Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC’s public schools delivered to your inbox.A top Education Department official overseeing Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s ambitious childcare program for 2-year-olds is stepping down.Simone Hawkins, the deputy chancellor of the division of early childhood education, is leaving her post in September, city officials said Friday afternoon. Her departure comes at a key moment for Mamdani’s free childcare initiative. The program, which could be Mamdani’s most operationally complex campaign promise, is set to launch this fall with 2,000 free seats in a handful of neighborhoods. Families are expected to receive offers on Aug. 4. City officials did not say why Hawkins is stepping down and declined to make her available for an interview. “Over the last few years, Deputy Chancellor Simone Hawkins was a leader in making New York City more affordable and accessible for working families,” schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said in a statement. He praised her for helping to grow early childhood programs, tackle payment delays to providers, and expand programming for preschool students with disabilities. The news of Hawkins’ departure shocked many early childhood education advocates and others who worked with her in city government. Brooklyn City Council member Lincoln Restler framed the news as an “enormous loss” for the early childhood education system, noting Hawkins was responsive to his concerns and helped open vacant childcare centers the city was paying for. “I’ve seen the (Education Department) bureaucracy eat good people alive,” he said. “Deputy Chancellor Hawkins was one of the few people who could tame it.”Other advocates said she helped shore up the division after former Mayor Eric Adams made cuts to preschool programs for 3-year-olds.“We appreciate the work that Simone has done over the past two years to strengthen early childhood education,” said Randi Levine, policy director at Advocates for Children, including “shoring up 3-K and making sure it would be here to stay permanently.”Hawkins was appointed deputy chancellor by former Chancellor David Banks in 2024. She assumed the role as the division had long struggled to pay providers on time, undergone a bumpy staffing shakeup by Hawkins’ predecessor, and was rolling out a controversial curriculum mandate for early childhood programs that city officials recently loosened. Early childhood advocates and elected officials praised Banks’ decision to appoint her. Her portfolio includes the city’s universal pre-K programs for 3- and 4-year-olds as well as subsidized programs for infants and toddlers. Hawkins has held multiple roles in the city’s Education Department. She served as the chief executive for operations in the early childhood division in 2022, but resigned eight months into the role shortly after testifying at a City Council hearing that focused on late payments to providers. Officials said her resignation had been in the works before the hearing and was for “personal reasons.”Officials did not say if Hawkins has a new job lined up. “Over the past two years as Deputy Chancellor, we’ve improved practice, launched 2-K, a historic program that will deliver affordable child care for New York City families, and opened schools that for too long have sat vacant,” Hawkins said in a statement.“I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have worked with a slate of dedicated and committed public servants at New York City Public Schools.”Alex Zimmerman is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
