Week of the Young Child 2022

WHEREAS, The Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families while also recognizing the early childhood programs and educators that offer the services to meet those needs; and

WHEREAS, The first years of a child’s life are the period of the most rapid brain development and lay the foundation for all future learning; and

WHEREAS, All young children need and deserve high quality early learning experiences that will prepare them for life; and

WHEREAS, High quality early care and education can help ameliorate the effects of poverty, detect and remediate delays, identify and help prevent child neglect, and lead to positive outcomes for individual children, helping them be better prepared for school and more likely to succeed in life; and

WHEREAS, High quality early care and education depends on high quality educators who ensure that children, supported by their families, have the early experiences they need for a strong foundation; and

WHEREAS, Educators need the ability to earn a livable wage and to have benefits such as health insurance, retirement, paid sick leave, paid vacation and professional development leave; and

WHEREAS, The Office of Early Care & Education, First 5 San Francisco, Children’s Council and Wu Yee Children’s Services partnered to support families and early educators during the COVID-19 pandemic; and

WHEREAS, The Child Care Planning and Advisory Council (CPAC), Early Care Educators of San Francisco (ECESF), Family Child Care Association of San Francisco (FCCASF), and the San Francisco Early Care and Education Advocacy Coalition worked at the forefront to prioritize the needs of early care educators and programs in order to best serve San Francisco’s 0–5-year-old children and their families; and

WHEREAS, Early care educators are skilled and valuable front-line professionals who risked their own health to provide care during a global pandemic and often made personal sacrifices to stay open while businesses were shutting down around them; and

WHEREAS, In San Francisco, 92% of early care educators are women and 83% are women of color who are systematically underpaid exacerbating the economic conditions for them and their families; and

WHEREAS, According to UC Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, one third of family child care providers and center-based educators in California receive such low wages that they require at least one form of public assistance to make ends meet; and

WHEREAS, Working families heavily rely on early care education particularly in a high-cost city as San Francisco where there are limited child care slots with a waiting list exceeding 3,000 of low-income families in need of subsidized slots; and

WHEREAS, Despite the high cost of childcare and the challenges during the pandemic, there is an increasing demand for early care and education programs in San Francisco, which saw a 20% increase in licensed child care sites during the COVID-19 pandemic while the rest of the state dropped 17%; and

WHEREAS, Uplifting and stabilizing the educator workforce is critical for San Francisco to meet its goal to provide universal, high quality, affordable early care and education program for all children 0-5, and now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco honors and celebrates early care educators at center and home-based programs for their outstanding work on behalf of young children and their families; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco recognizes and celebrates these individuals for their contribution to San Francisco and recognizes them as teachers that should have compensation including benefits on par with that of K-12 educators; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco reaffirms its commitment to the Early Care and Education for All Initiative made possible by the passage of Proposition C also known as “Baby C” in 2016 and commends the use of the Early Care and Education for All Initiative’s Babies and Families First Fund, also known as “Baby Prop C” funds, to move the City and County of San Francisco toward the goal of universal access to high quality early childhood programs for all families, which starts with prioritizing K3 wage parity for early care educators as stated in the 2015 San Francisco’s Citywide Plan for Early Care and Education adopted by the Mayor and Board of Supervisors; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco recognizes that the “Baby Prop C” funds used for the Compensation Initiative Plan will lift early care educators serving over 50% subsidized children to a minimum of a San Francisco living wage of $28/hour, but more funds will be needed to meet the 2015 goal of K3 wage parity; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco joins together in an ask to for community spaces, City museums, arts and cultural institutions, and businesses to recognize that early care educators are teachers too by offering discounts and benefits similar to those offered to San Francisco Unified School District or K-12 educators, which will not only show appreciation, but also enrich their teaching practices; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco declares the week of April 2, 2022, through April 9, 2022, and the first week of April every year thereafter as the “Week of the Young Child”.