Many good suggestions have been promoted to this article, however if you live in a box, you only see what’s in the box? Maybe we need to look BEYOND our our USA experience, like where has a nation of people seemed to succeed, AND succeed far beyond the current USA, not just with preschool, but as a society in general?
By most social, cultural, and economic metrics, most Scandinavian countries, especially Finland, far exceed the USA. Many comments here to editor, place fault on our society in general, as a problem of poor early childhood opportunity and development?
Maybe we as a nation, could do well to humble ourselves, by asking Finland and such nations, how do you care for your children? And then LISTEN and LEARN!
That may be the more rational answer to mantra “Make America Great Again”!
2
It is a great story it touched my heart. My opinion is that all the jobs in the world are important and useful, if something gets wrong in any job it could be fixed, but the teachers job is totally different because teachers deal with human beings not with machines, I think they should be paid the highest wages, because there is a huge responsibility on the teacher if an accident happens to a child, he/she will be blamed, and questioned, sometimes they get fired from their jobs even if it is not their fault.
1
This article speaks to the unresolved question of who is going to do what used to be considered "woman's work" now that women want to (or have to) engage in work outside the home. It is clear that 'women's work' is not a full-time and life-time occupation for every woman, but we have to find a way that this work is carried out competently and paid for appropriately. We used to dedicate about half of our national work potential to it by asking/requiring all women to do it. Now we have to figure out how much work is required and who should pay for it. It used to be done by individual women, but now that this is seen as an unfair demand on them, we have to figure out what is fair. And it is a problem whose solution we better figure out quickly because the results will affect us all. I am not convinced that college activities are necessarily the best way to go because the interactive skills needed for small children cannot be academically taught, so a somewhat rigorous apprenticeship program coupled with educational opportunities may be best. But most of all, we have to treat early childhood teachers as professionals and not as a commodity that can be dumped whenever some taxpayers please.
4
Uh, supply and demand? Just because a job is hard or important doesn't mean it should be highly paid. High pay is a function of skill scarcity. Lots of people want to be pre-school teachers, therefore the pay is depressed.
1
We have direct experience with the push for universal preschool in Vermont. Well-intentioned legislation was passed by Vermont State Legislature to improve training; improve pay; to mandate more educational requirements; and other mandates, such as around cleaning refrigerators, etc. The end result: dozens of preschools closed, prices for existing preschools shot up, and day care options became more limited than ever.
One of the best preschool teachers our daughter ever had was a woman in her 50's with just a high school education but who had started her family early & who had raised 5 children of her own already. She knew and understood more about child development through her own lived experience than younger colleagues with master's degrees in education and child development. Under the new standards, she would no longer qualify as a teacher because of lack of post-high school education. Be careful of unintended consequences!
5
As a parent of a two pre-schoolers, I am daily faced with a dilemma that I struggle with internally, but is unfortunately out of my hands- pay and benefits of my children's teachers. What is the balance in fairly paying these (mostly) women without bankrupting the parents? How can I place a value on my child's well-being or quantify the amount of patience and love the teachers give? The problem is, full day early childhood education is not federally funded, and so the salaries of these often amazing teachers is mostly paid by the middle class parents like me, with whatever is left after meals, art supplies, maintaining facilities etc. I try to compensate when I can and what I can afford- holiday gifts, teacher appreciation week, endless thanks and words of appreciation.
3
Ms. Interlandi, a wonderful article. I really appreciate that the focus Ms. Kelly, who loves the children and meets their emotional needs so brilliantly. The examples of of Ms. Kelly's approach in difficult situations compared with the less compassionate approach of the assistants speaks volumes. Children need safe loving connections first. Learning happens when we are safe. And children need to be met where they are at, and to have their emotions reflected back in an understandable way. Ms. Kelly does all of this brilliantly, and her example poignantly highlights the need for more teachers like her.
5
This is such an important conversation. In Oklahoma we have a program that offers scholarships to child care providers that help them to achieve a higher education. We help our teachers learn theory and concepts that they can apply in the classroom. We take their wonderful instincts and give them the education to make them and their classrooms better. Usually we see their pay increase with their education level. This field needs to be seen as a professional and important field. How many times do we need to insist that children are our greatest investment?
1
Really interesting to read, but also incredibly sad to read about the situation in the US.
I live in Sweden, the country that is “overrun with immigrants” and has its social fabric ripped apart as a result. That is if you believe some of the reports from non Swedish news outlets or what is spread on social media at times.
My kids are 2 and 4 and go to a public preschool here in Stockholm.
We are happy to have found a preschool with a 1-5 ratio but some places have as many as 6 or even 7 kids per teacher. 1-10 or more is not legal and would simply not happen. 1-13 would be considered a dangerous environment.
Preeshool teachers are paid a good enough salary to live on. As everyone in Sweden they have free healthcare, state pension, 4-6 weeks paid vacation, paid sick leave, paid maternity/paternity leave (about 12-18 months), a well functioning/cheap public transport system, and free education (most of them have a degree or education in of some kind related to their profession).
We pay for preschool, but it is means based meaning those who can not afford pays nothing and for those that can afford to pay, like ourselves, it is still subsidised by the government (paid for with our taxes of course) meaning all kids can go.
As high income earner me and my wife pay a huge amount of tax compared to those with lower income.
We are happy to do so and as a result all kids in Sweden get a fair and almost equal chance in life.
Taxes are not a bad thing, just use them the right.
8
We have similar battles in the UK so it is useful to compare and contrast. The national Government 'orders' Private Nurseries to offer 15 or 30 hours a week of so-called 'free' Childcare for 3-4 year olds. In practice they give us approx. £4 ($5.20) per hour, when our true break-even cost is at least £5 ($6.50). We are forbidden by law to charge any 'top-up', so we have to surcharge other parents at say £6 ($7.80) an hour to bridge the cap. Then people complain when Childcare Fees increase by 7% pa. However, we have a National Minimum Wage of £7.50 ($9.75) about to increase to £7.85 ($10.20), and a typical entry-level Childcarer starts at around $11-$12 an hour, rising to a little over $22 an hour. In addition everyone gets 28 days Holiday on full pay, and everyone gets 'free' Healthcare on the state, with those earning more than £113 ($146) per week also getting Statutory Sick Pay (paid for by the Employer, not the state) of a flat rate £89.35 ($116) per week for up to 28 weeks per annum. In practice once people have been off sick for 3 months, the Employer is usually taking steps to dismiss them.
2
Reading most of these comments, there appears to be so much emphasis upon the teacher needing extensive education themselves, in order to do a satisfactory job of teaching?
After my many years of preschool teaching, I thing that is a misplacing of value! I observed and worked with many different preschool teachers, and learned that extensive teacher training may help, but it is not the whole solution.
Once, the directors at the rather large preschool I taught, were all excited about a new teacher who had a Doctorate on Early Child Development. They figured she would have much to offer. Guess what? She lasted less than a month, she didn’t enjoy children, she enjoyed the ideas?
Many other teachers I worked with, who entered the field with absolutely NO educational prep, learned on the job, and became excellent teachers, they LOVED and ENJOYED children?
