PA Legislative Latino Caucus, First Up, and Latino Educando Juntos Urge Investments Needed for Early Learning Teacher Recruitment and Retention
Warn teacher shortages will continue closing child care programs
Harrisburg, PA (May 7, 2024) PA Legislative Latino Caucus Chairman Rep. Danilo Burgos, Hispanic child care providers and families rallied today at the Capitol along with allies Sen. David Argall, Sen. Jimmy Dillon, Sen. Tim Kearney, Rep. Donna Bullock, Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, Rep. Justin Flemming, Rep. Dane Watro, and other advocates to underscore how a growing early care and education teacher shortage, driven by low compensation, is closing classrooms and programs throughout Pennsylvania and driving up waitlists for working families.
Sen. David Argall (R- District 29) kicked off a diverse group of speakers detailing how child care and early learning are not only educational issues or family issues, but they are also part of the economy. “Child care providers have come to me and what they have told me is frightening. Businesses in my community are struggling to find workers, because families are struggling to find child care,” said Sen. Argall. “But this is not just a rural or suburban or city problem. This is a problem across Pennsylvania. There’s only one way to a solution, we have to work together.”
Ivelisse Eufracio, Owner/Director of Little All Stars Care Center in Luzerne County, opened her center with a vision to serve the Hazelton community, especially underserved Hispanic families. Unfortunately, Eufracio described her story not as one of triumph but instead as a struggle for survival, noting that not having her program at capacity impacts the community and also means she is not making ends meet to support her own family.
“My program is licensed for 32 children, but I can only safely care for eight children with my current staff. Since I opened my doors, I have been severely hindered by the lack of teaching staff.” Eufracio further explained, “factories near my program offer $18 an hour for jobs that require less training and fewer qualifications than teaching.”
Brendalis Lopez, a parent from Little All Stars proudly shared, “My child has benefited tremendously from wonderful instruction from a loving teacher who represents our home culture. I do not spend time at work worrying about my child. I love how much my child has grown in high-quality care.” Lopez pledged to stand with child care providers stating, “We all deserve to be paid in alignment with the benefits our work generates in educational gains, family stability, and economic returns. I hope that day comes soon [for child care teachers].”
Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D – District184) described the need for Pennsylvania to support a recruitment and retention proposal that would provide monthly payments to providers of up to $440 per child care employee for initiatives such as hiring bonuses, monthly wage increases, benefit packages, or retention bonuses for staff staying for a certain length of time or for staff achieving certain credentials or degrees.
“There are many important occupations in Pennsylvania, but I would argue that there are none more important than care professionals,” said Feidler. “I’m here today to say that as lawmakers we must do a better job of supporting this workforce. There are several states including Maine, Kentucky, and Nebraska that pay at or above the 75th percentile and have made additional investments in recruitment and retention programs for child care providers to solve this teacher shortage.”
In Philadelphia County, Damaris Alvarado-Rodriguez’s Center, Children’s Playhouse has 25 job openings and 166 children on their waiting list. “If we could pay competitive wages and fill those jobs, we could serve an additional 442 children a year,” said Alvarado-Rodriguez. “That is more than double what we currently serve.”
Alvarado-Rodriguez also cited updated data from the September 2023 Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Policy Lab survey of 677 child care providers (roughly 10 percent of PA licensed providers) showing more than 3,300 open positions statewide. She noted that if their positions were filled, those 677 providers could be serving nearly 16,500 more children.
Sen. Jimmy Dillon (D – District 5), Sen. Tim Kearney (D- District 26), Rep. Justin Flemming (D – District 105), and Rep. Dane Watro (R – District 116) all agreed that fixing the early learning teacher shortage must be a priority as it impacts all communities. “It is critical to provide our early learning teachers with the necessary support to keep them in the field. This industry is overlooked, undervalued, and under supported,” said Sen. Dillon. “Child care is truly the workforce behind the workforce.”
Sen. Dillon also cited The PA Chamber of Business and Industry and the Early Learning Investment Commission’s recently conducted employer child care impact survey that underscores that labor force issues are often deeply intertwined with child care challenges. According to this survey, released in February 2024, more than 80 percent of Pennsylvania employers surveyed said they have moderate or significant recruitment and retention issues due to child care. Almost 70% of employers surveyed said it is extremely or very important to help employees meet child care needs.
Rep. Danilo Burgos, PA Legislative Latino Caucus Chairman (D – District 197) encouraged legislators to continue to work together to build bipartisan support to further invest in the early childhood education workforce to ensure programs can recruit and retain the staff they need to meet the demand for child care and pre-k services for working families. “We are here today advocating for more funding for preschool, child care, and afterschool care,” said Rep. Burgos. “It [increased investment] will show that we care about Pennsylvania’s future.”
Rep. Donna Bullock (D – District 195) described the experience of seeing her mom running her child care and how that demonstrated the importance of a quality early childhood experience and the teachers that provide that experience. “Most times, child care providers are not just working eight hours days, they are working nine, ten hours and not getting paid for it. We are paying folks more to care for a car than for our most valuable resources, our children,” Rep. Bullock stated. “We must invest in the workers that are caring for and educating our children. It is unacceptable that we are not paying child care providers as the professionals they are.”
Citing the Bureau of Labor statistics, Carol Austin, Executive Director, First Up described just how underpaid and undervalued the industry is. “Given the significant return on investment funding early learning generates, it seems fiscally irresponsible to see this crisis and do nothing, and morally reprehensible to allow people responsible for significant economic output to receive the bottom two percent of all wages. Early educators should not be told they must work for nothing so that every other family but theirs can thrive.”
Austin wrapped up the event referencing a 2023 report that shows that gaps in Commonwealth’s child care system cost working families, employers, and taxpayers about $6.65 billion annually in lost earnings, productivity, and tax revenue stating, “Investing under $500 million to stop the loss of $6 billion seems like an easy choice.”
Specific investment priorities include:
- Increasing child care subsidy rates to the 75th percentile of the current price families pay for child care services to help alleviate some of the rising facility, food, utility, and supply costs for providers participating in Child Care Works.
- Increasing Pre-K Counts rates by $1,000 per slot to help address workforce challenges and inflationary pressures and increasing the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program’s rates by a proportional amount.
- Creating a child care teacher recruitment and retention initiative that would provide monthly payments of $440 per child care staff to providers maintaining a subsidy agreement with the Commonwealth for initiatives such as hiring bonuses, monthly wage increases, benefit packages, or retention bonuses for staff staying for a certain length of time or for staff achieving certain credentials or degrees. Such a program provides flexibility for providers to choose how to use these funds so that they can have the maximum impact in local communities. This will help alleviate the historic staffing crisis that is causing classrooms and entire programs to close and leave working families without access to child care.
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