Committee of the Whole Public Oversight Hearing

COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE NOTICE OF PUBLIC OVERSIGHT HEARING 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004 REVISED/ABBREVIATED CHAIRMAN PHIL MENDELSON COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE ANNOUNCES A PUBLIC OVERSIGHT HEARING on Early Childhood Educator Equitable Compensation on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 3:30pm Live via Zoom Video Conference Broadcast Chairman’s Website (www.ChairmanMendelson.com/live) DC Council Website (www.dccoungil.gov) Council Chairman Phil Mendelson announces a public oversight hearing of the Committee of the Whole on “Early Childhood Educator Equitable Compensation” The hearing will be held on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 3:30pm. This notice has been revised to reflect a delay in the starting time of the hearing pursuant to Council Rule 421(d)(1). As part of the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Act of 2021, the Council established an Early Childhood Educator Equitable Compensation Task Force (“Task Force”) charged with proposing an employee compensation scale for early childhood development providers that accounts for employee roles, credentials, and experience. This compensation scale will be offset by local funding that is set aside in the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund. Last year the Task Force submitted a report to the Mayor that proposes a mechanism of direct payment to educators in Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, with amounts totaling $53,920,878 and $72,889,092 respectively. The Office of the State Superintendent (“OSSE”) has successfully distributed funds to all qualified applicants. The Task Force proposes that beginning in Fiscal Year 2024, OSSE will shift to distributing funds totaling $73,883,680 to child development facilities, rather than directly to the educators. In turn, the facilities that accept the funds will be required to pay their eligible early childhood educators wages that reflect the recommendations of the Task Force. The purpose of this public oversight hearing is to not only hear public opinion on this updated compensation scale, but also on how OSSE intends to implement the proposed compensation scale in Fiscal Year 2024 and beyond. Those who wish to testify must register at http://www.ChairmanMendelson.com/testify by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, June 9, 2023. Testimony is limited to 4 minutes. Less time will be allowed if there are a large number of witnesses. Witnesses who anticipate needing spoken language interpretation, or require sign language interpretation, are requested to inform the Committee office of the need as soon as possible but no later than five business days before the proceeding. We will make every effort to fulfill timely requests, although alternatives may be offered. Requests received in less than five business days may not be fulfilled. If you have additional questions, please email cow@dccouncil.us or contact Raleigh Lancaster, Senior Legislative Counsel, at (202) 724-7130. Public witnesses will participate virtually via the Internet on the Zoom Video Conference platform. Testimony should be submitted in writing to cow@dccouncil.gov in advance of the hearing. Written testimony will be posted publicly to http://www.chairmanmendelson.com/testimony. If you are unable to testify at the hearing, written statements are encouraged and will be made a part of the official record. Statements for the record should be submitted to cow@dccouncil.gov or left by voicemail by calling (202) 430-6948 (up to 3 minutes which will be transcribed). The record will close at 5:00pm on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.