What was I too conclude about respective teacher candidates? What would you conclude, if faced with the same observational experience?
16
As a first grade reading interventionist, I believe that practical training for teachers and a desire for all educators to grow professionally, change bad habits with a growth mindset, and commit to the learning of every child in the whole school, is the key to excellence in education. We know more about what works with kids today than we ever have and we can only make use of that in the proper environment. All kids can learn and we must teach so that they do.
The most important teachers of very young children are of course their mothers, and we don't even value them enough to guarantee them a paid maternity leave (we are one of only a handful of countries in the world with no federally mandated paid maternity leave). If we cannot even see the value in supporting mothers during the crucial first few weeks of their infants' lives, then we as a society cannot be expected to value the work done by daycare providers and preschool teachers, who are the next level of influence in these children's lives. In the countries with the most successful early childhood programs, preschool is heavily subsidized, allowing for high-quality teachers and universal access. Given the United States' low scores on global educational rankings like PISA (35th in math and 24th in reading) compared to the countries that do make these investments, one can't help but wonder if a similar investment in early childhood in the United States would not only significantly change these children's lives, but increase our global competitiveness.
18
While the write did a good job of explaining the important of good pre-school education, she really didn't talk about the causes and solutions to the problem of underpaid pre-school teachers. And these are not the only similar job group that is forced to live on substandard wages: think about nursing home aides.
5
To truly serve the needs of preschoolers, a teacher needs to first of all have capacity to empathize, be an observer, love children, and able to be as a child themselves. How else can one expect to understand the child and their world well enough to be able to offer them anything of value.
In an earlier comment, I mentioned my wife and I teaching preschool 23 years, my sister who just retired at 81 after almost 45 years of teaching, inspired me. She first taught in college, moved to high school, elementary, and finally preschool considering it the most important AND most interesting.
GOOD preschool teachers LOVE their work! Pay and benefit them for such dedication!!! AND encourage more men who qualify, to enter the field. But STILL let the primary driving force, be LOVE for children, before compensation back to self!
4
May the educational horizon devour the political. Pretty sure there isn't a single political/social/military etc. problem that isn't the consequence of child neglect and abuse.
7
This is very old information,this situation has not changed since the 1970’s.
I am a well educated preschool teacher, who left the classroom because I refused to live in poverty. I had a very successful career, on a different path, still involved and influencing the education of young children.
I stopped reading the article, with this flawed thought, still being perpetuated.
“... but those gains often evaporate by third or fourth grade, a phenomenon that education researchers call the fade out effect.”
By third or fourth grade, a child has been in 3 to 4 more classrooms with 3 or 4 other teachers. It is the job of those teachers to support the child’s progress.
If those teachers are not well trained, they fail to support the growth and development of a child in all developmental areas. Many public school teachers do not receive good, up to date college education, much less any knowledge of child development, nor developmental reading intstruction.To hold a preschool teacher responsible for 3 or 4 other teachers lack of skill is absurd.
I expect better from a New York Times article.
6
Thank you ny times for this very well written, well researched and long overdue article. I retired from this profession a few years ago after about 40 years teaching and administrating in prorgrams serving the typically developing child and special needs pre k children. Programs were/are always underfunded and administrators and teachers alike struggle everyday as a result. Children and families pay a price for this short sightedness and do does the nation. The article sheds a needed light on the needs of our most important resource--- our wonderful children . Thank you.
3
THIS IS A NEVER ENDING OUTRAGEOUS SAGA! I graduated from college in 1974 with a degree in Child Development. We knew then as we do now, the early years are the most important ones for the education of young children. As a young teacher, I shared the joy of learning with my students at the same time complying with the state regulations required by my state licensing agency (stricter than anything in public school). After years as a teacher, I became an ECE administrator. Using the terms quality, affordability and compensation, I worked with other community providers to draw attention to this dilemma. As my accountant husband helped me with budgets, he pointed out "this financial model" just doesn't work but if I gave up, who would continue the fight? We marched at the State Capitol for "worthy wages". The state rewarded us with additional requirements for "quality" and little financial assistance. Low income families received funding to help pay for their children's attendance but it was never the full tuition and folks couldn't afford to pay the mandated co-pay. We fundraised and searched for grants and sent teachers for continuing education. What every licensed teacher dreamed of was parity pay with public school teachers even if we had to work year round and they only the school year. I'm retired now and I know that until there is political will to properly educate our young children, the battle will continue. A lifelong career of hope but not enough change.
6
In what other valued profession (law, medicine etc...) would we tolerate such poor compensation and lack of professional respect. If we want quality care then the people providing the service need to be well educated and well compensated. I can't bring myself to read this article because I live it. I have dedicated the past 20 years of my professional life as an early childhood educator. I am under paid, I don't receive cost of living increases and what I do is seen as babysitting. Working with young children is rigorous intellectual and emotional work. Don't the people who do the work deserve better.
10
I was my kid's pre-K teacher. Sure we put them in a program a few hours a week for socializing and learning basic school skills such as sitting still for a period of time, and listening and heeding a teacher, but mostly it was me.
I had a classroom with a 1 to 2 ratio. And it was hard work.
How on earth do these teachers survive? I am all admiration. And yes, anyone dealing with very young children needs resources, and help. I was a really good pre-K teacher and daycare provider. But how could I miss? I only had two students I had known from the day they were born. I never faced 10, 12, or 15 at once, all different and all needing something special.
I'd nominate Kelly for sainthood, but I bet a raise would be more useful.
12
The basic reason most early childhood Teachers are paid less is because they are not Teachers they are child care workers. A Teacher like my daughter has a Bachelor Degree in Education a Masters in Special Education and an a Masters in Counseling. If you want to make more money in the Education field you must get educated yourself and even than Teachers are notoriously underpaid and disrespected. Teachers should make way more than they do but until the attitudes about teaching and education change that won't happen meanwhile they keep on teaching America's children how to critically think with very little thanks.
4
Doesn’t matter rich or poor, preschool teachers are not only babysitting your child but teaching them, as my daughter does on tony UES of NYC;
How to behave with other, social interaction, going to the bathroom on time, the foundations of reading, math, science, art, creative thinking, building blocks of education, the importance of honesty and fairness, proper eating habits, how to sit quietly and listen, how to deal with a fire drill (or any emergency) while watching out if any child is having ny kind of issue.
Preschool teachers should be getting paid the same as any tech, finance or law person. My daughter has 2 Masters Degree. Even on wealthy UES private school she is paid pathetically.
Preschool teachers should start at $75,000 and increases based on degrees and years. After 5 years with 2 masters salary should be minimum $200,000 for the most important and intense job in our country; the preschoolteacher.
5
I’d love to know how that $200k salary is going to be financed.
Here, here. thank you for putting real dollar signs on what we should earn. There is little to no difference in salaries between prek teachers with undergraduate or graduate degrees. It is all abysmally low. I also agree with those who have pointed out the innate ability of many teachers in the field regardless of formal education. There is an affinity and gift that should be honed and nurtured with training and pedagogy. As a society we will prove that we truly value children when we prove we value teachers. Increase funding and elevate the professionals in the field with higher salaries and increased respect.
