It is 8 am on a snowy Tuesday, and I am folding laundry at Fort Hill Early Childhood Center, the daycare and preschool affiliated with Smith College in Northampton, MA. I am sitting with Cassie, a teacher in 2s and 3s mixed age classroom, who worked at the school for over 30 years. As we chat about the children and families the center serves, Cassie says in an exasperated tone, “I hate it when parents say ‘I wish I could do your job. It seems so fun!’ Like that’s all we do.”
I know exactly what she means. Throughout college and my time as a student worker at Fort Hill, I have realized that pre-Kindergarten education is my passion. As much as I love the field, I hesitate to enter it because of the disparities in how early educators and K-12 teachers are treated. The U.S. preschool system exists upon a foundation of gender and class inequities (Eisenstein 1982). This history of inequity bleeds into the real world realities of preschool teachers, especially in the form of compensation. A 2020 report from Bank Street College of Education on the state of infant and toddler education in the United States demonstrates that 86% of infant and toddler educators make less than $15 an hour, and half rely on some form of public financial assistance (Investing) Controlling for educational background, preschool teachers make on average two dollars less per hour than those who teach Kindergarten and above (Investing). Considering that the pre-Kindergarten work force is almost entirely composed of women, and 40% are women of color, two groups who continue to be subjected to wage discrimination (Investing). In order to combat this unfairness, more states and cities in the US should implement pay parity policies for pre-K educators.
The more economic stress early educators are put under, the less able they are to provide high quality care to the children in their charge (Schlieber& McLean). In fact, staff wages are the single best predictor of preschool program quality (Early). It is difficult to focus on your students’ gross motor development when you are worried if your own children may need to use SNAP next month. Additionally, 2015 data collected by the Nation Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) found that while many highly qualified educators have considered entering the field, the meager pay pre-Kindergarten teacher typically receive hold them back, depriving children of experienced teachers who are well equipped to promote development (National Association for the Education of Young Children).
Extensive research demonstrates that children who have access to quality care and education in their earliest years (0-5 years of age) fare better throughout future schooling than those who do not (Investing). We know that the learning students do before they enter K-12 is important, so why do we continue to compensate their educators in a way that does not equate to the importance of the task?
Policies that establish parity between the pay of preschool educators and the teachers of older children could greatly improve the current pay gap. Currently, seven U.S. states and cities have established programs to align pre-Kindergarten and K-3 teacher salaries in programs which receive public monies (Strategies). These policies either raised preschool teacher salaries to the same level as K-3 teachers, or provided raises at a higher rate for preschool teachers. These policy changes have resulted in positive effects, such as an increase in highly qualified K-3 teachers wanting to transition into pre-Kindergarten education (Strategies). Higher wages will attract passionate educators to the profession, and help current childcare workers achieve more professional stability.
When I picture life after college, I feel glad to have found a path in education that makes me happy, but terrified about how flaws in the early childhood system will affect my financial future. So many current and future pre-Kindergarten educators are passionate about working with children at this critical point in their development, but low wages inhibit them from doing the work they want to do. Contact your local or state representatives and learn what can be done to improve the pay of pre-Kindergarten teachers in your area. Let’s start building a stronger and more humane system for our youngest children and the people who teach them.
About the author McKenna Hendrickson is a senior at Smith College majoring in Education and Child Study. After graduation she hopes to work in early childhood education in her home state of California.