Mamdani names new early childhood chief amid 2-K launch

Mayor Zohran Mamdani named Erica Phillips as the new deputy chancellor for early childhood education on Tuesday. The appointment comes two days before the start of the school year and the launch of the mayor's free 2-K program for toddlers.

Phillips, a nonprofit leader, will take over the Division of Early Childhood Education at a critical moment. The division oversees programs for roughly 150,000 children under age 5. It is currently managing a severe contract backlog that has threatened some childcare providers with closure.

"I'm eager to get started," Phillips told Chalkbeat. "What the city is doing is ambitious and exciting, and there is a lot of work and opportunities here."

Mamdani's 2-K program launches this week for 2,000 two-year-olds. It is projected to grow to 12,000 children by next fall. The mayor has promised a spot for every two-year-old who wants one by the end of his first term, though Governor Kathy Hochul has only committed state funding for the program's first two years.

Rebuilding a depleted division

Phillips inherits a division that has been battered by deep staff cuts. Under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, the division grew to about 1,170 employees to support his universal pre-K initiative. By August 2024, following cuts and reorganizations under Mayor Eric Adams, that number had plummeted to 495.

Current staffing levels and recent investment plans are outlined below.

Advocates say the staffing crisis has hurt the division's ability to support providers and process contracts. "It's quite staggering," said Nora Moran of United Neighborhood Houses. "It's going to take a long time to rebuild what was there."

Phillips called rebuilding staffing a "huge priority." She said she hopes to restore the division to a size more comparable to its previous level.

A focus on home-based providers

Phillips' background signals a focus on family childcare providers, who run small, home-based programs. She most recently led the National Association for Family Child Care and previously headed the nonprofit All Our Kin.

Her appointment follows the July departure of former early childhood chief Simone Hawkins. Some parent leaders reportedly expressed concern over losing the only Black woman serving as a deputy chancellor. Phillips is also a Black woman.

Family childcare providers are seen as essential to the 2-K expansion. Many were left out of earlier 3-K and pre-K rollouts. A recent report found these home-based providers earn an average of just $6 an hour.

Phillips called that pay "unacceptable." She said achieving pay parity for all early childhood providers will be a priority. She also pledged to continue giving providers flexibility in their curriculum choices, a policy reportedly begun under her predecessor.

Phillips will work with Emmy Liss, who leads the Mayor's Office of Childcare and Early Childhood Education. She acknowledged she has not worked directly in city government but stated she has a deep understanding of the early childhood landscape.

She begins official duties in mid-September, tasked with fixing longstanding issues while expanding the system toward universal childcare.