Because quadrupling salaries won't cost a huge amount, or increase taxes dramatically. The money will just appear magically.
1
All preschoolers deserve a free education starting at age 2. Having three years of school before kindergarten and a public school system of 2-12 not K-12 would demonstrate the love, respect and support all children deserve. We just have to summon the will to make this happen. Actually if we want to close the achievement gap, this solution does it and by the way, it solves the wage gap and puts preschool teachers on the pay scale of public school teachers. Isn't it about time we invest in our future sensibly, responsibly, and compassionately?
4
Why the focus on the adults? It's the kids who one is supposed to think about.
And what needs to go on besides pre-school.. E.g. eating, exercise - physical decelopment, and experiences outside the building. Having worked in various Headstart facilities and the public school system at the pre-school and Kindergarten as well as at other levels.....
Parents often can't wait until the kids are old enough for all day Headstart... many of which are exceptionally well run despite the old buildings. Kids are fed well (food can be delicious) and programs are pretty well thought out except for nap time... which is tricky (cots? or mat on the floor? -- I hated rest time which I had in Kg. as a child.)
In public schools, pre-school and kinder had big problems. Most people are not comfy eating breakfast (badly composed in any case) at 8:30 AM and lunch at 10:30 AM. {Uneaten food is NOT allowed to go home with the child; altho we put extra milk into their bookbags rather than throw it out in the public schools.
Not enough emphasis on exercise-- children don't have recess or enough gym, movement -- skpping sometimees needs to be taught-- for the little one it should be one hour a day -- nor enough trips outside the schoold bluilding.
BTW some people have a gift for teaching and classroom organization and others don't.
Academcally speaking, the years beforre age eight are the language learning years: time for bilingual ed in preschool.
2
Why focus on the adult? How would you feel going into surgery with a doctor who was under paid, stressed about paying his bills and resentful over the lack of respect his/her profession had? Why is it ok for us to hand our children over to teachers/caregivers who are treated like some undeserving, underclass. Teachers are revered in some countries. When will children and their teachers really, truly matter in the United States.
1
The first humans learned to make vocal sounds, organized in a manner by which to communicate to each other and their progeny life-sustaining lessons: hunting, gathering, social skills and self-defense.
Mesopotamians, having discovered the value of living in communities and farming the land, found that, to sustain their new way of living, their children must be educated on what their elders had learned about building homes, growing and hunting food, and protecting both community and crops. By educating their children - and inventing writing - they contributed to the preservation and protection of the societies they were creating. Through education, their children could flourish and build upon what they were taught. No less important, should the community be wiped out by invaders or disease, the survivors would be able to replicate the community and life-solutions that had been learned.
When education was discouraged during the Dark Ages, people's understanding about life, health, and religion was based on folklore, myth, superstition and whatever the clergy was telling them. We all know how well that worked out.
Education is the single most important factor by which our species thrives, prospers, and competes in the world.
Education provides a path for the poor and disenfranchised to take control over their own lives, and is fundamental to social progress and reform.
Why teachers are not paid a salary equal to that of our legislators is a mystery to me.
2
My child's preschool experience was not extended daycare but a careful, well thought-out program that lasted two hours a day. It required children to socialize and learn how to behave in a group. No pandemonium. No "me first!" It was about learning respect for your tiny peers and for adults. It was a time of day when decorum and attention were sharply different from casual times like playtime or playdates or wearing pajamas and having unfettered access to whatever. Those were two hours of work: a firm but gentle way to introduce the concept of school and teachers: teachers who were kind and understanding and decent but not pushovers who had to cow tow to the behest of their little charges or unreasonable expectations from parents. But that's why it was only meant to last two hours. Like a former teacher said in a post...children are not meant to be one of a large group all day long. Each child needs the one on one attention from a parent or grandparent or sitter. Kids need to be individuals who feel unconditional love. The norm nowadays is for all mothers to work across all demographics. Wealthier families generally hand over their kids to incredibly unqualified caregivers for as many as 12 hours a day. Poorer women must work but there must be a difference between better educated teachers and kind, loving daycare workers. Children must become acclimated to the serious and formal aspect unique to the experience that is uniquely the time spent at school.
This issue reflects the sad sorry of many pre- schools. If public schools offered Pre- K guess what? Suddenly this problem of under paid pre-school teachers would be solved. Why do teachers cling to unions? They do so because they know their salaries would drop like a rock if they did not. The private day care industry shows just how much we would be paid. I know the NYC Public Schools have their problems but there are hundreds of thousands of children who attend good public schools in this nation and including 3 and 4 year olds in public education will come some day and when it does Kejo Kelly will earn a living wage.
2
A well educated electorate is a threat to those in power, so education becomes deemphasized, and even antagonized, by the people making policy decisions so that they can stay in power. Better educated Americans are more difficult to manipulate.
7
Kejo Kelly is heroic as are all like her and i am delighted the NYT would take the time to put the reader in her shoes. Those of us who think our jobs are either difficult or important should recalibrate quickly if we imagine her day was ours. If anyone dares to argue that educating our youngest minds should either be for a stay at home parent (which economics rarely permit) or that somehow this social good should not be better funded, i would say their heads and hearts were equally made of stone.
9
Why is this happening in the "most progressive" and developed nation in the world? Because the USA is not progressive and developed. It is a nation founded by "intractable" of convicted felons.
http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/convict-transportation/convict-voyages...
https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/britain-sent-thousands-of-its-convicts-t...
1
New York pays well
1
Have been a preschool teacher for 42 years. I am sure most of the comments are in line with what I will say. It has evolved into a rotten, corporate money driven field. Fake assessment tools that collect questionable data, NAEYC going from an education support source to a corporate greed machine with its idiotic binders of nonsense done every 5 years to create a profit making venture- on and on. We are paid poorly, we are so overworked and completely disrespected. Many of us are undereducated- many are overeducated- I am in that category.
We deal with administrations that are so bent on the bottom line of profit and keeping "customers"- parents, that we are put in situations that are too much for one person to deal with. Children are in centers for 10 hours a day without any respite. Their behavior deteriorates from constant social bombardment, no solitude and lack of being able to have an adult focus on them.
Children have turned into the least important thing in this field. It is all about making money- and subsidizing the industires/corporations that are paying workers double what we make ... Parents are no better- dealing with their rudeness, incredible expectation of what we are supposed to do for THEM and the lack of civility from them or their children is a constant.
In the 70s, it was a time of socialization, making friends, learning basic alphabet skills, love of music and reading, physical -dancing and learning about how to be a self-sufficient child.
13
Simply put, teaching is predominantly a women's field. That's the main reason the pay is low and unfair.
9
Plain and simple. Teachers are paid less overall because it is a “pink profession.” Just like nurses who haven’t realize a pay increase in decades.
7
Toddlers are cut out for one on one attention-- not one on 10 attention.
Our woeful treatment if tiny children is why we have all the special snowflakes, anxiety ridden teens and and cutters that never used to exist.
0-3 is the time to learn emotional self regulation. This is done one-on-one with loved ones who do not leave or get fired.
