Abysmal wages nationwide make child care a non-starter for qualified people who otherwise would love to work with children. Sadly, so many child care workers find they have to leave the field as well, unless a life partner or parents are willing to subsidize their career choice by paying the bulk of living expenses - or they are living on the margins, at best. At the same time, parents are financially devastated by the cost of care, if they can find it. And who suffers most, of course, are the children. All this despite decades of advocacy.
This probably sounds pretty dark - but I've spent my whole career bumping into this roadblock. There have been a few sparks of hope, but unless our society and culture starts valuing child care at a level it should be, it seems another generation of children, families, and programs are fated to struggle as past ones have. Meanwhile, how can we ethically encourage anyone to enter the field?
Wish I had a better answer! Best of luck -
------------------------------
Hazel Osborn
Consultant
Loveland CO
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 08-02-2019 11:10 AM
From: Diana Verbeck
Subject: Teacher Qualifications
Wondering how other programs are doing with meeting NAEYC's current (and upcoming 2020) Teacher Qualification requirements. Is anyone finding it to be challenged to recruit and retain qualified teachers and teacher aides? Or to encourage those without degrees to pursue additional education? We are in a rural community, and our state has seen a significant decline in education majors, coupled with a steady increase of state funded pre-k classrooms, with higher compensation levels, further compounding the issue of meeting NAEYC's requirements. I am genuinely concerned for my ability to maintain our accreditation.
------------------------------
Diana Verbeck
Executive Director
Danville Child Development Center
Danville PA
------------------------------