NYC’s Early Childhood Education Teachers Continue to Face Significant Pay Disparities, New Comptroller Report Finds

New York, NY – In a new review of the salaries of childhood education teachers, 3K and Pre-K providers, New York City Comptroller found significant salary discrepancies between teachers employed by the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and their counterparts at community-based organizations (CBO), despite the City’s 2019 promise to pave a way toward pay parity. 

Looking at 1,842 certified, full-time lead teachers in CBO settings, auditors found that 304 (19%) teachers who held a master’s degree and 64 (24%) teachers with a bachelor’s degree were paid below DOE’s minimum salary for teachers who held the same degrees. For teachers with a bachelor’s degree, the median salary disparity was $1,284. For teachers with a master’s degree, the median salary disparity was $19,952. In some cases, the review found salary disparities of over $30,000, with CBO starting salaries of $36,055 in the Bronx and $34,991 in Brooklyn, where the minimum established by the agreement was $61,070.     

“New York City’s universal 3K and Pre-K program is the foundation to building a thriving and inclusive city—and early childhood teachers are the cornerstone of this program’s success,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “Paying equitable wages to early childhood education providers regardless of whether they work in a DOE or CBO setting is essential to ensuring that quality programs are available to families in every neighborhood. Our review finds that so far, the City failed to keep that promise. Investment in childcare workers’ pay is an investment in our children and our city’s future.” 

The DOE both directly provides Pre-K and 3K in New York City public schools and also contracts with CBOs to provide early childhood education services for children from birth to five-years old. When the City established universal pre-K during the de Blasio Administration, large pay disparities between teachers in DOE and CBO settings made it difficult for CBOs to attract and retain teachers.   

In 2019, then-Mayor de Blasio announced an agreement to address pay parity issues. As part of the agreement, Local 205 of District Council 1707 and the Day Care Council of New York City (DCCNY) reached an agreement to pay their union members in CBOs the same as entry-level salaries for DOE teachers by October 1, 2021. At the same time, the Mayor, City Council, and DOE publicly announced that the City would achieve entry-rate pay parity for non-union, certified CBO teachers by October 2021. 

The Comptroller’s new report finds that: 

• Salary disparities continue to exist: On average, CBOs paid below the minimum salary to 24% of certified lead teachers with Bachelors’ degrees and 19% of those with Masters’ degrees. 
• Salary disparities worsen when considering teaching experience: 90% of full-time certified lead teachers with Masters’ degrees and 80% of those with Bachelors’ degrees with one or more years of experience earned less than their counterparts at DOE. 
• Some Local 205 members did not receive the minimum pay, despite the collective bargaining agreement. Approximately 20% of Local 205 members with Bachelor’s were paid less than the $61,070 minimum, while 33% of Local 205 members with Master’s were paid below the $68,652 minimum.   
• DOE contracts do not provide for actual parity: Contracts between CBOs and DOE do not require that CBOs pay its certified teachers the minimum nor do these contracts commit to providing funding to pay teachers more if their DOE counterparts see raises due to collective bargaining or years of teaching experience. 

The Comptroller’s office estimates that underpayments to CBO teachers in the 2021-2022 school year alone totaled $4.3 million. However, the gap has widened significantly due to the City’s recent collective bargaining agreements and should also be updated to incorporate parity based on educational qualifications and years of experience. Going forward, the Comptroller’s office estimates that the City would need to provide an additional $41.6 million to bring the salary of CBO teachers up to par with their DOE counterparts.  

To help achieve this pay parity, the report offers five recommendations:  

1. Ensure that all CBO-employed certified lead teachers who earned below the salaries promised to them in 2019 receive retroactive salary adjustments for the period from October 1, 2021 to the present.  

1. Tighten contract language to ensure CBOs pay their certified teachers in line with funding provided by DOE. 

1. Provide for true pay parity between certified early childhood teachers employed by CBOs and DOE in the future. Parity would not only account for educational qualifications, but also teaching experience and collective bargaining agreements (which typically provide for increases, longevity, and cost of living adjustments). 

1. Ensure that any future promises of pay parity include a definition of pay parity and fully establish pay parity.    

1. Create a system to track the experience of certified lead teachers at CBOs and their union affiliations in future. 

 Read the new report here. 

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