4
What can be said of a society that pays more to have its trash collected than its children educated?
8
We don't value education for other people's children, just ask any republican or libertarian...or Betsy Devos...
8
Teachers are the real heroes. They deserve more respect and pay for what they do. The Airlines should let the teachers board first for a change.
5
My son attended a well regarded pre-k/nursery school. No colored paper, no store-bought toys, no wasting money on frivolous supplies like glitter or fancy anything. Snack time was a few crackers and water. The supplies were generic blocks and beads and string and rubber baby dolls, rubber farm animals and just six basic colors of crayon and four colors of paint. And so forth...the point was for the children to use their imaginations in what was called open-ended play. My son never thought of those hours during the day as "fun." They felt like school and he (and I) were relieved when it was time for kindergarten. But the teacher had a degree from an elite college, spoke English beautifully and expected respectful, well-modulated behavior (in her quiet dignified way). And the children behaved; there were some kids with behavioral issues but the standards were enforced and children who could not ultimately behave in a socially acceptable manner were not invited back. School is work. It requires commitment and expectations on the part of parents and teachers. Children develop self-worth from meeting challenges. I am personally surprised why working mothers are excused from paying attention to their children's needs. Really, all it takes is lots of love: especially if lessons of self-discipline and self-reliance are being taught during those two hours a day when the kids are at preschool.
2
I am rather surprised by many of the comments, as well as this article. My wife and I taught Montessori preschool for 23 years till retirement, twelve of those years with our in home preschool. What we both benefitted from that experience, was most of all what we ourselves learned from working with small children and learning how they think. It was like a living learning laboratory, finding how the mind of a child works, and realizing that even adult minds still operate under the same system of learning. I would encourage anyone who has an inquiring mind, open to learning, to look into preschool teaching as a career. It can offer you an open ended window into learning itself, and enrich your life beyond expectations.
That said, the lack of sufficient financial compensation for early childhood caregivers, is still a hinderance to anyone interested in such a career. A very high percentage of preschool workers end up being temporary, often entering the field when their own children are young and themselves in need of an employee discount for child’s preschool entrance. However to just pursue entering such career, probably discourages most, due to learning that the compensation is unlivable.
My wife and I succeeded mostly by having good opportunities and creatively self adapting to make budget, etc work, sending our own two children thru college. We worked hard at it, and were recognized as one of the best preschools around. But we were ourselves curious learners.
4
I wish someone would start a go fund me for Kelly. She has been through a lot and could use support for both her and her son’s education. All the social skills learned in preschool are what allows people to live together and work together in peace.
5
We should not have to do that! What kind of society do we have. Not good!
This is a necessary and important article that deserves much wider readership than it will get.
I'm a seventh-grade History teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District, and I've spent my entire career working in three inner-city neighborhoods serving children of poverty and color. I've met hundreds of wonderful children, many of whom have suffered serious damage or neglect by the time they get to me.
Most of my students read well below grade-level. Many have come from broken homes. Quite a few have been officially "homeless", either for a time or permanently. Others have come out of a notoriously broken foster care system. Every single one of them deserves the best this country has to offer, and almost none of them are getting it.
Preschool is where education begins, and preschool teachers are heroic in the efforts they must expend to do their jobs well. This article goes a long way towards showing us what obstacles they face and how little institutional support they receive, not to mention the poverty-level wages they earn.
All the children I teach, and every little one mentioned in this article, will one day grow up and be part of the citizenry of our country. We owe them more than we are giving them. Much more.
6
As someone who has worked in the field of childcare for 30 years, my observation would be that, despite her efforts to the contrary, Interlandi, has profoundly understated the gravity of the situation facing young children in this country.
Among many points I could make, I'll limit myself to just one: the childcare crisis is as much a crisis for middle, upper-middle and even affluent childcare programs, because our main problem is not training and credentialing, but rather cultural. As a childcare teacher and administrator serving primarily affluent children, I have yet to encounter an excellent teacher who has lasted more than 6-7 years doing this work, before burn out kicks in. That's because working full-day with young children is emotionally exhausting, socially stigmatizing, and professionally self-lacerating. No one in their right mind works with young children in our society for very long, before the disrespect of parents, friends and society at large shames them into finding other work.
Unfortunately, no amount of teacher training, mentoring or incentivizing begins to address our cultural distaste for those who work with very young children.
People sometimes say that young children are like the canary in the mine shaft. The problem is, for going on 3 generations now, our society has had this to say to the canary: "drop dead." For all with eyes to see, what that dead canary means for our society is perhaps finally coming into view…
5
Children who attend preschool live in the homes with parents who think enough of their children to go to the trouble to send them to preschool. Such parents tend strongly to converse with their preschoolers in a fashion that equips them with extensive vocabularies and language skills that make them more successful students whether they attend a preschool or not. Other out-of-school experiences provided by parents who treat their toddlers like treasures rather than annoyances also lead to later academic success without any time in a formal preschool. Consider examining the proportion of successful K-12 students (both affluent and impoverished) who never attend preschool. Despite the last 52 years of effort, K-12 pedagogy has not overcome the developmental damage inflicted on toddlers by life in a lousy household. There is no reason suspect that preschool pedagogy will fare any better. Kids who fail in school and in life do not need better – or more – schooling. They need better childhoods. Neither preschools nor K-12 schools can provide that.
4
Good point and one that needs to be solved. Does the fact that some children are not getting the home life they should mean nothing should be done about the situation/dilemma the article presents? The answer is no. As a nation we should be able to focus on more than one discrete problem at a time. Perhaps you should advocate and draw attention to your focus and others focus on the issues put forth in this article. Yea, that would work.
In 2007 Riane Eisler wrote an important book: The Real Wealth of Nations -- Creating a Caring Economics. Her organization, https://centerforpartnership.org/ was founded in 1987. Since the publication of this work and others, including, in 1987, "The Chalice and the Blade: Our History Our Future," Riane Eisler has further developed a new analysis for understanding social values, social institutions, and mainstream economic theory. Eisler points out that the European males who developed our economics could literally not see that the work of caring inside the home was important -- as if you can have a successful society if no-one is cooking, cleaning, raising the kids, (and also caring for the elderly and sick). Why would this essential work be noted by European males seeking to explain how an economy functions? This work of caring was overwhelmingly performed by a class of individuals -- women -- who by their nature did not belong in the "male sphere," the place where activities of importance take place. I urge readers to learn more about the organization Riane Eisler founded and the work she and others are doing.
They are paid less because our government doesn't fund universal pre-school and pre school teachers aren't required to have a Masters degree and a teaching credential like k-12 teachers.
2
Is it naive to argue there should be pay increases for elementary teachers across the board, as well? Maybe these teachers shouldn't have to pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket for license renewals, just to continue the great work they do.
5
It comes down to this: are we talking out OUR children, or THEIR children?
Answer that, and you have the answer to your question.
