The bicameral, bipartisan Early Childhood Education Caucus hosted a gathering of child care providers, preschoolers, teachers, parents and other advocates to highlight the worsening effects of the federal early childhood teacher shortage. .
Caucus co-chairs Sen. Pat Stefano (R-32), Sen. Judy Schwank (D-11), Rep. Pat Harkins (D-1), and Rep. Shelby Loves (R-143) ) is bipartisan support for investments in recruitment and retention that will help eliminate teacher shortages and ensure a supply of early learning that meets the demands of working families.
“Everyone understands that the child care landscape in Pennsylvania needs to change,” Schwank said. “Low wages for early childhood educators, long waiting lists, and high prices for parents are just some of the major issues that need to be addressed at the state level, and we have a great opportunity to do so in this year's budget. there is.”
Speakers detailed how low teacher pay is contributing to teacher shortages, leading to more child care and preschool classroom closures, and increasing waiting lists for working families.
“This is an issue I hear from early learning providers across my district,” Stefano said. “We must work together to prioritize funding to help the early learning sector attract and retain its workforce.”
Dr. Lee Spangler, CEO of The Learning Lamp Early Learning Centers, said her organization currently has 97 openings and 546 children on the waiting list, so He said childcare is on “life support.”
Spangler believes they could serve an additional 1,286 children if wages were better and jobs filled. He also pointed out that child care programs are unable to pay wages comparable to other industries such as convenience stores and grocery retailers, leading to annual turnover rates of more than 50%.
“Other states have established revenue streams to better support their early learning workforce, and it's time for us to do the same,” Stefano said. “While not everyone in the commonwealth has young children at home, the collective impact of the early education teacher shortage affects everyone. Parents who want to work can’t find child care; If we are required to stay home full-time, our workforce and, in turn, our economy will suffer.”
Tim Fallon, CEO emeritus of Lehigh Valley Public Media and a member of the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Board, called child care “the workforce supporting the workforce.”
He shared the results of a New Employer Survey by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce and Early Learning Investment Committee, which found that 80% of Pennsylvania employers surveyed had a moderate increase in recruitment and retention due to child care. or indicated that they had a serious problem.
“Supporting families means keeping child care open and available across the commonwealth,” Rabo said. “We must invest in early learning teachers now or we will close more classrooms in the future, which will only harm the development of our children.”
Other speakers included Indiana County Sheriff Robert Fyock, a member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, and retired Army Lt. Gen. Dennis Benchhoff, who spoke on behalf of Mission: Readiness .
Harkins said the business model for child care and early learning is “clearly broken,” and called the Shapiro administration's budget proposal to increase child care subsidies an important step forward.
“It is also important to address the teacher shortage aspect of the child care crisis head-on. It is a top federal priority to learn from other states’ models on how to effectively invest in recruitment and retention efforts in the child care sector.” It has to be,” Harkins said.
This event was co-chaired by Start Strong PA, Pre-K for PA, and the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Board to support further investment in early childhood education across the commonwealth. This budget cycle, the caucus is focused on helping to make the early childhood education workforce more stable and meet the demand for child care and preschool services for working families.