the current average salary for non-federally funded early care and education professionals in Chicago is roughly around $35,000 a year.
05:37Now, these workers are critical to the fabric of our city, and we need to ensure that they get to serve our children and they can afford to have child care of themselves.
05:48And so these are the families that we have to invest in in order for us to be a thriving city.
05:54And that's why I'm proud to announce today that we are putting a down payment and investment of $7 million into our city's budget.
06:03A $7 million for the first time to go towards the down payment and true compensation increase for early care and education professionals.
06:20I'm also grateful to DFSS, who worked with the Center for Early Learning Funding Equity to assess how we can impact more lives with this investment.
06:39And under my administration, Chicago will always remain, again, the most pro-worker city in America, but also a safe, affordable city where every single neighborhood can thrive.
06:51Investments like these will help us reach that goal.
06:55And so this comes at a critical time when our federal government is threatening to disinvest in us, and especially education.
07:02But here in the city of Chicago, regardless of who is in the White House, the Johnson administration will always invest in children and our workers.
07:17So I'm proud to affirm their value, their dignity with this investment.
07:26It's going to take all of us.
07:27I'm grateful that we have at least two alders that I can see.
07:31Sam Nugent and Jeannette Taylor, thank you both for being here.
07:41And again, I want to express my deep gratitude for our Department of Family and Support Services,
07:47for working with SEIU and all of our child care providers to make this become a reality.
07:53And with that, help me welcome our interim DFSS Commissioner, Ms. Maura McCauley.
08:01Thank you to the YMCA for hosting us today, and thank you, Mayor Johnson, for the introduction.
08:16My name is Maura McCauley, and it is my privilege to serve as the Acting Commissioner at the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services.
08:22It's also a pleasure to be here with all of you today in recognition of the city's deep commitment to maintaining a strong early childhood education landscape.
08:33It's imperative that we work to increase our investment in the delegate agencies and workers who ensure day in and day out that Chicago's youngest residents are receiving the education and care they need and deserve.
08:45And as a parent myself who has used child care programs and preschool, I know personally how important the staff who I trusted my child with were.
08:57And I think it's, I'm very excited that we're partnering on this, on this investment to make sure that those staff and their families have what they need to live comfortably and engage in their communities.
09:10This work hinges on a strong early childhood education workforce, and the sustainability of that workforce hinges on our investment in those workers and in turn their families.
09:21Mayor Johnson's deep experience as an educator and a labor organizer is a key driver in the $7 million commitment towards pay parity for our early learning providers.
09:34It's a meaningful step toward equitable wage structures across the city's early learning system.
09:40I'd like to take a moment to share a bit more about this system.
09:43The philosophy of Chicago's early learning programs for children is based on the principle that quality learning experiences are essential to a child's social, emotional, physical, verbal, and cognitive development, and every child deserves the opportunity to learn.
10:00GFSS's Children's Services Division, led by Deputy Commissioner Sir Ethel Burgess Burnett, who is here somewhere,
10:06supports early learning programs across 86 community-based agencies, along with many other child care partners in the room.
10:18Together, we serve children and families birthed through age five, as well as expectant parents.
10:24Families access full daycare in licensed centers or daycare homes.
10:28This includes our city's most vulnerable families, including those experiencing homelessness and children in foster care.
10:34The programs offered include Head Start, Early Head Start, Preschool for All, and Prevention Initiative and doula-specialized services for prenatal parents.
10:44Thanks to Mayor Johnson's $7 million investment, staff employed by all 86 community-based agencies that are funded through DFSS will receive wage increases.
10:53That includes teachers, teacher assistants, family support staff,
11:04and others in roles that are critical to the daily operations of these programs.
11:09I'm proud to say our commitment to pay parity is also progressing in other ways.
11:13The Children's Services Division has formed a new partnership with the Center for Early Learning Funding Equity, or SELFIE, at Northern Illinois University.
11:21Together, we will be conducting research on alternative funding models to implement a more equitable pay structure
11:27in DFSS's future requests for proposals for early learning service programs.
