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Q&A
DOE's response on plans for comprehensive early childhood education
2:01:00
·
77 sec
Simone Hawkins, Deputy Chancellor for Early Childhood Education, responds to Council member Krishnan's concerns about early childhood education. She acknowledges the need for a comprehensive approach and outlines some of the administration's efforts and challenges in this area.
- Hawkins affirms the administration's support, citing the commitment to Head Start for another year
- She mentions ongoing conversations with providers and families to reimagine the sector
- The DOE is considering a multifaceted approach that includes special populations and emergent multilingual learners
- Hawkins emphasizes the need for investment in both facilities and the staffing pipeline
- She acknowledges that while they don't have all the answers, they are committed to working with the council to find solutions
Simone Hawkins
2:01:00
So, I really appreciate that and I appreciate your partnership and for acknowledging that we do we can't continue to do this piecemeal and we really need to approach it comprehensively.
2:01:10
But I do think the administration have demonstrated their support and I think committing to Head Start for another year is an example of that.
2:01:19
We are having active conversations with providers and families on how to really reimagine the sector, and it has to be a multifaceted approach, right?
2:01:28
We need to if it is going to be for all, we have to consider our children, our special populations, right?
2:01:34
Our emergent multilingual learners, our, know, our special education children.
2:01:38
And so, in some instances, we do need to go wider, but we absolutely need to go deeper.
2:01:43
That will, right, require a financial investment, but with that, it's not just about opening new seats in classrooms and facilities and brick and mortars across the city.
2:01:54
We have to invest in the staffing pipeline.
2:01:56
And so, we have to when talking about this comprehensively, it's not just about, to your point the ages of the seats, it's the type of seats and the people who are supporting these children through their learning trajectory.
2:02:07
And so, absolutely welcome, you know, your support.
2:02:11
I will not pretend like we have the answer to that very dynamic question, but we are committed to figuring it out with you.