SPONSOR:

Sen. Gay & Sen. Sturgeon & Rep. S. Moore & Rep. K. Williams & Rep. Dorsey Walker

Sens. Lockman, Mantzavinos, S. McBride, Pinkney, Poore, Sokola, Townsend, Walsh; Reps. Baumbach, K. Johnson, Lynn, Osienski

DELAWARE STATE SENATE

151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 36

DIRECTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND THE DELAWARE EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL TO CREATE A STATE TARGET COMPENSATION SCALE AND PROFESSIONAL CAREER PATHWAY FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE EDUCATORS WHO TEACH AGES BIRTH THROUGH FIVE.

WHEREAS, early childhood education and care experiences are foundational to brain development and long-term outcomes for children and their families; and

WHEREAS, child care is an essential service in Delaware for families to work and for children to be prepared for school and life; and

WHEREAS, talented, well-compensated early learning professionals are central to high-quality early learning and care, and strong relationships with caregivers are essential to early brain development and have positive effects on a child’s life-long health and success; and

WHEREAS, the main cost of child care goes to compensate the educators who support brain development during the earliest and most critical years; and

WHEREAS, child care in Delaware has not received sufficient funding to support quality care and education; and

WHEREAS, poor compensation undermines quality of care and is shown to lead to economic instability, stress, and high rates of turnover among early learning professionals; and

WHEREAS, child care educators bear the burden of low investment, with most of them earning $10/hour with no benefits or paid time off; and

WHEREAS, 1 in 10 child care workers have incomes that fell below the federal poverty line, twice the rate of the poverty rate for all workers, and approximately 40% of the child care workforce is on some form of public assistance; and

WHEREAS, the staffing shortage in child care has reached crisis level, with child care centers unable to offer child care to families; and

WHEREAS, investments in child care must be increased to cover the cost of quality care, including fair educator compensation, benefits, and working environments; and

WHEREAS, establishing a state professional career pathway and associated compensation scale will support the early education and care profession, child care providers, families, and future prosperity of Delaware; and

           WHEREAS, the purpose of the state target compensation scale and the professional career pathway is to e stablish a professional pathway for early childhood educators that: a) is linked to increased compensation as early childhood educators advance on the pathway ; b) informs the cost of care calculations ; c)  sets targets to improve compensation, based on a common compensation scale linked to education levels and demonstrated competence working with children and families; and d) will guide investments in child care to ensure that state investments increase compensation to reach living wages and parity with K-12 educators ; and

WHEREAS, the professional career pathway should establish levels along which professionals can advance, with which target compensation is associated; and

WHEREAS, the target compensation scale should be used to inform the cost of the quality child care estimator tool under development by the Department of Health and Social Services, the Department of Education, and the Delaware Early Childhood Council, which will be used to establish Purchase of Care rates for the state budget beginning in FY23 and inform policy actions to increase compensation; and

WHEREAS, in developing the target compensation scale, the Department of Education and the Delaware Early Childhood Council should consider the following: a) K-12 educator compensation and how to promote parity with public school teachers with similar credentials ; b) the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator; c) the Cost of Living ; d) Labor Market Data ; e) efforts in other state and jurisdictions including Washington, DC, Rhode Island, and Connecticut ; and e) other relevant data and information; and

WHEREAS, the target compensation scale should address: a) all child care educators, including lead teachers, teaching aides, assistant teachers, and center directors working in childcare centers, family childcare homes, family home visiting programs, and early intervention programs ; b) r elevant employment experience, including years an individual has been employed in an early childhood program ; c) common certification levels and associated coursework in early childhood, at minimum, Child Development Associate Credential, Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Arts, and teacher certification; and d) incorporation of the target compensation scale into the QRIS (Quality Rating and Improvement System), which should include financing for adoption and implementation of the target compensation scale.

NOW THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the 151 st General Assembly, the House of Representatives concurring therein, directs that the Delaware Department of Education and the Delaware Early Childhood Council create a state target compensation scale and professional career pathway for early child care educators who teach ages birth through 5 years.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a comprehensive report containing the state target compensation scale and professional career pathway recommendations prepared by the Department of Education and the Delaware Early Childhood Education Council shall be presented to the Senate and House Education Committees by December 1, 2021.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that suitable copies of this resolution be shared, upon its enactment, with representatives of the Delaware Department of Education and the Delaware Early Childhood Education Council.

SYNOPSIS

This resolution directs the Delaware Department of Education and the Delaware Early Childhood Council to create a state target compensation scale and professional career pathway for early child care educators who teach ages birth through five years and issue a comprehensive written report by December 1, 2021.

Author: Senator Gay