Problem
Parents cannot work if their children don’t have child care, and our child care industry is in crisis. The business model doesn’t work. Parents of young children are least able to pay what the teachers and caregivers of their kids deserve to be paid. We know these are the most important years of learning for young brains - and we should be paying these teachers and caregivers accordingly. Today the average child care worker gets paid $16,000-$24,000 a year, less than a barista at Starbucks. Child care centers simply cannot survive without some way to recruit and retain their workforce through salary and training supports.
Solution
The Early Learning Training Institute will leverage state and federal dollars to increase pay for child care workers with a commensurate increase in training, professional development and a real career/articulation path for these teachers and caregivers.