Committee on Education and Child Development meeting, September 4, 2024
- When: Wed, Sep 4, 2024, 12:00 PM (Chicago time)
- Where: Room 201A, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
- Status: Scheduled & Published
- Committee: Committee on Education and Child Development
- Video: https://vimeo.com/1006292069
- Transcript: full text (23,400 words, official captions)
Meeting notes
AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.
The Committee on Education and Child Development held a subject matter hearing on child care for all, chaired by Vice Chair Angela Clay. The committee approved a Rule 59 motion allowing several members to participate remotely and approved the Rule 45 report, then heard public comment from child care workers, parents and advocates about low wages, staff turnover, affordability and the distribution of Early Childhood Block Grant funds between community-based organizations and CPS. A panel from SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana, Centers for New Horizons and Illinois Action for Children described workforce shortages, center closures and funding streams and asked the city to invest in child care worker wages. Members asked about wage gaps, costs per child, turnover, state and federal funding, and men in the workforce, and many expressed support for raising child care wages. No legislation was voted on during the hearing, and the meeting was adjourned.
Topics: child care for all, child care worker wages, early childhood education, staff turnover, Early Childhood Block Grant, universal pre-K and CPS, child care affordability, city budget
Agenda items discussed
- 12:10 Rule 59 motion to allow members to participate remotely: passed
- 12:32 Public comment
- 41:47 Approval of the Rule 45 report: passed
- 44:03 Subject matter hearing on child care for all: discussed
Alderpersons who spoke
- Angela Clay (chair): Thanked the panelists, speaking as a parent, and said the city faces a child care crisis. (1:19:58); Said extended family can no longer provide child care because relatives must work, and asked panelists about the lack of men in the child care workforce. (2:32:11); Asked what benefits centers offer to stay competitive in the job market. (2:35:17)
- Jeanette B. Taylor (alderperson): Said child care providers cannot afford child care for their own children and that the shift of children to CPS pre-K under a prior administration hurt providers. (1:20:35); Described difficulty finding child care for a child with special needs and called the current system one that does not care. (1:21:45); Urged colleagues to push the administration to pay child care workers a living wage. (1:23:38)
- Jessica L. Fuentes (alderperson): Described family members' struggles with child care costs and the effect of provider turnover on children, and said she supports wage parity. (1:24:05); Asked workers what other jobs are available to them and how those wages compare. (1:26:49); Asked how vacancies affect day-to-day operations, staff and children. (1:31:22)
- Samantha Nugent (alderperson): Read prepared remarks supporting city action to improve child care and support child care workers, citing child care's role for working parents and early brain development. (1:38:09); Said state and federal funding alone is not enough and that Chicago should join other localities investing local funds in child care. (1:40:03)
- Michael D. Rodriguez (alderperson): Acknowledged the difficult start to the meeting and a school shooting in Georgia that morning, and called for people to come together. (1:41:18); Said child care workers should not have to choose between that work and retail jobs and that the city must do better. (1:43:33); As chair of the Workforce Development Committee, said he strongly supports getting significant resources to child care workers. (1:44:07)
- Jason C. Ervin (alderperson): Asked panelists what wage level they are seeking compared with current pay. (1:48:53); Asked about combining higher wages with subsidies for families and what that would cost the city. (1:51:34); Said CPS's entry into early childhood appeared to hurt Black-led organizations on the South and West sides and asked about its impact. (1:54:44)
- Felix Cardona Jr. (alderperson): Described his wife's experience as a child care teacher who left the field because of pay. (2:01:42); Said child care workers are asked to do difficult work for low pay, leading to high turnover, and said he fully supports the effort. (2:03:33)
- Byron Sigcho-López (alderperson): Said child care is a basic need for workers and that systemic failures prevent fair wages for child care workers. (2:05:31); Proposed that a tax on high earners similar to Massachusetts' could raise revenue for child care and close the budget gap. (2:08:02); Urged that groups not be pitted against each other and offered to join advocacy efforts in Springfield. (2:10:12)
- Andre Vasquez Jr. (alderperson): Said low pay for child care reflects a system that undervalues women and described his own family's child care struggles. (2:11:26); Asked about the costs of repeatedly training new staff because of turnover. (2:14:05); Asked what hurdles exist in getting the state to provide more funding after the pre-K expansion. (2:19:20)
- Nicole T. Lee (alderperson): Thanked those who testified, described her experience as a single mother, and said she supports child care for all. (2:27:44)
- Jeylú B. Gutiérrez (alderperson): Said she supports raising child care pay and called for grants to improve aging centers and help for families paying high weekly costs. (2:30:04)
Exchanges between members
- 1:23:52 The chair thanked Chairwoman Jeanette B. Taylor after her remarks.
- 1:34:20 Alderperson Jessica L. Fuentes asked the chair for permission to ask one more question, which the chair granted.
- 1:40:58 Alderperson Samantha Nugent thanked the chair for the opportunity to speak.
- 2:05:25 Alderperson Byron Sigcho-López thanked Chairwoman Jeanette B. Taylor and the vice chair for making the hearing a priority.
- 2:11:29 Alderperson Andre Vasquez Jr. said he appreciated what his colleague Alderperson Byron Sigcho-López had just said.