Adrienne Vaughn testifies on funding struggles and partnership

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Council, Deputy Chancellor, Emmy, and Speaker Gutierrez, we thank you for this time and for you to listen to us.

I speak among so many.

It's like repetitive in what we're saying, but I speak for them when I say I lived.

Everything that everyone spoke about.

We are the, by the way, my name is Adrienne Vaughn.

I'm the executive director of Quick Start Daycare Center.

We're located in Queens.

And we live through everything of what everyone spoke about today.

We were that center that struggled to really open up, to use our

supplies came from schools that were closing.

We were holding on by a thread.

We worked through the entire summer with no funding.

We had to wait and we stuck it out with the help of Emmy.

I've sent her several emails and I thank God that she listened and she assisted and we were able to open up and we serve over.

By the way, we have 2K, 3K and UPK.

So we have all three grades here and it is just so unfair that we have the pay delays.

We have a problem with funding.

We struggle with pay parity, but yet our staff, we show up, we service these families, we service children.

We are providing.

service and we should not be looked down upon, but yet we should be a part of building this foundation up.

We don't want to struggle every day.

We're happy to service the kids, to educate the kids.

And we have a building full of certified educators.

Even our assistant teachers are college level.

And we struggle.

It's like we're begging DOE all the time for help with funding.

And we shouldn't have to when we're supplying quality care for these children and parents.

We just ask for a full partnership.

We can't build if we don't all work together in unison.

And that covers our from the salaries to the supplying the everyday necessities to running the buildings.

Choose and I heard someone say every month, do I pay my staff or do I pay for the building itself?

Everything that it takes to function and run daily.

It's just, it's a lot.

And we, I really hope to see positive change.

I really hope our deputy chances.

coming in to help us.

I would love, we welcome anyone to come in and see what we offer and what we do on a daily and then you'll understand why we, when they say the struggle is real, it really is because we are doing all of our part.

Our ICs come out and tell us we're doing such a great job, but why is it such a fight?

To manage every month, paying our staff and paying the household bills to continue functioning.

Something needs to be done about the funding, about the invoices being paid in a timely manner, about our always working with us better and more clearly.

All across the board, something needs to be done in order for us to keep functioning.

I thank you all, and I look forward to an improvement.

I see it.

I know it.

It's going to come, but we need it sooner versus later.