• Recruiting teachers with higher education requirements requires paying higher salaries , which in turn , increases the gap between revenues and expenses .
• If early childhood educators were paid comparable wages to K-12 teachers , the annual cost of infant care would be between $ 28,000 and $ 37,500 in a child care center , and between $ 22,000 and $ 29,000 in a family child care home . 45
In 2019 , New York City established agreements to fund starting salary parity for all certified teachers in community-based early childhood education settings and to provide raises for unionized , non-certified teachers and other staff by 2021 , a positive step forward that could provide a model for the rest of the country . 46
Salary parity for early educators across program settings became a major issue in 2014 when New York City began to implement full-day universal pre-kindergarten . More than half of all kids in universal pre-K were served in community based organizations ( CBOs ), yet the pay and benefits gap between early childhood education public school teachers and CBO teachers with comparable education and experience became quite large ($ 15,000 to $ 17,000 by 2018 ). This pay gap created severe retention and recruitment problems for CBOs , as certified teachers left to work in early childhood education programs located in public schools . The Campaign for Children , a broad coalition of 150 providers , organized to build support for closing the teacher pay gap , resulting in a critical budget agreement to reach salary parity .
There are three big challenges for New York City ' s kindergarten parity implementation : comprehensive salary parity , enhanced career ladder opportunities , and family child care investments . 47
• Comprehensive salary parity . Beyond starting pay levels , improvements need to be made to account for :
• Differences in the length of the work year
• Wage increases for other teachers
• Longevity pay
• Differences in health insurance benefits , retirement coverage , and other fringe benefits
Enhanced career ladder . The Early Childhood Career Ladder ( ECCL ) program is successfully aiding the career advancement of teachers of color — more than 98 % of those who enrolled in ECCL courses since spring 2018 were Black , Latino , Asian , or multiracial . More focus is needed on supporting uncertified and assistant teachers seeking to access additional education and certification , including through raising the intermediate pay steps between assistant teacher and certified teacher with a bachelor ' s degree . Family child care investments : The city and state should increase investments in family child care , including in the compensation for providers . The 2019 salary parity commitment applied only to centerbased early childhood education programs , not to home-based family child care providers .
45
Center for American Progress . New York State Cost of Quality Child Care Study ( PowerPoint presentation ). Simon Workman and Steven Jessen-Howard . November 2019 .
46
Education . New York , NY : Center for New York City Affairs , The New School .
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