6
after just reading this article & looking at some of the comments, i have to admit your question is excellent! with very few words, i believe u have quantified the essence of not only the article itself, but also of the larger question, which remains as elusive as ever. great question without an answer, sad but true; thx
https://datausa.io/profile/soc/252010/
Pre-school teaching is overwhelmingly a female profession following the deep US tradition of undervaluing women's work. At an average salary of $23k a year, what if these women decided to double their income by studying IT?
5
The headline is such a softball that anyone could answer.
"Because we dont value them very much."
If They'd stop turning out such inferior product as compared to nearly every other school system in the industrialized world, we'd be more inclined to pay them more. As our schools are nothing more than daycare centers with social promotion and no real learning taking place...they get little pay.
4
While there are indeed teachers in various places and situations that are underpaid, let the profession deal with it. Useless teachers in my district make well into 6 figures, get summers off and a surprising number aren't really knowledgeable in their field. My wife and I routinely needed to repair the damage, ,or get a chuckle at the insanity. Well, until we paid the tax bill and saw the salary information.
Its often a con game run by the teachers union. They promise the moon, deliver green cheese.
6
You do know that problems are multi-factorial, right? You should know that teaching YOUR children is why teachers return each fall after taking classes for which they likely receive little to no remuneration but which they are required to have? You do know that they stay after school, come in on weekends, buy supplies out of their own pockets, deal with the family issues each child brings into the classroom each day. You should know teachers are at the mercy of administrators who don't always have the best interests of the classroom teacher and student at heart, and many more situations too numerous to mention except for a final one, having to deal with parents like you. Teachers earn every penny they make one thousand times over.
2
What about the women who work in unlicensed “drop-in” centers who work for minimum wage? Savvy young mothers in my suburb know they can leave their Pre-K children at the gym’s daycare while they work out. Then it’s to the supermarket that bills its drop-in center as a “Learning Center” where a shopper can leave her children in the care of an unlicensed, underpaid caregiver while she shops. Parents who are looking for a reprieve from their children need to be the force behind better wages for those who care for their children.
3
Aren't you sick and tired of reading this same problem over and over again? Stop electing Republicans and this problem will get better. Better yet, run for office yourself and/or encourage someone who is a champion for children and education to run for office and make the changes we need right now, not tomorrow. As another commenter said, President Obama did TONS for education. Never heard Trump mention barely anything about children or education. Trump was not elected by the people, he was elected by the Electoral College through the Republican Party.
I also agree with the commenters who say that for many- children, education and teachers are simply not a priority for them. They may not have any children and could care less about them, or they have that Republican view that you need to help your own children only and that's that. This issue affects all of us. Don't they get it? The child and children that you help today will be the answer for tomorrow. The child and children you don't help today will be our problems tomorrow- crime, the list goes on and on. Too many people think that children are everyone else's problems. When children succeed, we all win, we all benefit, whether you have kids or not. They just don't get it. They think they live in a world all by themselves. We are interdependent on each other. Expand your mind and change the world.
4
Why? Because teaching, and not just pre school and elementary, is considered child care and therefore women's work. It's a shame that women's work is undervalued in this country; it's the most important work there is.
5
The value that we place on kids and their development is why we then end up with a president who is unable to function in the role. There is a direct line to our disdain for healthy, robust development and the outcomes we create in our country's downfall.
6
The author should have noted that the Arbors' own a chain of childcare facilities. The Arbors daycares/ pre school in more affluent areas of Western Massachusetts cost far more than in urban areas. Young children whose parents work need safe, affordable care, and well paid teachers.
Education that is for profit will not put the needs of our children first. That is not the nature of the childcare industry. The goal of these centers is to make a profit. One way or the other we all end up paying the price for this. Long term an investment in affordable quality public preschool, would benefit everyone.
8
If preschool teachers are our most important teachers (I agree!), then can we take the final logical step that has been heresy since 1985, and say "child-rearing (aka mind-making) is incredibly important work, whether paid or unpaid?"
Maybe we can give some retroactive respect for the many moms who have devoted ourselves to this taskm that our society seems to officially see as 'optional': tending to very little kids? How about some respect for all of our foremothers, who did the same, and raised most more high-functioning humans?
Neglect in early childhood has lifetime effects. So does Nurture.
7
I am a high school teacher and I think that pre-school and early elementary teachers are more important that teachers at any other level of the educational process. A kid who is not ready for elementary school is at a tremendous disadvantage and is more likely to be a kid who isn't ready for middle school and who is well behind by the time they get to high school. Given the choice, and hopefully my kids would have both, I'd rather my kids have a series of world class pre-k and elementary school teachers and mediocre professors than the other way around.
6
Early development is so crucial to our future yet the economics will not work without outside support.
My toddler and infant are currently in an excellent nursery school, where the teacher:student ratio is phenomenal (1:2 for infant and 1:4 for toddler), and teachers are paid a middle class wage with benefits. Teachers are not stressed and it shows in their long tenure at the school and also how joyful my toddler is when he sees his teachers.
But we are paying $4k a month for this care. While we’re fortunate enough to be able to afford it, $48k post tax annually is more than the average family makes in a year. That said, with this high cost, teachers are only just making a livable wage.
If we truly cared about early development, we need to treat it like a public good. There’s no way parents can pay a full middle class income unless the teacher is overworked with too many kids.
6
And there is no possible way to "give" poor people a $48,000 day care for their children, when the poor person themselves earns little or no money.
As you correctly note, you have a privilege exclusive to the very rich.
1
Why? Because primarily female dominated professions have always been undervalued and under compensated.
3
Preschool teachers' salaries would rise considerably if they formed unions and agreed to credentialing for entry into their profession. When workers can collectively set the value for their labor, negotiating salary and benefits with those who want their services, salaries will rise. There are two routes to "professionalization" and higher salaries: credentialing, in which gate-keeper licensing organizations set the standards and demand for supposedly better trained, and thus higher-paid, workers (such as doctors and lawyers), and unionization, in which the workers themselves--often providing apprenticeships--unite to affect market rates for their type of work.
If preschool teachers--in both public and private schools--could see their own value and unite their voices accordingly, they would be better paid and supported. Just say the word "Strike," and you would see parents at all levels of society quaking, because children in school do have an economic value, or at least an impact on the workforce at large. If kids aren't in school, parents can't work. That's true for all families in which one salary cannot support a spouse and their children--most families today.
But, getting mainly young, untrained, less-well-educated women (and some men) to see their true economic value, with some level of training certification/licensing, and to join together is difficult. A transient workforce is difficult to unionize. It can be done. Salaries at private schools would also rise.
3
You should run for public office! These are the types of ideas we need from our elected officials. Of course the teachers are unwilling to go on strike, because
they care too much about children. Teachers actually have integrity and honor. Something that is desperately missing from the many powers-that-be in America.
However loving the teacher, the main developmental project of 0-3-- to bond with one's mother/family-- is undermined by early or extensive daycare, aka pre-school. Benefits are real for kids of depressed or disadvantaged moms but in
a normal situation there are significant disadvantages to the child (see Jay Belsky).
Kelly seems like a hero and a gifted HUMAN as well as teacher. I am sure she does good to the little blonde boys in her class. But in general there is too much competition for limited adult attention. Toddlers were not designed for this 8 hour day of systemization, lines, turns, and group dynamics.