11:32This work is a valuable step toward ensuring we will be advancing pay parity for early childhood workers well into the future.
11:39We all recognize the uncertainty of this moment, given ongoing changes at the federal level.
11:44In response to this uncertainty, DFSS will be extending its current state and federally funded contractors
11:50with our early learning service providers for one year as we operationalize this new funding.
11:56As we await further information and outcomes on many fronts, Mayor Johnson's administration, including DFSS,
12:02is taking action to ensure we are increasing support for early childhood education and early learning workers.
12:09Thank you for being here today in celebration and in solidarity as we reinforce our commitment to this work
12:16that means so much to us, to our city, and most importantly, to our children.
12:22And I will now introduce Ms. Rocio Garcia.
12:33Good morning.
12:34Good morning.
12:35Buenos dias.
12:36Buenos dias.
12:37Buenos dias.
12:37Buenos dias.
12:37Buenos dias.
12:37Buenos dias.
12:38Buenos dias.
12:38My name is Rocio Garcia, R-O-C-I-O-G-A-R-C-I-A, and I'm the Senior Organizing Director
12:46with the Grassroots Collaborative.
12:47We're a coalition of community and labor partners building power among working families.
12:54I stand before you today also as a worker who started working at the age of 13.
12:59I also am a working mom, and as a working mom of an energetic and very curious four-year-old,
13:08I'm thrilled to see this progress and these changes, and I also know that it's a step forward.
13:17I also know that in my experience, my challenges, there are many other moms and parents who are
13:24struggling in the same way.
13:26I joined this campaign because of my own experience dealing with the challenges of securing child care
13:32kids, so that I were other moms and parents who are Pantheon Beloved.
13:38And I feel they are less
13:56because I looked everywhere, I was told that there was a wait list long enough to open a new classroom,
14:02but that they were having a challenge finding teachers to fill those roles.
14:08Clearly, I wasn't the only parent in that struggle, and that's why I stand here today.
14:15That's when I joined the Child Care for All Coalition, and I learned that especially in black
14:19and brown communities across Chicago, teachers were leaving child care centers at a rapid rate
14:26and centers have had to close their doors. Being forced to close doors
14:32because workers cannot afford to live under the current wages is not right.
14:36It's not right that centers must compete with the rising costs of unaffordable rents and mortgages
14:41your staff must pay. It really jeopardizes our little ones, the ones who will grow up to attend
14:47their public schools, the ones who will become the leaders in Chicago, our great city. In fact,
14:53currently, my child's daycare provider has made the difficult choice to shutter its doors after 25
15:00years in operation of providing care, love, and support to families like mine, and that's not right.
15:08My child's teacher has shared with me that it's never been a lucrative job,
15:12and she's done it, and she's never done it for the money. But now more than ever, she's struggling to
15:17stay open. And after decades long, this is the type of care that parents like me look for.
15:24Child care providers deserve living wages that are competitive with Chicago's economy.
15:30It's critical to highlight that this crisis is deeply, deeply tied to the wages and working
15:35conditions of child care workers. When child care workers aren't paid fair, livable wages, it creates
15:41turnover and staffing shortages, making it difficult for programs to stay open and provide consistent
15:47quality care. Chicago, my city, is a town made up of working families like mine, and Chicago must take
15:56good care of its people. Paying child care workers fair wages is not just about valuing their hard work,
16:03it's about ensuring that families like mine can rely on stable, high-quality child care. And today,
16:10it feels like we're turning a page in the right direction. And I'm so grateful for the leadership of
16:17our mayor, Mayor Brandon Johnson.
16:24I'm grateful for the workers and families who have joined this fight, and this fight is not over.
16:30I'm excited to stand with you and celebrate the increase in wages this year, and believe this is a step in the right direction,
16:36and our coalition will continue to fight for increase in wages for all workers who are providing child
16:45care in centers across Chicago. This helps to create a system that works for everyone, parents,
16:52children, and the dedicated workers who provide this essential care for our families. Thank you.
