2022 -- H 7283 | |
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LC004280 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION - RHODE ISLAND EARLY EDUCATOR INVESTMENT ACT | |
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Introduced By: Representatives Casimiro, Noret, Donovan, Vella-Wilkinson, Shallcross | |
Date Introduced: February 02, 2022 | |
Referred To: House Finance | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled "EDUCATION" is hereby amended by |
2 | adding thereto the following chapter: |
3 | CHAPTER 112 |
4 | RHODE ISLAND EARLY EDUCATOR INVESTMENT ACT |
5 | 16-112-1. Short title. |
6 | This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Rhode Island Early Educator |
7 | Investment Act." |
8 | 16-112-2. Legislative findings and purpose. |
9 | The general assembly hereby finds that: |
10 | (1) Young children's healthy brain development and learning depends on consistent, |
11 | nurturing care and enriching learning opportunities at home and in early care and education settings. |
12 | Starting at birth, day-to-day interactions with family members and early educators shape children’s |
13 | brain architecture upon which all future learning and development is built. |
14 | (2) Many of the early educators and early childhood professionals in Rhode Island earn |
15 | very low wages even when they achieve credentials equivalent to kindergarten through grade |
16 | twelve (K-12) teachers and demonstrate effective practices. Child care, family home visiting, early |
17 | head start, head start, Rhode Island Pre-K, and Early Intervention (Part C of the Individuals with |
18 | Disabilities Education Act) programs across the state report difficulty attracting, developing, and |
19 | retaining effective early childhood professionals. |
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1 | (3) A 2019 statewide survey of early childhood professionals in Rhode Island found that |
2 | over forty percent (40%) of infant/toddler educators worry about having enough food to feed their |
3 | family and fifty percent (50%) worry about having enough money to pay for housing. |
4 | (4) The 2019 statewide survey also found that almost one-third (1/3) of early educators had |
5 | a second job to help make ends meet and almost two-thirds (2/3) reported that they plan to leave |
6 | their early education job if the compensation does not improve. And yet, most report that they enjoy |
7 | working with children and families and many have earned college credits and degrees in child |
8 | development and early education. |
9 | (5) A landmark report issued by the National Academy of Science in 2015 found that |
10 | educators of young children, including infants and toddlers, need the same high level of knowledge |
11 | and competencies as teachers of older children and that educational qualifications and |
12 | compensation of early educators should be equivalent to those of kindergarten through grade twelve |
13 | (K-12) teachers. |
14 | (6) According to 2020 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for |
15 | a child care teacher in Rhode Island was twelve dollars and eleven cents ($12.11) per hour and the |
16 | median wage for a preschool teacher in Rhode Island was fourteen dollars and thirty-two cents |
17 | ($14.32) per hour, well below the state median wage of twenty-two dollars and seventy-seven cents |
18 | ($22.77) per hour and significantly below the level of kindergarten teachers who had an average |
19 | annual salary of seventy-nine thousand one hundred fifty dollars ($79,150). Rhode Island state |
20 | agency data show that median wages for Early Intervention (Part C of the Individuals with |
21 | Disabilities Education Act) specialists and family home visitors are significantly below Rhode |
22 | Island median wages for similarly qualified individuals. |
23 | (7) By enacting this chapter, the general assembly acknowledges the need to develop and |
24 | implement strategies to improve the compensation of early educators in order that programs can |
25 | attract, develop, and retain effective staff to care for and educate young children and provide |
26 | family-focused services. |
27 | 16-112-3. Establishment of a target wage scale. |
28 | (a) The children’s cabinet established in § 42-72.5-1 shall work in collaboration with the |
29 | department of human services, the department of health, the executive office of health and human |
30 | services, and the department of education to establish goals to improve compensation, including a |
31 | cross-departmental target wage scale for early educators linked to education levels above high |
32 | school and demonstrated competence working with children and families. |
33 | (b) The target wage scale shall be developed to apply to educators working in child care |
34 | centers, family child care homes, Rhode Island Pre-K classrooms, family home visiting programs, |
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1 | and Early Intervention (Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) programs. The |
2 | cross-departmental target wage scale shall promote parity with kindergarten through grade twelve |
3 | (K-12) public school teachers for individuals with similar credentials. |
4 | (c) In developing this cross-departmental target wage scale, the children’s cabinet may |
5 | consider the findings and recommendations provided in the 2019 Moving the Needle on |
6 | Compensation Task Force's report "Improving the Compensation and Retention of Effective |
7 | Infant/Toddler Educators in Rhode Island." |
8 | 16-112-4. Developing strategies to increase compensation of early educators. |
9 | (a) Once the target wage scale has been established, the children’s cabinet shall design |
10 | strategies and estimate the cost to close the gap between current wages and the cross-departmental |
11 | target wage scale, including parity with public school teaching staff or individuals with similar |
12 | credentials. In developing the plan, the following components shall be considered: |
13 | (1) Continuation and expansion of the existing statewide, comprehensive, research-based |
14 | early childhood workforce development scholarship program established under § 16-87-4 to |
15 | include stronger and ongoing support for compensation, such as implementation of wage |
16 | supplements or regular stipends for early educators to lift annual income to meet or exceed the |
17 | levels in the target wage scale. Consideration shall be given to the Infant/Toddler Educator |
18 | Education and Retention Awards demonstration program recommended by the Moving the Needle |
19 | on Compensation's Task Force. |
20 | (2) Proposals to increase rates paid to early childhood programs that are adequate to enable |
21 | programs to pay early educators wages that meet or exceed the levels in the cross-departmental |
22 | target wage scale. |
23 | (3) Contracts to early childhood programs to expand the availability of high-quality |
24 | services for young children and families with educators in the program paid wages that meet or |
25 | exceed the levels in the cross-departmental target wage scale. |
26 | (4) Registered apprenticeships for early educators that support completion of college |
