Campaign for Children Statement on Final Budget
Campaign for Children Statement on Final Budget
New York, NY – Following the release of the final budget for New York City, the Campaign for Children, a coalition of 150 early childhood education and after-school advocacy and provider organizations, released the following statement:
“Today is a win for middle school children across New York City. We are proud to say that due to the swift action of the City Council and theAdministration, 26,000 children throughout all five boroughs will be able to attend summer camp this year. Summer programs have been proven to help close the achievement gap, prevent summer learning loss, and keep children safe while parents work—especially for children in low-income communities.
We are also grateful for restoration and expansion for after school programming for Elementary school children. Such programs are critical to promoting attendance, school culture, and students’ positive developmental and academic outcomes during the important Elementary school years.
Additionally, we remain hopeful that the budget will include the funding needed for the City to finalize a contract that will bring salary parity to the early childhood education workforce. Currently, educators at community based organizations earn significantly less than educators at the Department of Education, even though they do the same job, with same credentials and training. We will continue working to ensure that all early childhood workers receive pay parity.”
ABOUT CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN:
The Campaign for Children is a coalition of 150 early childhood education and after-school advocacy and provider organizations, including Citizens’ Committee for Children, The Children’s Aid Society, United Neighborhood Houses NY, Good Shepherd Services, Neighborhood Family Services Coalition, the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, Children’s Defense Fund-NY, Day Care Council of New York, UJA-Federation of New York, and YMCA of Greater New York. The Campaign’s successful advocacy saved child care and after-school programs for more than 47,000 children by securing more than $120 million of one-year City Council discretionary funds for the past two years, which then were successfully baselined. The Campaign also successfully advocated for the restoration of summer camp funding for thousands of children in 2015.
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