I Value Child Care Educators: That’s Why I Support The Pay Equity Fund
May 12th was the National Day Without Child Care. While a number of parents, child care providers and advocates participated by closing down their centers and meeting with legislators, I want to share why this day is important to me.
I am a Center Director at Chantelle’s Quality Child Care Center in the District of Columbia. I also organize with SPACEs in Action, which supports child care organizers across the district. I have worked as a center director for over 20 years.
From my experience, I know that child care providers offer an invaluable service to communities. Local, state and federal officials should do all they can to support the people who support our communities. In D.C., this looks like supporting the Pay Equity Fund & Childcare Subsidy. The fund offers pay supplements and health benefits that help child care educators meet their or their families’ needs. The childcare subsidy ensures that more eligible families receive services.
Child care educators are the workforce behind the workforce. Unfortunately, child care providers are consumed with paperwork, new rules, and limited funding. We continually watch the pay rate go up for teachers, but not for early educators. Don’t get me wrong; teachers deserve competitive benefits. But there is an underlying problem in early childhood education. Day care centers, especially the smaller centers, do not have the resources or the money needed to maintain the services we provide.
I value child care educators. That’s why I pursued the Pay Equity Fund. Without it, I would only be able to offer minimum wage. This would make it impossible to maintain qualified teachers. But I’m not sure how long the fund will last. This means that our ability to provide quality care, recruit and retain qualified staff, and afford taxes and fees is threatened. We are also concerned about public schools enrolling two-and-a-half-year-olds. This decreases certain age groups that would be enrolled in day care centers, limiting our ability to stay open. The Pay Equity Fund would help to reduce some of these concerns.
But there are others. It is imperative that there be funding for child care that meets the needs of families with unique or different circumstances. My center used to be open 23 hours a day, 6 days a week, because that’s what some parents needed. Parents who work second and third shifts need flexible child care services. For instance, I provide care for people who work in varied professions – police officers, health care workers, service workers, etc.
These services are critical to the community’s well-being. Unfortunately, we had to limit our schedule due to costs. My center offers quality care, social, emotional, and physical development. We have children with speech delays and autism. We desperately need help for these children. We are exactly the type of center that legislators should invest.
That is why the National Day Without Child Care is so important. We are shining a light on the aspects of child care that are often overlooked or underappreciated.
Child care providers need tax breaks for childcare centers; high taxes place a tremendous burden on childcare centers. Parents need help getting subsidies so more children can access care, and so parents can go to work. If a parent lives in a two-parent home and one partner makes more than the other, that family will not qualify for a child care subsidy. Officials assume they can afford childcare without consideration for other expenses parents have – rent, groceries, utility expenses, medical bills, etc.
Problems with subsidies can interrupt learning for children, pay for providers, and continuity for families. When children are removed from receiving subsidies, they must wait a month before they can be reinstated. The paperwork is significant, creating a very time-consuming process for child care providers as well as parents.
The pay equity fund is vital for creating parity between early childhood educators and those in the district’s public and charter schools. That allows more talented young people to become and remain educators while building a life for themselves and their families. That means higher quality early education for our infants and toddlers, ensuring they show up to kindergarten ready to learn on day one. That means more parents of young children are able to go to work knowing their young children are well cared for.
Shouldn’t this be the goal?
Javonne Haynes is the Center Director at Chantelle’s Quality Child Care Center in Washington, D.C.
SEE ALSO:
Op-Ed: Congress Must Work With Directly Impacted People On Any Solution To The Child Care Crisis