ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

I think education in the field is important, but the majority of child care centers don't pay people enough to warrant the expense that goes along with that education. Expectations keep rising, but compensation doesn't move with it; in fact, based on the rising cost of living, it seems to move backward. How do we get that side of the coin to move? Where do we start in making the workers feel valued enough to get the much needed education?

I have been teaching CDA Classes for ChildSavers for over 10 years. It has been my experience that low income providers that get their CDA usually move up in status in the daycare ( from assisstant to lead or asst director to director) ,receive an increase in pay or find a better paying position because they have earned their CDA.I find it most rewarding especially for those students who maybe did not do well in school or could not afford to go to college . I have had students of every age . My oldest was 72 and my youngest 18. It really provides a sense of accomplishment that some of these ladies and gentlemen ( yes I have a few male students) have never felt before andfor some they begin to realize that college is a possibility.

I think that increasing qualifications for early childhood teachers is a wonderful thing for the field. It shows everyone that this is a true profession, and we are not glorified babysitters. I also want to point out that along with increasing qualifications, there needs to be a real increase in salaries. There is no real incentive for us to want to go back to school and possibly accumulating student loans in the process. I know that we are educators because we want to help young children and their families, but we have to also make a decent living for our own families as well. In Chicago I got my B.A. in ECE. It is a non-certification degree that emphasized [care for] infants and toddlers. After I got my degree, my salary was $30,000. I am now living in Portland where salaries will be less. How am I expected to care for my family or even begin paying off my student loans? I love my profession, but more things have to change! We have to do a better job of advocating for for us!

It is always extremely frustrating to me that discussions of early childhood quality focus on state quality standards and staff qualifications, but none of them focus on the fact that most people who work with young children get horrible pay and benefits! When is someone going to realize that the most important part of quality early education is the teacher, and quality teachers must get paid and must get adequate benefits. How many state QRIS systems use teacher salaries and benefits as indicators of quality? How many provide an administrative ceiling that cannot be exceeded? (The number of programs that pay workers next-to-nothing but administrators big salaries is appalling).