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ERIC Number: ED673549
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Apr
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Wage Enhancements Benefit Child Care Staffing in DC: Workforce Perspectives from Fall 2024 Surveys
Elli Nikolopoulos; Justin B. Doromal; Heather Sandstrom; Erica Greenberg; Eve Mefferd; Alicia González
Urban Institute
Since 2022, the District of Columbia (DC) has implemented the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund (hereafter, "the fund"), a landmark initiative supported by tax revenue that increases pay for educators in DC's licensed child care facilities to promote pay parity with their K-12 counterparts. In FY 2024, DC's Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) distributed funding to child care programs that agreed to enhance the wages of staff to align with the minimum salaries established in statute. In the fourth quarter of FY 2024, 343 eligible programs (about 76 percent) opted into the fund, according to OSSE records. In this summary, the authors provide sustained evidence of the fund's effect on child care staffing from the perspectives of early educators and child development center directors. By increasing teacher pay, the fund addresses a key driver of teacher turnover, with the intent of keeping educators in their jobs for longer and improving job satisfaction. In turn, child care programs benefit when they can retain qualified educators and spend less time and money replacing staff. These benefits extend to the children enrolled in child care who experience continuity in caregiving relationships and more positive interactions with their teachers, which is linked to improved child development. Presented in this report are findings from voluntary web surveys the authors conducted in September-October 2024 with 1,525 early educators, 67 home-based child care providers, and 123 child care center directors in DC. Building on evidence shared in past fact sheets, the authors find that, in FY 2024, early educators, home-based providers, and center directors continued to report the benefits of the fund, including attracting new educators, retaining talent, and reducing the likelihood that educators will look for a new job.
Urban Institute. 2100 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20037. Tel: 202-261-5687; Fax: 202-467-5775; Web site: http://www.urban.org
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Administration for Children and Families (ACF) (DHHS)
Authoring Institution: Urban Institute
Identifiers - Location: District of Columbia
Grant or Contract Numbers: 90YE0284
Author Affiliations: N/A