Hello everyone,
I'm Lauren Hogan, managing director for policy and professional advancement at NAEYC. Thank you all for these robust conversations on minimum wage and advocacy efforts; I was also able to go back to some previous threads related to professional boundaries and compensation, and it's really wonderful to see all of the rich discussions here on Hello! I wanted to add just a few things as the conversation continues -
First, I want to recognize and lift up the power of our collective advocacy. Your voices have actually made a tremendous difference in increasing bipartisan, federal support for child care. Every single federal relief proposal, from both Republicans and Democrats, in both the House and the Senate, since March 2020, included billions of dollars for child care. The last relief package, passed in December, included $10 billion. That is far short of what the field needs, and we have a long way to go in order for early childhood education to be funded as the priority and public good that it is. However, we have made progress; just last week, then-President-Elect Biden proposed a new relief package that would invest an additional $40 billion in child care (that's billion with a B), including $25 billion in a stabilization fund that would provide grants to programs, along with another $15 billion in the Child Care and Development Block Grant. As we work now towards making this relief package real, and then towards additional opportunities to make investments in child care recovery and sustainability, your voices are going to be critical in ensuring policymakers, the media, and the public understand what's happening on the ground for child care programs, educators, families, and children - and why, for example, major public investments are needed particularly for child care programs if and as the federal minimum wage is increased.
For more on what 2020 looked like for our shared advocacy efforts, we encourage you to check out our
advocacy summary. This document really highlights some of the work that you, NAEYC, the incredible Affiliate network, and many of our national and state partners have led to ensure that our nation's elected officials, as well as the staffers that make important decisions and recommendations, are familiar with the challenges; have connected with child care providers in centers, homes, and schools in their states and communities; and understand how they can help.
It is important to remember that meeting with staffers - on Capitol Hill and in your own state legislatures - is very impactful. They're the ones doing the writing of legislation, deciding what their bosses see and don't see, and they're the ones who know the ins and outs of how to get things done. Meeting with them (including virtually!), getting to know them, and meeting their needs as well, really matters. It has a tangible impact on the need to keep child care at the forefront of our Congressional leaders' minds and priority lists.
To that end, we hope those of you who are interested in engaging more with advocacy and advancing educator compensation will reach out to your state team leaders to join this year's Public Policy Forum, which will be happening virtually on February 28 and March 1. Registration is open and we would love to have you join us! You can learn more and get the information for your state team leader via
www.naeyc.org/events/policy-forum. I promise we'll be discussing lots of pressing issues, including the challenges and opportunities around increasing minimum wage!
I also encourage you to seek out existing avenues such as Interest Forums and Affiliates, which are great ways to channel your energy and passion. Finally, don't hesitate to reach out to us with questions (you can always email
advocacy@naeyc.org) and make sure you are checking out resources and information at
www.americaforearlyed.org. Please stay tuned for more information on what the last relief package means for educators, and many other resources coming your way. Please also know that we appreciate each and every one of you; we hope you are staying safe and well; and we thank you so much for all you're doing on behalf of children, families and your fellow educators -
Lauren
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Lauren Hogan
National Association for the Education of Young Children
Cambridge MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-19-2021 02:57 PM
From: Tim Kaminski
Subject: The impact of a $15.00 per hour minimum wage on the cost of Childcare
Hi Amanda,
I am sorry to hear that the $15.00 per hour wage proposal will also have a significant impact on your ECE program. Our programs have been in our county for 40 years this year. At the beginning of the pandemic, I started reaching out to our local political leadership as well as our State Reps and Federal Reps for Texas. I have personal relationships with some of these people so I thought maybe I would get some traction with getting the message out that the childcare industry was in crisis as a result of the pandemic and that the impact to the economy would be significant, if financial help wasn't made immediately available to all of the childcare providers. They didn't understand that most of the relief funds were only going to providers that participate in the States Subsidy programs and even those providers were going under due to the decreases in enrollments. Although they have a better understanding of the situation now, the new relief funds may still not get to the non-subsidy providers due to restrictions in our state on the CDBG funds and how they can be spent.
In my assessment, a mandatory increase in the minimum wage of any type in the next 12-24 months would be the nail in the coffin for the remaining providers. We just have to keep getting this story out there to who will ever listen and report on it. However it may take the whole system shutting down, before any real action is taken.
Thank you for reading and replying to my original post.
Tim
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Tim Kaminski
Director/Owner
Gingerbread Kids Academy
Richmond TX
Original Message:
Sent: 01-19-2021 10:36 AM
From: Amanda Anders
Subject: The impact of a $15.00 per hour minimum wage on the cost of Childcare
Thank you for posting this. We have discussed this at our center, which is a parent cooperative, a few times now. This increase will force our program to close its doors after over 50 years in the community. The government does not see us as educators, therefore we don't receive educational funding. Many state officials have claimed they will fight for us, but I have yet to see anyone follow through on all the promises made. Good luck to us all.
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Amanda Anders
Administrator
Racine Cooperative Preschool
Mt Pleasant WI
Original Message:
Sent: 01-17-2021 11:50 AM
From: Tim Kaminski
Subject: The impact of a $15.00 per hour minimum wage on the cost of Childcare
Here is how Biden's recent announcement that he wants to raise minimum wage to $15.00 an hour will affect the cost of Childcare. I currently have 22 employees most of which have been with me for over 5 years. On average they get paid $10.00 an hour and are currently working 30 hours per week due to pandemic. My payroll is around $6,600.00 per week and we are operating around 50% capacity due to the pandemic. If minimum wage is raised to $15.0" an hour this year, my payroll will go up by $3,300.00 per week for a total payroll of $9,900.00 per week. We are averaging around $11,000 per week in tuition for around 82 students. Our weekly expenses are around $4,000 per week which includes our mortgage. In order to make up the difference in the $3,300.00 labor cost from a $15.00 hour minimum wage and to spread the cost out over all our enrollments, we would have to raise our tuition by $40.00 per week per student. It's simple basic math. How many of your families out there could take on an additional $160.00 per tuition payments each month? Remember this is with my staff only getting 30 hours per week. If we go back to 40 hour per week the situation would be even worse. We have to get the word out to the leadership that they can't make the $15.00 minimum wage mandatory for childcare without giving us Federal funds to cover that increased cost. I am intersected to hear other childcare owners thoughts on this.#
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Tim Kaminski
Director/Owner
Gingerbread Kids Academy
Richmond TX
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