27 | coursework and attainment of college credentials while providing opportunities to develop high- |
28 | quality practices through regular on-the-job coaching by master early educators. Apprenticeships |
29 | shall be designed and funded to enable successful participants to earn wages that meet or exceed |
30 | the levels in the cross-departmental target wage scale. |
31 | 16-112-5. Reporting. |
32 | The children’s cabinet shall report back to the governor and general assembly on or before |
33 | December 1, 2022 with a cross-departmental target wage scale and initial cost estimates for public |
34 | funding to close the wage gaps for early educators. |
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1 | SECTION 2. Section 42-72.5-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-72.5 entitled |
2 | "Children's Cabinet" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 42-72.5-2. Policy and goals. |
4 | The children's cabinet shall: |
5 | (1) Meet at least monthly to address all issues, especially those that cross departmental |
6 | lines, and relate to children's needs and services; |
7 | (2) Review, amend, and propose all interagency agreements necessary to provide |
8 | coordinated services to children; |
9 | (3) Produce an annual comprehensive children's budget, to be submitted with other budget |
10 | documents to the general assembly; |
11 | (4) Produce, by December 1, 2015, a comprehensive, five (5) year statewide plan and |
12 | proposed budget for an integrated state child service system. This plan shall be submitted to the |
13 | governor; the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate, and updated |
14 | annually thereafter; |
15 | (5) [Deleted by P.L. 2015, ch. 141, art. 5, § 21]. |
16 | (6) Develop a strategic plan to coordinate and share data to foster interagency |
17 | communication, increase efficiency of service delivery, and simultaneously protect children's |
18 | legitimate expectations of privacy and rights to confidentiality. This shall include data-sharing with |
19 | research partners, pursuant to data-sharing agreements, that maintains data integrity and protects |
20 | the security and confidentiality of these records. Any such data-sharing agreements shall comply |
21 | with all privacy and security requirements of federal and state law and regulation governing the use |
22 | of such data. Any universal student identifier now in use by the state or developed in the future |
23 | shall not involve a student's social security number.; and |
24 | (7) Establish and maintain an updated target wage scale for early educators working in |
25 | child care, Rhode Island Pre-K, family home visiting, and Early Intervention (Part C of the |
26 | Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) programs that aligns with compensation of similarly |
27 | qualified kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) educators. This updated target wage scale shall |
28 | also include the design and oversee implementation of a strategic plan to close the gap between |
29 | current wages and the target wage scale, including, but not limited to, the attainment of parity with |
30 | similarly qualified public school teaching staff, pursuant to the provisions of chapter 112 of title |
31 | 16. |
32 | SECTION 3. Title 40 of the General Laws entitled "HUMAN SERVICES" is hereby |
33 | amended by adding thereto the following chapter: |
34 | CHAPTER 6.7 |
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1 | CHILD CARE AND EARLY EDUCATOR REGISTRY |
2 | 40-6.7-1. Child care and early educator registry. |
3 | (a) On or before December 1, 2022, the department of human services shall implement a |
4 | child care and early educator registry that meets the recommended guidelines of the National |
5 | Workforce Registry Alliance, and includes information about staff who work directly with children |
6 | in all licensed child care centers and family child care homes in the state. The registry shall be |
7 | designed to support communication of important information and opportunities, including training |
8 | opportunities and opportunities to receive a wage supplement, directly to front-line child care and |
9 | early educators. The registry shall also be designed to help the state gather and maintain information |
10 | about the demographics and annual turnover of child care educators by key factors including |
11 | educational qualifications and age category of children they teach. |
12 | (b) Annually, beginning on or before March 31, 2023, the department of human services |
13 | shall produce an annual report on the status of the child care educator registry and the characteristics |
14 | of the child care workforce, including demographic information, qualifications, and turnover data. |
15 | The report shall be shared with the general assembly, the children’s cabinet, all licensed child care |
16 | centers and family child care homes, individuals participating in the registry, and posted on the |
17 | department’s website for the general public. |
18 | (c) On or before December 1, 2022, the department of human services shall design and |
19 | begin implementation of a five million dollars ($5,000,000) pilot program to provide monthly wage |
20 | supplements for child care educators. The program shall be designed to close the gap between the |
21 | actual wages of the child care educators and the target wages according to the cross-departmental |
22 | target wage scale for early educators developed by the children’s cabinet. The department shall |
23 | consider the design of the Infant/Toddler Educator Education and Retention Awards demonstration |
24 | program recommended in 2019 by the Moving the Needle on Compensation's Task Force. The pilot |
25 | shall include child care educators who work in both licensed child care centers and family child |
26 | care homes and shall be available statewide, with priority given to child care educators who work |
27 | with infants and toddlers and children enrolled in the child care assistance program. |
28 | SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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LC004280 | |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION - RHODE ISLAND EARLY EDUCATOR INVESTMENT ACT | |
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1 | This act would establish the Rhode Island Early Educator Investment Act to develop and |
2 | implement strategies to improve the compensation of early childhood educators. This act would |
3 | also direct the children’s cabinet to work with other state departments to establish goals to improve |
4 | compensation for early childhood educators, which would include a target wage scale for early |
5 | childhood educators aligned with the educator’s education level and demonstrated competence in |
6 | the field. This act would also direct the department of human services to implement a child care |
7 | and early educator registry to include information about staff who work directly with children in |
8 | all licensed child care centers and similar placements in the state. |
9 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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LC004280 | |
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