16:58Up next, we will hear from Ms. Tahiti Hammer.
17:14Good morning. Good morning. My name is Tahiti Hammer. I am an early childhood teacher and a proud
17:22executive board member of SEIU Healthcare Illinois. I am happy to welcome Mayor Brandon Johnson as a member
17:35of the Chicago City Council here to North Lawndale YMCA, where I teach in a classroom of students ages
17:43zero to three years of age. I am excited beyond words to celebrate the city of Chicago's new investment
17:51in early childhood education. The best part of my day as an early childhood teacher is our morning
17:57meet and greets. Seeing the smiles on children's faces when they come in the door brings me joy.
18:04Children's learning starts from the moment they're born, and I'm honored to be one of their first teachers.
18:11For 25 years, I've struggled to support myself and my own children who are now the ages 11 and 15,
18:22and on early childhood teachers' salary, it's not enough. I am not alone. There are more than 3,000 early
18:31childhood workers like me working in the city of Chicago funded programs. Most are women of color like me.
18:39I've watched as my co-workers have left the field taking jobs at Walmart becoming doulas. That's not okay.
18:51The low pay and the high stress means new teachers aren't entering the field to take their places.
19:00For those of us who stay, that means less support. We work through our prep time. It's hard to eat lunch or
19:07to use the restroom. For kids, it means the family faces they're used to seeing every day are gone,
19:15and there are fewer staff to support them. And it is hard for parents, too, who are entrusting us
19:22with their children every day so that they can work and who faces a huge burden when classrooms closes,
19:32because there are not enough staff to keep them open. For years, parents and teachers have sounded the
19:40alarm on the child care workforce crisis and what it means for early educators, children, and families.
19:48United in SEIU and the Child Care for All Coalition, we've rallied, we've signed petitions,
19:54we held city council's subjective matters, hearing callings on the city of Chicago to address the
20:01workforce crisis by investing in early childhood workers. We are here today because Mayor Johnson
20:09and the city council listen to the voices of organized early childhood workers, parents, and the
20:16parents and the community who have had a vision for a good job child care for all. Together, we took the
20:25first step towards making early childhood jobs one that will support workers and our families. This will
20:33make it possible for the child care centers to stay open to serve kids and families who need early
20:40child care education now. But we can't stop here.
20:48Today, I am calling on Mayor Johnson and the city council.
20:51Right in front of me.
21:05Well, y'all heard from the mayor himself.
21:10We have more work to do to make sure that every childhood teacher earns a living wage,
21:17just like early childhood teachers in Chicago public schools.
21:28In our Child Care for All Coalition, we believe all parents and children should have free, high quality,
21:35early learning, and all that all child care workers should have good union jobs that pay a fair wage.
21:48It is going to take all of us workers, parents, community, providers, and elected leaders
21:56working together to make that a reality. So when we fight, we win!
22:04When we fight, we win!
22:06When we fight, we win!
22:08When we fight, we win!
22:10When we fight, we win!
22:12When we fight, we win!
22:14Coming next to the podium is my lovely, lovely,
22:20can't say enough about them, Ms. Brin.
22:22All right, thank you, Tahiti.
22:30Good morning. My name is Brynn Seibert, B-R-Y-N-N-S-E-I-B-E-R-T.
22:40I'm the Vice President at SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Director of the Union's Child Care and Early
22:46Learning Division. We represent more than 6,000 child care providers and early childhood educators
22:54in the city of Chicago. We all know by now that child care workers are essential. They are the
23:07workforce behind the workforce. They prepare children for success in school and in life.
23:15And in spite of all of this, early childhood workers are underpaid.
23:20It's no coincidence that this workforce is majority women of color, many of whom also
23:27struggle to support their own children and their own families while providing vital child care for
23:33other parents so that they can go to work, parents who are also struggling to pay the high cost of
23:39child care. For years, these early childhood workers have been sounding the alarm, what we've
23:46already known, that low pay was leading to high turnover of early childhood teachers at child
23:53care centers. Classrooms were closing across the country, not for lack of children and families to
24:00serve, but because early childhood educators could no longer afford to stay in the jobs that they loved.
