Committee advances $234.9 million amendment for early‑educator wage supports to full Board

The Budget and Finance Committee on July 15 voted to send to the full Board a resolution that would approve a second amendment to a Department of Early Childhood (DEC) grant agreement with Children's Council of San Francisco to increase the total grant to approximately $234,900,000 and keep the contract term through June 30, 2027.

Ingrid Mesquita, executive director of the Department of Early Childhood, described the amendment as part of the city’s implementation of Baby Prop C (Babies and Families First Fund) and said the funding expands wage supports, the CARES stipend program and a new working‑conditions supplemental. Mesquita said the program reaches more than 3,000 early‑education workers citywide, provides an average wage increase of nearly 47% for educators in high‑need centers and has improved retention compared with regional peers. She also cited a UC Berkeley study showing higher job satisfaction among San Francisco early‑educators.

Nick Menard from the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s office recommended improvements to performance management: he urged DEC and Children's Council to adopt quantitative service and outcome targets that define "timely" and measure payment accuracy, and to expand outcome objectives to assess impacts on the size of the early‑care system and workforce credential validation. Mesquita acknowledged data and registry limitations and said DEC is upgrading the California Workforce Registry instance they use and coordinating with city IT to improve workforce data collection.

Chair Chan moved to refer the item to the full Board with recommendation; roll call recorded Dorsey, Sauter and Chan — all "aye." Public comment: none.

Next steps: the item is scheduled to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda on July 21 for final consideration.