Black teachers: How to recruit them and make them stay
Lessons in higher education: What California can learn
Keeping California public university options open
Superintendents: Well-paid and walking away
The debt to degree connection
College in prison: How earning a degree can lead to a new life
California is doing too little to prepare workers for early education jobs and not paying them enough at a time when more children are heading to pre-kindergarten programs, a new report says.
New America, a Washington, D.C.-based foundation that explores public policy issues, released a report, “Not Golden Yet: Building a Stronger Workforce for Young Children in California,” that examined whether California is ready for the demands of the growing and diverse population in early education. The report, released last week, found that preschool teachers receive less training and are paid less than K-12 teachers.
“Our bottom line is that California is not doing enough to educate early childhood educators so that kids don’t fall way behind in school,” said Sarah Jackson, the report’s author.
Of the 1.5 million infants and toddlers in the state, 53 percent were Latino and 48 percent were low-income, according to the 2013 Census. About half of preschoolers speak a language other than English.
In the latest budget, the state added 9,500 more slots for the California State Preschool Program and an additional 6,800 vouchers for low-income parents to obtain childcare.
Also, in 2011, public schools added an extra year of schooling – transitional kindergarten – for some 4-year-olds. California previously required children to be 5 by Sept. 1 to enter kindergarten. Now children who turn 5 between Sept. 2 and Dec. 2 can attend transitional kindergarten a year before regular kindergarten.
Even more spaces could be created in future years: Gov. Jerry Brown must decide by Oct. 11 whether to sign a bill (AB 47) that would set a deadline to provide state preschool or transitional kindergarten spaces for all low-income 4-year-olds by June 30, 2018.
Yet California has little consistent training and preparation programs for early educators, the report states.
California offers no specific teacher credential for early education. The state’s 103 community colleges offer different degrees and certificates to thousands of early educators each year, but none of the programs are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, seen as a key benchmark of quality.
Educators also face disparity in pay, the report states. The average preschool teacher’s pay was $30,500, while a kindergarten teacher made an average of $56,660 in 2010. Childcare workers’ wages were lower, $23,730 – low enough to be eligible for food stamps and other benefits.
“We can’t attract and keep people in the field, especially teaching younger children,” Jackson said. “They are going to defect and teach older kids in public schools.”
The report recommends that California move to a seamless system from birth to 3rd grade, instead of separating programs for birth to age 5 and kindergarten through 3rd grade, to create consistency in education. As part of that, the state’s preschool program could merge with transitional kindergarten, as long as a specific credential is available for those teachers, the report says.
Also, the report recommends that the state do more to fund early education so the pay for preschool educators is on par with public school teachers.
A grassroots campaign recalled two members of the Orange Unified School District in an election that cost more than half a million dollars.
Legislation that would remove one of the last tests teachers are required to take to earn a credential in California passed the Senate Education Committee.
Part-time instructors, many who work for decades off the tenure track and at a lower pay rate, have been called “apprentices to nowhere.”
A bill to mandate use of the method will not advance in the Legislature this year in the face of teachers union opposition.
Comments (1)
Comments Policy
We welcome your comments. All comments are moderated for civility, relevance and other considerations. Click here for EdSource's Comments Policy.
Linda 9 years ago9 years ago
Thank you for addressing this important topic. There is indeed an issue of pay inequity between K-12 and ECE teachers. I agree that teachers need more preparation. In the 70's we had an early childhood credential - but the California colleges got rid of them because of lack of enrollment. Teachers can work in Title 22 licensed programs with only 12 units of ECE course work. In the past decade there has been a movement … Read More
Thank you for addressing this important topic. There is indeed an issue of pay inequity between K-12 and ECE teachers. I agree that teachers need more preparation. In the 70’s we had an early childhood credential – but the California colleges got rid of them because of lack of enrollment. Teachers can work in Title 22 licensed programs with only 12 units of ECE course work. In the past decade there has been a movement led by Head Start to require ECE teachers to have a BA degree. Many have achieved their degrees but are still paid well below what K-12 teachers earn.
You mentioned that none of the community college teacher preparation programs are NAEYC accredited. De Anza College Child Development Department in Cupertino CA is NAEYC accredited. The only community college in the state! It is a costly and intensive process that most colleges do not support.