ENROLLED ORIGINAL
A RESOLUTION
24-386
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
February 1, 2022
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Early Childhood
Educator Pay Equity Fund Establishment Act of 2021 to authorize the Office of the State
Superintendent of Education to create a grant program that supports pay parity for early
childhood educators in accordance with the recommendations of the Early Childhood
Educator Equitable Compensation Task Force, and to enter into a sole source grant
agreement for the purposes of implementing this program.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the Office of the State Superintendent of Education Pay Parity Program
for Early Childhood Educators Authorization Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2022.
Sec. 2. (a) There exists an immediate need to provide the Office of the State
Superintendent of Education (OSSE) authority to create a grant program for the purpose of
issuing direct-to-educator payments from the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund.
(b) The Birth-to-Three for All DC Act of 2018, effective October 30, 2018 (D.C. Law 22-
179; D.C. Official Code 4-410.01 et seq.), requires OSSE to develop an updated compensation
scale for child development facilities to achieve compensation parity with elementary school
teachers employed by the District of Columbia Public Schools, taking into account teacher roles,
credentials, and experience.
(c) OSSE has not yet enacted an updated compensation scale pursuant to the law. As part
of the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Act of 2021, effective November 13, 2021 (D.C. Law
24-45; 68 DCR 12567), the Council unanimously voted to form an Early Childhood Educator
Equitable Compensation Task Force (Task Force). The Task Force is charged with proposing
an employee compensation scale for early childhood development providers and further
recommending a permanent system to implement a new employee compensation scale by
January 15, 2022.
(d) On January 4, 2022, the Council unanimously approved Bill 24-594, the Early
Childhood Educator Equitable Compensation Task Force Emergency Amendment Act of 2022,
effective January 24, 2022 (D.C. Act 24-311; 69 DCR 647), which allowed the Task Force to
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propose a short-term report on January 15, 2022, and extended the due date for the long-term
report to April 15, 2022.
(e) The Task Force submitted its short-term report on January 14, 2022. In the report, the
Task Force recommends a direct-to-educator short-term mechanism that would quickly
disburse funds to eligible educators. Further, the Task Force recommends OSSE procure an
experienced intermediary to manage the payment process, from intake and verification to
payment and documentations, for the payments from the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity
Fund specified in section 5102(b)(1) of the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Act of 2021,
effective November 13, 2021 (D.C. Law 24-45; 1325.431(b)(1)).
(f) For OSSE to move forward with disbursing direct-to-educator payments in the
remainder of Fiscal Year 2022 as swiftly as possible, OSSE requires Council authorization to
create a grant program that supports pay parity for early childhood educators in accordance with
the recommendations of the Early Childhood Educator Equitable Compensation Task Force and
authority to enter into a sole-source-grant agreement for the purposes of implementing this
program. The Early Childhood Educator Equitable Compensation Task Force Emergency
Amendment Act of 2022 gives OSSE that required explicit authority.
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Office
of the State Superintendent of Education Pay Parity Program for Early Childhood Educators
Authorization Emergency Amendment Act of 2022 be adopted after a single reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately
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