DC day care protesting Bowser’s proposed budget cuts to early childhood education

WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Parents with children at CommuniKids DC Center were sent a letter Friday evening informing them that it will close for a day next week in protest to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed budget cuts to early childhood education.

The day care center is calling the protest day, “A Day without childcare.”

“We feel very strongly that we want to support our teachers and be there for our teachers. Because the consequences of this are going to be grim,” said Jeannine Piacenza, co-founder, and executive director of CommuniKids Pre-Schools.

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This budget season, Mayor Bowser has proposed almost $300 million cut to early childhood education in the 2025 budget. There are proposals to cut funding to the Pay Equity Fund. That fund makes sure early childhood educators are paid almost the same as DC Public Schools teachers.

Bowser’s proposed budget cuts will also impact pre-k and subsidy programs.

“Three years later Mayor Bowser comes out with her budget, and she completely eliminated the pay equity fund,” Piacenza said. “This has been a crushing blow to programs across the city which depended on these funds to provide a living wage and appropriate salary for our educators band it will be devastating for them if these funds are cut.”

In the letter CommuniKids sent parents, it said centers will be closed on Friday, May 3 and staff will rally that morning at Freedom Plaza and at the Wilson Building to support people who will be testifying at the last day of the public hearing on the budget.

“All of our staff including our executive team, our central offices,” Piacenza said. “From admission people to our finance and accounting. We are all going to be at Freedom Plaza at 8 a.m. on May 3.”

DC News Now asked Piacenza if the day care center is concerned about how parents will feel about not having day care for a day. She said they’re concerned but there is a message that the closure will send.

“Show the city what it would be like with a shortage of programs,” Piacenza said. “We did want it to be a little bit of a pain point because that’s the point.”

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She said that the day care centers love the parents because they support them.

“We did want to give them a heads up so that they had about a week’s notice,” she added.

In the letter, they invited parents to join them at the rallies.

Piacenza said they are working with other coalitions and are calling on other programs to close that day or have delayed openings.

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