About the Project

The Bold on Early Educator Compensation Learning Community brings together a group of 20+ advocates, government representatives, and legislators from seven states to:

  • Identify barriers to improving early educator compensation and strategies to overcome those barriers
  • Build understanding and capacity to implement policies that increase wages and improve access to benefits such as paid sick leave and health insurance 
  • Document and disseminate strategies beyond participants in the learning community, to stakeholders across the ECE field, especially those engaged in state policy formulation and implementation

I’m more hopeful than ever about the promise in various states to be able to raise compensation for early childhood staff, and excited to see the progress being made around the country.

Bethany Patten

Director, Office of Early Childhood Illinois Department of Human Services,

Learning Community Participant 2022

Learning Community Structure

Regular convenings

  • Featuring panels of speakers from case study states
  • Participant-driven conversation in open listening sessions
  • Building relationships
  • Sharing best practices

Case Studies

  • In-depth case studies in New Mexico and North Carolina
  • Capturing lessons learned from recent bold advancements for early educator compensation

Share learnings with the field

  • Slides from each convening available below
  • Read our Learning Community 2022 Brief
  • Read CSCCE’s targeted publications for legislators, educators, and other policymakers

About the Participants

Gray US map with California, Wahington, New Mexico, Illinois, Wisconsin, Vermont, Massachussetts and North Carolina highlighted in blue.

We invited three to four participants from seven states who have demonstrated a bold commitment to ECE compensation. Participants range in role, and typically include from each state:

  1. An early educator or staff member of an advocacy organization that represents early educators 
  2. A member of a related state agency
  3. A state legislator who has demonstrated commitment to early care and education

The cohort participating in this year’s learning community has been set. Throughout the year, we will be sharing our findings and resources with the broader ECE community.  


Topics for Each Learning Community

Convenings 2023

Throughout 2023, we will meet as a group for three core convenings and two additional listening sessions. Stay tuned as we add more related resources.

Convenings 2022

Throughout 2022 we met as a group for 15 one-hour sessions on topics ranging from wage increase mechanisms and access to benefits, to building political power with early educators. See below for slides and summary sheets for each topic.


CSCCE Compensation Learning Community Members Speak Up

Learning Community member Corrine Hendrickson testified at a U.S. House committee on Small Businesses Hearing. She stressed the importance of supporting the early childhood workforce through increased wages and financial relief.
Learning Community member Ruth Schmidt, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, speaks up about what being bold on compensation for early educators means to her.

Questions?

Contact Annie Dade at adade@berkeley.edu.

Case Studies

Forthcoming Spring 2024