2020 -- S 2630 | |
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LC004888 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION - EDUCATIONAL SERVICES TO VERY YOUNG | |
CHILDREN | |
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Introduced By: Senators Cano, Metts, Crowley, Quezada, and Seveney | |
Date Introduced: February 27, 2020 | |
Referred To: Senate Education | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. The general assembly hereby finds that: |
2 | (1) Young children’s healthy brain development and learning depends on consistent, |
3 | nurturing care and enriching learning opportunities at home and in early care and education settings. |
4 | Starting at birth, day-to-day interactions with family members and early educators shape children’s |
5 | brain architecture upon which all future learning and development is built. |
6 | (2) Many of the early educators and early childhood professionals in Rhode Island earn |
7 | very low wages even when they achieve credentials equivalent to K-12 teachers and demonstrate |
8 | effective practices. Child Care, Family Home Visiting, and Early Intervention programs across the |
9 | state report difficulty attracting, developing, and retaining effective early childhood professionals. |
10 | (3) A 2019 statewide survey of early childhood professionals in Rhode Island found that |
11 | over forty percent (40%) of infant/toddler educators worry about having enough food to feed their |
12 | family and fifty percent (50%) worry about having enough money to pay for housing. |
13 | (4) Almost one-third (1/3) of early educators have a second job to help make ends meet |
14 | and almost two-thirds (2/3) report that they plan to leave their early education job if the |
15 | compensation does not improve. And yet, most report that they enjoy working with children and |
16 | families and many have earned college credits and degrees in child development and early |
17 | education. |
18 | (5) A landmark report issued by the National Academy of Science in 2015 found that |
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1 | educators of young children, including infants and toddlers, need the same high level of knowledge |
2 | and competencies as teachers of older children and that educational qualifications and |
3 | compensation of early educators should be equivalent to those of K-12 teachers. |
4 | (6) According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for a child |
5 | care teacher in Rhode Island in 2018 was twelve dollars and fifteen cents ($12.15) per hour, well |
6 | below the state median wage of twenty dollars and twenty-one cents ($20.21) per hour and |
7 | significantly below the level of kindergarten teachers who had an average annual salary of sixty- |
8 | five thousand five hundred thirty dollars ($65,530). Rhode Island state agency data show that |
9 | median wages for Early Intervention providers and family home visitors range from thirteen dollars |
10 | and fifty cents ($13.50) per hour to twenty dollars ($20.00) per hour. |
11 | (7) By enacting this law, the General Assembly acknowledges the need to develop and |
12 | implement strategies to improve the compensation of early educators so programs can attract, |
13 | develop, and retain effective staff to care for and educate young children and provide family- |
14 | focused services. |
15 | SECTION 2. Chapter 16-48 of the General Laws entitled "Educational Services to Very |
16 | Young Children" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: |
17 | 16-48-10. Compensation of early educators. |
18 | (a) The Rhode Island executive office of health and human services shall work in |
19 | collaboration with the Rhode Island department of education to establish goals to improve |
20 | compensation, including a common target wage scale for early educators linked to education levels |
21 | above high school and demonstrated competence working with children and families. |
22 | (b) The target wage scale shall be developed to apply to educators working in childcare |
23 | centers, family child care homes, family home visiting programs, and early intervention programs. |
24 | The target wage scale shall promote parity with kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) public |
25 | school teachers for individuals with similar credentials. |
26 | (c) In developing this target wage scale, the executive office of health and human services |
27 | and the department of education may consider the findings and recommendations provided in the |
28 | 2019 Moving the Needle on Compensation Task Force’s report “Improving the Compensation and |
29 | Retention of Effective Infant/Toddler Educators in Rhode Island.” |
30 | (d) Once the target wage scale has been established, the executive office of health and |
31 | human services and the department of education shall design strategies and estimate the cost to |
32 | close the gap between current wages and the target wage scale, including parity with public school |
33 | teaching staff or individuals with similar credentials. In developing the plan, the following |
34 | components shall be considered: |
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1 | (1) Continuation and expansion of the existing statewide, comprehensive, research-based |
2 | early childhood workforce development scholarship program established under § 16-87-4 to |
3 | include stronger and ongoing support for compensation, such as implementation of wage |
4 | supplements or regular stipends for early educators to lift annual income to meet or exceed the |
5 | levels in the target wage scale. Consideration shall be given to the Infant/Toddler Educator |
6 | Education and Retention Awards demonstration program recommended by the Moving the Needle |
7 | on Compensation’s Task Force. |
8 | (2) Proposals to increase rates paid to early childhood programs that are adequate to enable |
9 | programs to pay early educators wages that meet or exceed the levels in the target wage scale. |
10 | (3) Contracts to early childhood programs to expand the availability of high-quality |
11 | services for young children and families with educators in the program paid wages that meet or |
12 | exceed the levels in the target wage scale. |
13 | (4) Registered apprenticeships for early educators that support completion of college |
14 | coursework and attainment of college credentials while providing opportunities to develop high- |
15 | quality practices through regular on-the-job coaching by master early educators. Apprenticeships |
16 | shall be designed and funded to enable successful participants to earn wages that meet or exceed |
17 | the levels in the target wage scale. |
18 | (e) The executive office of health and human services and the department of education |
19 | shall report back to the governor and general assembly on or before December 1, 2020, with a target |
20 | wage scale and initial cost estimates for public funding to close the wage gaps for early educators. |
21 | SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION - EDUCATIONAL SERVICES TO VERY YOUNG | |
CHILDREN | |
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1 | This act would develop and implement strategies to improve the compensation of early |
2 | educators so programs can attract, develop, and retain effective staff to care for and educate young |
3 | children and provide family-focuses services. |
4 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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