24:06As our members say, families can't afford to pay, workers can't afford to stay, there has to be a better way.
24:21Let me say that again and get that right.
24:23As our members say, families can't afford to pay, workers can't afford to stay, there has to be a better
24:30way. It's with that vision that child care workers came together as a union and built a movement that
24:38unites workers, parents, community in the fight for child care for all and for good union jobs for child
24:46care workers. Our coalition organized across the city, holding budget town halls, showing up at the mayor's budget
24:54listening sessions, testifying in front of the Chicago City Council and delivering a petition with
25:01over 1800 signatures to City Hall.
25:04And today we are grateful that Mayor Brandon Johnson listened. He listened and is taking action to raise
25:17wages for thousands of early childhood educators across the city. Um, I want to take a moment today
25:24to to recognize everyone here today who played a part in this incredible victory for early childhood
25:30workers. Um, Alder Persons, Jeanette Taylor, Samantha Nugent,
25:44Mike Rodriguez, um, our community, labor and policy partners, the grassroots collaborative,
25:54Illinois Action for Children, the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership,
26:00Worker Center for Racial Justice,
26:05Women Employed, Shriver Center, Women Gathering for Justice, the Chicago Teachers Union, and Start Early.
26:18I also want to recognize, in addition to the YMCA, some of our union employers who are here with us today,
26:25too, Christina Phillips from Mary Cranley, um, and Latisha McFadden from Centers for New Horizons.
26:34So, um, today's announcement is an important first step towards a better, brighter future for
26:41Chicago's early childhood workers, our communities, and Chicago's children.
26:45For all of us here today, the next step is clear. We must work together to make sure that this wage
26:54increase for early childhood workers becomes permanent.
27:03Second, we need elected officials at every level to take action to address the child care workforce
27:10crisis head on, and to build a brighter future for Illinois families, their children, and the workers
27:16who care for them. We know that this won't be easy, but we won't stop fighting until every Chicago
27:24family has access to quality, affordable early care and education. And to get there, we need to make sure
27:32that every child care worker has a good union job. Thank you so much.
27:43And, um, next I will turn it back over to Mayor Brandon Johnson for questions.
27:52Thank you everyone again for being here, to all of the child care workers and the families who rely
27:58upon our workers. This is a worthwhile endeavor for the entire city of Chicago. I can tell you,
28:05before my children grew up, they're a little bit older now, but at one point we were paying $1,500 a
28:11month for child care, which was more than our mortgage at that time. And these are real challenges
28:16that folks have. And so working to address this issue is a worthwhile fight for the entire city of
28:23Chicago. And with that, we'll answer any questions that folks may have.
28:26Do we have any other reporters? Charlie? All right, Charlie, you want to start?
28:30We'll go across. Mayor, how much, uh, as far as the $7 million goes, how many workers do you think
28:35this will add to the ranks? And how long is it sustainable? Yeah, well, the sustainability is around
28:42the ongoing, um, effort to, to make sure that this down payment is extended beyond this year. You know,
28:50in true teacher fashion, you just saw how Tahiti did it. She congratulated me for my assignment
28:55completed, completed, and then she gave me another one. You know, but that assignment is for all of us.
29:00As you heard from Brynn, it's every single level of government that we have to address this. Um,
29:05as far as how many workers, I believe it's roughly 3,000 and another, is that the number? It's about
29:113,000 workers, um, initiate, the, the, the, will, uh, experience the initial benefit of this investment.
29:17Thank you. Um, Mayor, I just have a question about the, uh, rollout with this year. How soon
29:23this year are we talking? And then, um, as we look towards next year's budget, is there, uh,
29:28opportunity that the $7 million may increase even more if things go out this year?
29:32So this will be implemented in the next couple of months. So July 1, this, the fiscal year that,
29:37um, we're on for these, uh, childcare or workers. Look, there are two alders that are here. Um, there
29:44are other alders that we know support this effort. Um, I'm going to put it forward in, in my budget.