Further, in a typical hunter gatherer tribe the ratio of adults to small children was 4:1. 1:4 in daycare represents 1/16 the amount of adult modeling and attention as any cave baby would have had. Babys learn how to be humans by aping a range of adults they get to deeply know.
In a family there might be several kids, of course, but the older ones would be a help to the mother. Six two-year-olds is not a situation you'd ever find in a state of nature. In a normal human community ,there would be other adults to help also like aunts or grandmothers.
We have become fractured and distanced as a people-- mass shootings, among many other horrors. We become sicker and more addicted and more anxious, the further we have moved away from the "ecosystem" of evolution's template for human thriving.
2
The answer to the headline's question is simple. How important a job is has nothing to do with how much someone is paid. How much people are paid is based on the power they have to negotiate their salary.
"“There is no empirically based definition of ‘high-quality preschool,’ ”"
" the longer-term rebounds found in Perry and Abecedarian — in which children who attend good preschools fare better in adulthood than their peers who attend no such program — have been difficult to parse or replicate."
We have no real idea whether these were "good preschools", bad preschools or indifferent. Its perfectly plausible that any directed attention to a random group of kids would have had the same effects.
The reality is that these academic studies are targeting low income kids because upper middle class parents would object to experiments on their kids. Just imagine the discussion with a bunch of private school parents where you are telling one group their kids are going to get this wonderful new experimental program and another group that their kids are not going to get the wonderful new program so that you have a control group. The outrage that would ensue would quickly end the experiment.
The reality is that every kid would benefit from more attention and stimulation, the earlier the better. But the notion that the people doing it need a college degree is just a marketing ploy of the higher education industry.
6
Interesting about the Head Start program, the fact that we need both men and women to work now just to keep up and then don't provide safe, affordable child care is criminal. If a politician wanted to make a real change for the poor and middle class, this seems like a slam dunk. Canada does it for $15 a week, but they also have a fraction of our population.
3
Those who want kids need to be more creative than putting their paw out to the rest of us.
I know a low-wage couple who earned little (credit union teller, warehouse menial labor) but wanted kids. They scrimped and saved well into their 30s. Then they strategized: he took an afternoon shift at the warehouse. When the kids were little she worked 8:30 to 5, got home around 5:30, they ate and he drove to the warehouse and worked till 2 a.m. -- came home, slept, she got the kids breakfast and then left for work; he did childcare all day and napped when they did.
My own parents saved up in advance of having children, to fund a SAHP, in the early 1960s on the wage of a secretary and blue-collar worker. Without the parental tax breaks we fellow citizens fund now, like child tax credit, EITC, etc.
In my area, with very good schools that feed the ivies, big 10 colleges and other good universities, it is possible to get a 1,200 sq foot house for about $120K and $4K in prop taxes a year -- which also fund great libraries, excellent municipal services and recreational venues. We are within an hour's drive of four prestigious public universities, have very low crime (there hasn't been a murder in my town in more than 50 years, and I've never known anyone who even had a yard or car burglary).
Stop saying it takes two full-time incomes to conduct a very comfortable middle-class life. Unless you insist on living in SF, NYC or other hot spots, it most certainly does not.
4
Why you ask? simple because
“We want one class of persons to have a liberal education, and we want another class of persons, a very much larger class of necessity in every society, to forgo the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks.”― Woodrow Wilson
7
If the banker, that takes care of your money earns more than the person, that takes care of your child, then what does that tell us?
15
I used to ask a similar question when my grown kids were little children: people are more obsessed over who fixes their car than they are with who babysits their kids. My sister in law knew her "nanny" was driving the infant to the local liquor store and drinking on the job while my sister in law was working (as a partner at a law firm). When I asked my sister in law she commented she couldn't bear the thought of staying home with her own kid and doing all that work so she had to make allowances.
Studies have shown time and time again that any benefit of preschool disappears by 2nd grade.
4
Any benefit, no, some of the academics even out later in a child's life. There are so many benefits to Pre school that are measurable and some that are not. The fact is PreK is a wonderful experience for all children and should NOT turn into early academics but should help the child acquire age appropriate skills. And our tax dollars should support this.
2
Right! And the benefit of strong attachment to one's family lasts a life time.
2
America's ability to crate wealth and sustain a civilized prosperous democracy is under threat for long- mainly started during Reagan era who almost highhandedly destroyed both basic and higher education.
Situation is higher education is equally, or may be worse, than that. More than half of college teachers are temporary, ad-hoc staff- poorly paid and very poorly trained and qualified. It would not be unfair to say that more than 95% of American university faculties are junk- least qualified to teach, engage in objective and productive research either. in 1995, USA was in 2nd position in terms of 'quality of output of higher education' sector (only after Switzerland). In 21012, USA came down to 16th position.
Influence of religion and fiction of 'intelligent design' infected both basic education and higher education as well. USA is now the 2nd worst country (only after Turkey) among major industrialized countries where trust on intelligent design' or creationism is higher than science of evolution- that too despite of having the highest education and research spending!
This article has partial truths. It lacks to address the whole picture across the country. Many parts missing. One:CYFD's across the country are inconsistent and loaded with problems that come with state/ federal bureaucratic incentives and some ever changing non-sense coming down the pike from elite intellectual gurus in higher governmental echelons due to the latest study. Wew! That statement alone represents run on gov. agencies.
I might add this one paradox of many. Grandma loves children and wants to supplement her income caring for babies. She has no hesitance picking up a crying child and is trusted by all the parents. But she must either get her degree in child development or not be allowed employment. No exceptions.
On the opposite end is a 23 yoa woman who is about to get her bachelors degree in child development and is looking forward to moving out and up ward. In between are some content and others doing it because its a job. The turnover rate is high. No sense of peace and safety for the parent there?
Also think of this. Hamburgers are not the same as children. At least to some. If you find a hamburger flipper who wants to put the time in off hours getting a culinary education , even with state assistance , and then give them the promised pay raise. Do you think they will be content sticking around changing diapers, wiping faces , cleaning grease traps and making french fries? Hint: There is real value in most grandmothers. They have a PhD in baby love.
4
Thanks to a dynamic, early childhood development-trained director, my wife was able to pilot a Spanish immersion program in a child care center. She only spoke Spanish - with the center's infants and children, her colleagues, and parents, when they dropped off or came to pick up their children. Theme-based, structured, play and meal time with the three, four and five-year old age groups, with infants as young as three-months listening to her speak Spanish while she changed their diapers. A mother of one of the infants recounted her son waving his arms and stretching his neck to "see" her when he heard folks speaking Spanish in a Mexican food restaurant. Parents said their children's elementary school teachers would often ask them where the children had learned Spanish. Four and five-year old children, who'd had a year or two with her, would often interpret for other children - "no tonto, ella dijo..."- or "no dummy, she said..." She wasn't ECD-trained, but her gift with children and constant support and coaching from the director made a difference in the lives of those children. The center's board also played a key role in creating a permanent position for her when the six-month pilot funding ended. All children, especially those from lower income families, deserve to benefit from gifted teachers like Kelly featured in this article. Access to quality preschool is at the heart of our society's future well-being. And, it's also simply an issue of justice.
