Why Target ECE Workforce?
• General economic returns/benefits
– To workers/multiplier effect
– To society/better child outcomes
• Political, economic potential
– Increased public, business, union support
– Economic recovery – window of opportunity
• Fix Market failures
– Inability to pay
– Lack of information
Getting from Here to There
• Current workforce:
– Low education levels
– Very low compensation
– Little or no career ladder
• Keys to enhancement:
– Route to higher education
– Better compensation
– Career ladder
ECE Worker Qualifications Declining
40%
Percent with a college degree or more
all workers
30%
20%
center-based ECE
10%
0%
1983
1986
1989
Source: KRC analysis of the CPS Basic Montly Survey
1992
1995
1998
2001
2004
In mid-80s, Younger Teachers were More Often
College-Educated than Older Teachers -- Like the
Workforce as a Whole
Percent of Teachers and Administrators in Centerbased Early Childhood Education with At Least A
Four-Year College Degree by Age
60%
1983-1987
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
24
27
30
33
36
39
42
45
48
51
54
Age (five-year averages; e.g., 24 means the average for ages 22-26)
57
60
Many College-Educated ECE Teachers and
Administrators Near Retirement
Percent of Teachers and Administrators in Centerbased Early Childhood Education with At Least A
Four-Year College Degree by Age
60%
1983-1987
50%
1988-1992
1993-1997
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
24
27
30
33
36
39
42
45
48
51
54
Age (five-year averages; e.g., 24 means the average for ages 22-26)
57
60
Many College-Educated ECE Teachers and
Administrators Near Retirement
Percent of Teachers and Administrators in Centerbased Early Childhood Education with At Least A
Four-Year College Degree by Age
60%
1983-1987
50%
1988-1992
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
24
27
30
33
36
39
42
45
48
51
54
Age (five-year averages; e.g., 24 means the average for ages 22-26)
57
60
Many College-Educated ECE Teachers and
Administrators Near Retirement
Percent of Teachers and Administrators in Centerbased Early Childhood Education with At Least A
Four-Year College Degree by Age
60%
1983-1987
50%
1988-1992
1993-1997
40%
30%
2000-2004
20%
10%
0%
24
27
30
33
36
39
42
45
48
51
54
Age (five-year averages; e.g., 24 means the average for ages 22-26)
57
60
Today, Younger Teachers Are Less Often CollegeEducated than Older Teachers -- Unlike the
Workforce as a Whole
60%
Percent of Teachers and Administrators in Center-based ECE with
At Least A Four-Year College Degree by Age
1983-1987
50%
40%
30%
2000-2004
20%
10%
0%
24
27
30
33
36
39
42
45
48
51
54
57
Age (five-year averages; e.g., 24 means the average for ages 22-26)
60
Education Lowest for Home-Based ECE
60%
High School or Less
56%
Some College
College-Degree or More
50%
40%
46%
37%
32%
30%
20%
17%
11%
10%
0%
Home-Based ECE
Source: KRC analysis of the CPS Basic Monthly Survey 2000-2004
Center-Based ECE
ECE Workers Also Paid Less
$25.00
Inflation Adjusted Median Wages 1983-2004
$20.00
Female College Graduates
$15.00
All Workers
Center-Based Teachers and Administrators
$10.00
$5.00
$0.00
1984
1987
Source: KRC analysis of the CPS MORG data 1983-2004.
1990
1993
1996
1999
2002
Proposal and Cost
• Enhance qualifications, skills, pay @ each
level of 1.85 million ECE workers:
– Below HS  HS  CDA: (~50%)
– CDA  AA ? BA/ECE PD (~30 – 50%)
• Cost:
– Lowest-paid in field, lift from $8-$12 to $13-$17
– Mid-level ECE workers, those entering the field,
add PD, $5/hr, ladder
– TOTAL: $18.5 billion - $23 billion (with benefits)
Policy Strategies
• New funding: tax incentives/legislation
linking quality to reimbursement/salary
• Reallocated dollars
– Race to the Top ECE
– Reinvest prison savings
– Workforce Development Initiatives
– Social Investment Bonds
Tying funding to quality
• Through tax credits: individual/
teacher, reimbursement to ECE center ,
business, parents (LA)
• Through scholarships: T.E.A.C.H.
• Through legislation (PA STARS)
Reallocation Policy I: RTT
• Race to the Top offering new ECE grants
– Target program quality
– Focus on systems-building, collaboration
– Sustainability key
• Opportunities for job creation/growth
– Using RTT $ to tie quality to compensation
– Using RTT $ to enhance worker skills
Reallocation Policy II: Corrections
• Logical connection: At-risk children drive
many corrections costs, quality ECE helps
• Financial and political opportunities:
– Huge prison budgets w/ little/no safety benefit
– ECE relatively small budget, so small % of
set-aside can fund thousands of children
– Same fiscal conservatives that support prison
cuts can back ECE funding
Reallocation III: Workforce Initiatives
• Federal/state grants for partnerships—
training tied to ECE career ladders
• Preference for funding to proposals that
– increase compensation with training/step up
– have a funding sustainability plan
– Strengthen business/labor engagement
• Use some $ to move unregulated homebased providers onto first rung of ladder
Reallocation IV: SIBs
• In use in other countries, policy contexts
• ECE presents opportunities, challenges
– Evidence of future payoff
– Prevention  major cost savings
– Business, philanthropists taking interest
BUT
– Estimating short-term savings difficult
– Different savings by risk group, cohort, family
and community factors – how to incorporate?
Contact information
Elaine Weiss
eweiss@epi.org
(202) 331-5537
Steve Herzenberg
herzenberg@keystoneresearch.org
(717) 255-7145