DC daycare workers to receive $10,000 checks
Thousands of daycare workers in Washington, D.C., are set to receive checks of at least $10,000 after the city council passed a measure reallocating tax dollars from the richest residents to those who work in childcare.
The Council of the District Columbia on Tuesday voted unanimously to disburse the funds, available to any eligible childcare worker who applies for it. Workers will receive personal checks anywhere between $10,000 to $14,000, depending on their current position. The one-time payment is the first step toward raising childcare workers’ salaries, as city officials argue they are underpaid.
“Child care is the backbone of our economy,” tweeted Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, who represents Ward 4. “The predominantly Black and Brown women who do this work have been underpaid for decades despite being asked to educate our children during their most foundational years. Today we start paying them much closer to what they deserve.”
The additional pay was proposed by the Early Childhood Educator Equitable Compensation Task Force, a group created last year to submit a report to the council on how to use tax revenue to raise daycare workers’ salaries. The funds were accrued from increased taxes on wealthy families aimed at addressing social problems such as funding childcare programs and increasing wages.
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