New York City’s early childhood (EC) landscape was jolted on July 31 when Chalkbeat reported that the Division of Early Childhood Education’s (DECE) deputy chancellor, Simone Hawkins, was stepping down. Many people were confident that Hawkins would continue to steer the DECE into the 2K expansion, while also supporting the other EC programs.

The timing of her departure comes at a pivotal and chaotic moment. We are on the precipice of a historic 2K expansion, yet we are facing serious systems issues, including a teacher shortage, delayed payments for programs, and pay disparities across the workforce.

We are the People’s Early Childhood Coalition (PEC) advocating for the quality of programming, the well-being of the EC workforce, and the experiences of children and families. We urge Chancellor Kamar Samuels, our elected officials, and other leaders to provide the early childhood community and NYC’s families with the highest level of........

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