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Council Discourse

NYC Council meetings, chaptered and linked by time.

Created by Uzair Qadir

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Q&A

Chair Joseph on early childhood apprenticeship program

New York City Council · Jun 8, 2026 · starts 0:42:17 · 2 min 28 sec

Joseph asks about the early childhood apprenticeship program budget, enrollment, and outreach. The Chancellor reports 30 apprentices currently enrolled, with recruitment through the statewide network, campus students, and child care centers.

Rita C. Joseph

Let's talk about our favorite topic, early childhood education.

Rita C. Joseph

That's everybody's favorite topic.

Rita C. Joseph

CUNY is requesting an additional $6.

Rita C. Joseph

Million dollars to fund early childhood education program including the apprenticeship program the pro the child development associate the CDA program

Rita C. Joseph

the CDA completion pro project and b2 teacher certification support CUNY is requesting three million over three years to expand the early childhood

Rita C. Joseph

apprentices program to recruit 200 new professionals what is the current budget of the program for fiscal 2026 and 2027

Rita C. Joseph

And how many apprentices do you have currently enrolled?

Félix Matos Rodríguez

The first, which program?

Rita C. Joseph

The apprenticeship program.

Rita C. Joseph

The apprenticeship program for your CDA.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

This is...

Linda Lee

I know we have this number.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

So, I mean, the cost for year one is a million in what we have projected.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

So I assume that we're using that criteria to the numbers that we have now.

Rita C. Joseph

And how many apprentices are currently enrolled in your program?

Félix Matos Rodríguez

30.

Rita C. Joseph

And how do apprentices apply and what type of outreach does CUNY perform for this program?

Félix Matos Rodríguez

Well, so we use a number of things.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

First, we have the statewide network, which is sort of the Cadillac of working with all the individuals that are working in early childhood.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

That's a key method for us to be able to recruit.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

We use our own network of the students on the campuses.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

I think I mentioned the testimony.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

We have about 3,600 undergrad students studying that.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

We have great relationships also with a lot of the nonprofits and some of the providers that work with us.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

And, you know, we have also our 17 child care centers that are hubs of talented people spreading the word, too.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

So plenty of ways to getting good people in.

Rita C. Joseph

That's wonderful.

Rita C. Joseph

How long is the apprenticeship?

Rita C. Joseph

How long is the program?

Félix Matos Rodríguez

I need to get back on that.

Rita C. Joseph

And while the students are in your program, what type of support do you have?

Félix Matos Rodríguez

That was 30 students.

Rita C. Joseph

How many?

Félix Matos Rodríguez

That I know.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

I need to get back to you on the duration of the program.