Testimony of Hannah Garelick, Jews United for Justice
Good morning.Thank you, Chairman Mendelson and members of the committee. My name is Hannah Garelick, and I am a community organizer with Jews United for Justice, which, as you know, is a local grassroots organization that mobilizes thousands of Jews and allies in DC to fight for social, racial, and economic justice.Thank you for your continued work in funding and implementing the Birth-to-Three Law.As a member of the Under 3 DC Coalition, JUFJ enthusiastically supported taxing high-income residents last year.We are grateful to see this increased revenue being used to support the higher compensation of early childhood educators. Thank you, Chairman Mendelson, for your work in supporting the Early Educator Equitable Compensation Task Force (Task Force) in its work to create recommendations for implementing increased compensation.We hope that you, and other councilmembers, will ensure the quick distribution and safeguarding of funds for early childhood educators.
Family is absolutely central to Judaism, from the commandment to honor our parents to centuries of law and wisdom on raising our children to ancient guidelines for respecting our elders. No matter our family structure, family is where we celebrate, nurture, mourn, learn, and more. Jewish family values are the foundation of JUFJ’s belief that all children should have the resources they need to thrive. Every child in DC, regardless of their race, family wealth, or zip code, should have access to high quality and affordable early childhood education provided by early childhood educators who are paid fairly.
We are at a critical moment for taking the next big step in funding Birth-to-Three.With increased revenue reaching more than $275 million from FY 2023-2026, immediate next steps must include ensuring that the $53.9 million in Early Educator Compensation Fund gets into the hands of educators as soon as possible this fiscal year as is laid out by the recommendations of the Early Educator Equitable Compensation Task Force (Task Force). In the distribution of short time pay supplements, recommendations clearly state that DC Council must ensure that the loss of public benefits for early educators is minimized by partnering with the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF), where needed. In addition, for educators to make the best decision for themselves and their families about whether to apply for the pay supplement, it is essential that extensive outreach, ample technical assistance, and other resources, including applications, communications, outreach, and technical
assistance, are provided and occur in an educators’ preferred language.As excited as we are as a coalition for these funds to be allocated, we will not have done our job right without ensuring comprehensive outreach to teachers in their preferred language.
One of JUFJ’s values is balancing the prophetic with the pragmatic.This increased compensation once felt like a dream. Now that it’s been achieved, DC Council must be attentive in developing the necessary infrastructure to implement the recommendations from the Early Educator Compensation Task Force (Task Force) and plan for the future – it must steep itself in the practical details of implementation.This includes safeguarding and implementing the $72.9 million dedicated to raising teacher compensation in FY 2023.We also must protect the $2.9 million raised from sports wagering that is dedicated funding for the Early Childhood Development Fund in FY24.
While unrelated to our budget asks for OSSE, I do want to briefly note a couple other Birth-to-Three funding asks.We were disappointed to see that Mayor Bowser did not meet Under 3 DC’s asks for investment in the family health support programs outlined by Birth-to-Three. Specifically, we are asking for:
- An increase of $700,000 in recurring funds for Healthy Futures (a Department of Behavioral Health program).
- An increase of $300,000 in recurring funds for HealthySteps (a DC Health program). ● An increase of $369,150 for the Home Visiting Program for Vulnerable Children (a DC Health program).
- An increase of $70,000 for the Father-Child Attachment Program and Community Family Life Services Program (Child and Family Services Agency home visiting programs).
We hope you will rectify the lack of increased funding because we know these are vital health support programs for many families and children in the District.
As we head into this next stage of implementation, we hope you will ensure that the recommendations from the Early Educator Compensation Task Force are diligently implemented, and the outreach is robust and in educators’ preferred languages.And we hope the final budget includes full funding for family health support programs so Birth-to-Three can continue to be implemented.Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