3
I would fully support taxpayer funded second-language education at all levels of public schooling. The mono-linguality (if that, half our citizens are barely literate) of Americans is a national disgrace.
2
Many years ago during an election period, received excellent informational pieces from the League of Women Voters on the candidates. Each got a page telling about them, and then a page for their comments. I'll never forget the words of one third party candidate, who stated: "Our schools and classrooms should be as shiny, well maintained and staffed, and funded as our shopping malls".
Bingo. Most women understand the truth of the old adage "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world". When women achieve parity in governing and industry, hopefully we'll see these valuable changes in honoring the activity more important than shopping -- the future generations and their education.
3
The most important resource of a civilized society is its children, and the most important task of that society is to educate them. The United States of America has thrown public education under the school bus and abandoned its children to a catch-as-catch-can system based on test-taking and survival of the richest. Want a good education? Pay for private school. Can't pay? Too bad. Or homeschool them. Then you can teach your kids that "intelligent design" is science and that people and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time.
The respect we show pre-school teachers is equivalent to the respect we have for education in general, which is to say, not much.
6
My wife is a fourth-grade teacher and my children at preschool age. I see the effect of a preschool education daily in my daughter - who I believe to be naturally gifted but also privileged to spend her days with young educators who have a knack for fostering intellect. My wife concurs. The positive manifestations of my daughter's preschooling are undeniably evident in everything from her vocab and math, to her intuition and routine observations. Quality educators - both at the pre-school and elementary/secondary levels - are what provide our country a future.
I work for a defense contractor as an engineer. In a meeting last week, I recall my supervisor reiterating the common American line "if we can just get Congress to squeeze a little more into the defense budget..." If only these people bothered to try and know.
9
It's astonishing that our politicians, who claim to value the least among us - children give only lip service to the very people who do more than any group in this country to shape our future by educating our children. It's way overdue those who control the purse strings put their money where their mouths are. After all, public school teachers carry out the will of the decision makers, whether elected officials or those appointees to state and local school boards. They may influence how subjects are taught but not so much the material.
If you're dissatisfied with public education, then get out and campaign and elect people who treat educators with the deference and income they deserve.
In my heart I think there are many who equate education with women's issues and so want to keep, 'the little lady' at home - where she belongs. To them I say - your time has long passed.
5
It's what the value system in this country is. People value sports stars, celebrities, entertainers in music and film. They value the military, doctors, lawyers, but great teachers are forever on the bottom of the totem pole. Values, values, values! It's pretty clear when you take a look at what society values. The future has always been wrapped up in the education and future well-being of our children. It gets less recognition than now than ever!
7
I worked as a preschool teacher and “junior preschool” teacher (2 year olds) in Montana and Oregon. I have a master’s degree in foreign policy, and when I started I had experience as a substitute teacher for k-12 students. In Montana I was paid $8.50 an hour to start as an assistant teacher, got a dollar extra when I was promoted to lead teacher, and another dollar when I got a CDA. The CDA requires a portfolio, test, and observation, and renewal after 3 years requires 45 hours training as well as professional organization membership. I got my CDA in a year, paid for mostly by the state of Montana, and later moved to Oregon where I was offered $15/hour. I was told that was the most I could expect, and I believe that’s true, even though each kid in my class was paying $1,400/month to be there. The CDA is a good program. Many states offer grants and subsidies to people who are working toward it while working at a licensed center. Requiring a college degree in early childhood education (which isn’t even offered at most universities) in order to work in a day care isn’t a bad idea, but can only work if we treat day care teachers like teachers, and childcare becomes part of the public school system. Nobody goes to college hoping to make $15/hour one day. I had coworkers who quit to go work as waitresses because they could make more. It is demeaning. I taught all my kids that they mattered, and that they had something worthwhile to contribute. Let’s treat our teachers the same.
18
At $10.50 an hour, you earned roughly $22K a year.
But the school charged $1400 per pupil per month, or $16,800 a year PER CHILD.
If you had 15 children in your class, that's $252,000 a year for that one class, and you got less than 10% of that, so where did the other 90% go to?
When you figure that out, you'll have an answer.
1
Knowledge within the early childhood professional community and widely shared and largely ignored by the popular press was presented in this article. The good news: quality early childhood education makes a positive difference in the lives of young children and their families. The bad news: poor/mediocre early childhood care has a profound negative effect on young children. The great news: this significant social topic was clearly detailed in this NYT article.
1
"injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" - until we all realize that we are in this world all together, things will not change. Americans need to take a leap of faith and go back to whence we came: really fully fund public education across the board, and make sure that the governing bodies of the schools are held accountable. I have worked and studied in public education all my life. Anyone I know who makes enough money makes sure their kids get a private school education. We need to commit to equity in funding, salaries, and educational outcomes. I will leave you with this: it might be difficult to do this allowing for diversity education.
1
I worked in Preschool education more than 40 years ago. Since Head Start in 1965,we have know about the importance of preschool education. Excellent research over the years has provided more and more emphasis on the importance, and wide-spread consequences. Yet so little progress and change, why?
Please forward this excellent article to Betsy DeVos. Education should start at birth. In one form or another, for different ages and different populations, our government has to take responsibility for nurturing young minds, supporting emotional and social development, and involving parents in the best ways to raise healthy and resilient children. Why in the world would public school education start with 5-year-olds in Kindergarten when it should begin at birth, perhaps not required, but available to all families without cost, and provided by skilled educators, trained and licensed in their specialty, at a public school teachers salary!
The next article might address why public school teachers are so under-valued and under-paid in our society. How we treat preschool teachers is unconscionable. Public school teachers — not a whole lot better!
4
Makes so much sense. But it's hard for any entity (or the government) to invest so much when the payoff is so late.
I'm working for a pharmaceutical company, and my wife worked as a pre-school teacher for a few year. Although both of us hold advanced degrees, the difference of our salary is drastic. At home, we discussed this question (problem/issue) for many times. One obvious reason is that the contribution of teachers can not be directly valued, such as by means of sales or outputs, especially in public school. So that many people don't realize the importance of teachers in children's growth on every aspect, such as physical, mental, and social emotional. In my opinion, there is no easy solution to improve teachers' pay until the society realizes the importance of their job. In our experience of interacting with teachers, we have seen examples of good/great teachers and not-so-good teachers. Of course, many possible reasons could lead to teacher's performance at school. However, if education becomes a specialized and selective career for limited numbers of people, similar to medical doctors and scientifically-intensive researchers, better financial situation and quality of educational service could be expected. I'm glad to see this article, and hopefully it sparks more discussion and brings attention to the problem.
