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Teach Me, TeacherAuthor: Teach Me, Teacher LLC
Designed from the ground up as a no nonsense approach to teacher development, this podcast is your gateway to bettering your craft (and having some laughs along the way). It is a show for you. To help you better your craft, learn new skills, and get ideas to fuel your own. It is a show for anyone in the field of education, and has featured teachers and administrators from all over to offer their unique perspectives on some of the most relevant and hottest topics in public schools. Teach Me, Teacher has won several "best of" awards and has featured some of the top minds in education to date. Language: aa Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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#412 Achieving Universal Child Care in New York (Cordero & Gardner pt.2)
Monday, 27 April, 2026
What happens in early childhood classrooms doesn't stay there—it shows up every day in K–12 schools. In this episode of Teach Me, Teacher, I sit down with Robert Cordero and Tara Gardner to unpack what "universal child care" in New York City really means—not just as a policy idea, but as a lived reality for families, providers, and educators. If you missed part one, check it out here. We dig into why child care has become both a moral and economic imperative in a city shaped by poverty, workforce demands, and persistent child care deserts. From recent investments and pilot programs to the deeper structural challenges beneath them, this conversation pulls back the curtain on what's working—and what isn't. At the center of it all is a workforce crisis: tens of thousands of educators needed, a system heavily reliant on underpaid Black and Brown women, and a widening gap between Department of Education salaries and community-based providers. We wrestle with the uncomfortable question—can you build a "universal" system on an inequitable foundation? We also explore potential solutions, from free higher education pathways to the hard realities of funding, staffing, and political will. And finally, we zoom out: where is New York leading the way, where is it falling short, and what truths do we still need to confront if we want a system that truly supports children, families, and the educators who serve them? This episode challenges educators to see child care not as a separate issue—but as the foundation everything else is built on.
