WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Advocates for early childhood education rallied on Friday in protest against D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed slashing of the District’s pay equity fund that many fear will drive needed teachers away.

The rally, which educators and parents held at Samuel Gompers Park in Northwest D.C., ironically preceded an annual conference of local District early educators — many of whom expressed deep concern that these cuts will set families and teachers back.

The cuts were part of millions of dollars in other cost-saving measures that the Bowser administration proposed to stave off future budget deficits. The mayor told the City Council on Wednesday that while the cuts are not wanted, the city has to make the difficult decision to slash many popular programs.

One such program is the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, which offers money to teachers and caregivers to bolster their salaries given the low-pay scale.

“It’s devastating to the educator,” said Kathy Hollowell-Makle, the executive director of the District of Columbia Association for the Education of Young Children which promotes early education in the District.

“Prior to the passing of the compensation which is the parity fund, the average childcare teacher made about $31,000 in the District of Columbia, which is far below a livable wage in the District,” Hollowell-Makel said.

The proposed slashing of the fund loomed over the DC Early Ed X conference at a hotel in the District. More than 1,000 early childhood educators attended.

“We’re really disappointed that the mayor made this choice,” said Ruqiyyah Anbar-Shaneen, the director of the Early Childhood for DC Action, a group that vehemently opposes the cuts. “I think that she talks a lot about shared sacrifice. But in this case, we can be more thoughtful, we can do better in terms of setting our budgets and setting our priorities.”

Jamal Berry, the CEO of early Headstart provider Educare DC, also expressed grave concerns about how the cuts will affect teachers and families.

“For them to go backwards, that means that they’re going to quit the field like what we saw pre-pandemic,” Berry said. “There’s going to be higher call outs, there’s going to be less interactions with children. And we also will not be able to recruit high-quality teachers into the field, which was the whole point of pay equity in the first place.”