29:50I can tell you that. And we're going to work to, to, to get the votes that are necessary to ensure that
29:56these families are supported. Here's what I've said all, all along, that in order for us to build a
30:03better, stronger, safer Chicago, um, we have to invest in workers. It's just that simple.
30:08You know, we're, we're on a pathway to have, uh, uh, the most safe, affordable big city in America,
30:15because what good does it do if the city is safe, but no one can afford to live here?
30:21And, and then if the city is affordable and people don't feel safe, uh, you know,
30:25you put people in a very difficult position. And so creating a long-term economic sustainability for
30:32our community, which also includes building more affordable homes, that's the pathway to
30:37repopulate the west, the south side of the city of Chicago. But it's also a pathway to make sure
30:41that we're supporting the workforce that allows the workforce to be able to, to exist in this city.
30:47Are there any, uh, yes. Earlier you mentioned the average salary for early child care workers
30:52being around 35,000. That's correct. After this $7 million, is it clear what the average salary?
30:58It's about a five to 10% increase across the board. I will say
31:01this. When I finished my master's degree and became a teacher in Chicago Public Schools,
31:08I was making $45,000 a year. I mean, that's, you know, that's when I, in retrospect,
31:15I think about how irresponsible it was for my wife and I to have a child.
31:20I mean, he's 17 now. He somehow he managed to get through life.
31:24I don't, you know, thank God for his meemaw. I mean, seriously, I mean,
31:28many childcare providers, I mean, we lean on family members. And in some cases,
31:33we are the most economically stable individuals in our families.
31:37That's just real life. My wife and I had a combined income of $75,000, brand new child and
31:43looking to own a home in this city. And that is becoming increasingly more difficult. And that's why
31:48this is not just a down payment. It's a really, it's a call to action. That's what you're hearing.
31:53It's a call to action that we have to do a better job
31:57as a society of investing in workers who take care of children. Because what Tahita didn't say
32:05that she sees the parents, we see the smiles at the beginning of the day. But when we come and
32:11pick up our children, we see their smiles when we're picking up our children. You know, but we're
32:17talking, you know, 12 hour shifts, I can tell you. I mean, well, you know, for you to drop your child
32:22off sometimes early at six o'clock in the morning, right? And somebody has to be there. And then by the
32:28time that parent is working and trying to dart across the city of Chicago to pick up their job by 6
32:35p.m., that's a great deal of stress and duress that we're all under. We're just simply saying that we
32:41can build an economy that works better for working people and those who help working people.
32:46All right, were there any other questions? Oh, sure. Why are you intentional about making this
32:50announcement in North Londo? Yeah, thank you for acknowledging that. You know, you know,
32:57I think as Tahiti and Rocio indicated, when it comes to the south, southwest side, west side of the,
33:05in the far south side, Chicago, you know, childcare workers really reflect those particular sections of
33:12the city. We're talking about primarily brown and black women. And we're also talking about,
33:19you know, working people who need childcare across the city, but the areas in which the need is the
33:24greatest are the areas where has been the most disinvestment. And so just last year, a couple of
33:31things in North Lawndale, vacant lots that the city owned, we turned them over to United Power so that
33:39they can build affordable homes in North Lawndale. We also expanded our missing middle program, which
33:45allows for owner occupancy for generational wealth while also building affordable units. And of those
33:51developers, five are black, three are women. And then when it comes to childcare, you know, this is
33:57really a continuum or showing the full breadth of how my administration is approaching transforming
34:04our city. You've got to build more affordable homes and you've got to make sure that people can afford
34:08to live, right? And so North Lawndale is on the front line, right? As you know, this is the place
34:14where Dr. King came and he said this, he said that if we can figure it out in Chicago, and he was a
34:20west side. I just want that to be on the record. He said if we can figure it out in Chicago, we can do it
34:27anywhere in the world. And so that's what we're doing. We're figuring it out in Chicago so that we can
34:31take this movement worldwide.