4
Excellent article. Another point that should be made is that early childhood education is being overtaken by for-profit corporations, of which Bright Horizons is one. Educating (young) children will take a back seat to a company's bottom line when maximizing profits is the goal. It's a race to the bottom in terms of teacher pay... $28,500 in a New England city is considerably higher than the $7.50-$8.00/hour pay that preschool teachers in the south are paid (including those working in early childhood centers just north of Atlanta). Annual, before tax wages hovering around $16K are simply not enough to support a single person, let alone a family. And consistency of routines in a given classroom are not considered in for-profit schools in which "students and teachers (are) shuffled from one room to another, combining some classes and breaking others up in an effort to keep each room within the permissible ratio." Teachers who "float" to classrooms whose assigned teachers are absent can help pick up the slack when teachers are inevitably out, but for-profit companies do not want to pay any additional wages unless teachers are actually in the classroom with kids (and many for-profit centers require teachers to take longer lunch breaks during their scheduled hours in order to avoid paying teachers for any additional minutes that accrue over the course of a week should teachers take a few minutes at the end of each day to tidy their rooms before clocking out).
2
I have nothing but respect for these patient, caring human beings. Theirs is, as John Steinbeck noted, the "greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit." Who in this country is more deserving of a radical cost-of-living adjustment?
3
I began my 30 year plus teaching career teaching in day care centers earning minimum wage. This was in the early seventies. Now retired from 30 years in the public schools, I concentrate on training dogs and horses. Anyone who has been an animal owner knows that what happens to that animal from birth to adulthood will determine how that animal behaves throughout its life. If it was ignored, abused, etc, that animal will have issues. If that horse or puppy has not been trained well, it will have issues. Humans are similar to dogs and horses. They need love, attention, and to feel safe.
Of course being a human is very complicated and we need to learn so many things. I never stopped taking classes and learning how to be a better teacher. We need to invest in pre-school teachers' education. The pay off is a better functioning country.
2
I was the administrator in an early childhood building of a large New York City public school with 7 Pre-K classes and 9 kindergartens. We did not have enough rooms for 9 Pre-K classes, so every September several new Kindergarteners per room arrived without previous school experience. It was very obvious that the students who had already spent a year in our building were initially more confident, more comfortable with school routines and able to engage in deeper learning and educational play earlier in the year.
How we wished we had enough room for all our four year olds! NYC's Public School Pre-Kindergarten teachers, happily, are paid the same as all other teachers, and have the same credentials. I cannot imagine otherwise.
Ms. Kelly is a hero. Her community, apparently, does not offer a public school PK program, and therefore she is not considered a fully embraced member of the teaching profession. Note that I don't fault her lack of credentials. In Brooklyn, before PK was offered in public school, my own children went to a program not unlike the one profiled in this article and had teachers like her. Unsung heroes!
I ache for Ms. Kelly's career stagnation, low pay, and the stress and heartache of her family life. How I wish she could have had the opportunity to add on to her many extraordinary skills by rounding out her expertise with the kind of curriculum and planning skills taught in college. Her expertise is an underutilized asset, and her full potential is unmet.
5
Wealthy taxpayers often raise the well worn argument that they are the overtaxed “job creators”, all somehow critical to society. My counterpoint to anyone professing that level of self importance is simple. If they would have suddenly disappeared from the planet at thirty-five and the best science teacher in their area did the same, who’s absence would have the greatest long-term impact on society? Who is really likely to produce more economic benefits over the course of a normal lifespan? Who would be more easily replaced? Does the world really need one more financial executive more than it does another inspiring mentor for hundreds of potential scientists, doctors and engineers? Fact is, there is a vast cadre of management talent just itching to backfill every CEO. Our best teachers are a far more precious and under valued commodity.
2
Teachers, I believe, are underpaid for two simple reasons. First, we’ve lost sight of the belief, expressed so well by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., that we purchase civilization through our taxes. But today the majority of taxpayers across the country don’t want to pay taxes and keep demanding tax cuts. Thus, most of the wealth under skewed tax laws goes to the richest people without regard to those who need money. Second, I believe that a huge swath of people really do not care about children, medical care for the neediest among us, or a host of other things that would build a better society for human beings. They really don’t believe in the promise of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness“ as the shared values that our founders hoped we would pursue for all as a matter of serving the common good. Such people, I am convinced, are un-American and the greatest danger to our democracy in the 21st-century. We may not survive them and the political leaders they have elected.
3
All teachers are seen as little more than babysitters by a vast majority of parents, admins, and government...pre-school teachers suffer from this perception the most.
2
Mothers and Fathers perform the most important work in the nation - educating, molding, and providing role models to future citizen voters, future parents and future entrepreneurs and tax payers.
Wives who stay home to raise their children properly should be lauded and supported; their Love and nurturance is the glue that holds all of society together.
More homeschooling can also address the concerns about schools and wages.
1
Homeschooling will raise teacher wages? How?
1
I suggest that we change the words we use to describe the education of preschool children, using terms like "maximizing neural plasticity" and "promoting neural optimization." Imbue the profession with neuroscience, medical, and perhaps computer language and we'll move in the direction of enhancing the prestige of this profession and the corresponding pay grades.
Anne-Marie Slaughter writes eloquently on this subject in her book "Unfinished Business." We simply do not value caregiving as a profession. Even the language we use such as "Stay-at-Home" Parent is demeaning and gender biased (and equally demeaning to income earning parents--implying they are absent from the home).
Caregiving for children, the disabled and the elderly is a societal good and challenging work and we need to compensate caregivers accordingly.
2
I work as a substitute paraeducator--a fancy word for a teacher's aide who works with special needs students. There are VERY few men doing what I do because the pay is so low. Many folks who do what I do--I'm on this list, thankfully--are lucky enough to have another person in the house who is the primary breadwinner. I love this work... and so many other folks are needed to do it. But until the wages come up, that isn't likely to happen. It's shameful.
4
You should add first responders, law enforcement, and military service members to this list. Those who do the most to shape and protect our nation and its citizens barely get by, while athletes who can't stand for our anthem, celebrities who fly in private jets lecture us about global warming, and politicians who actually become rich by not doing their jobs...live the life of luxury. We have truly lost our way.
3
We have too much law enforcement -- too many cops joyriding around safe suburbs in militaryesque SUVs, doing nothing more than entrapping motorists to generate revenue, hassling pot smokers, etc. And then they want to retire after 20 years in these "dangerous" jobs and live another 30 or 40 years on our dime. No thanks. Cops are compensated quite well enough as it is.
Same with military. The DoD's own quadrennial compensation survey shows they are paid more than civilians at every level, plus they get perks ranging from commissary to medical (inc. cosmetic surgery), travel, you name it. yet we've had to dumb down entry requirements -- so we're lavishly paying people who can't even qualify for the most menial private sector jobs.
We need to downsize LE and military and invest in positive aspects of our infrastructure and public services, not throw more hard-earned cash down those black holes.
3
The undervaluing of these teachers is linked to the undervaluing of at home parents, I think. What makes a good preschool teacher? Easy. As close to what a good mother naturally does as possible. They are instinctively absorbing everything around them and imitating adults in their life (little sponges)- that’s the “method” of their education (for better or worse). Kids that young can thrive at home with a parent, learning by their side cooking, helping with simple household tasks, going for slow walks to discuss squirrels, chatting. Problem is, many people implicitly think of those activities as a waste of a woman’s education, as sort of, beneath an educated mother’s pay grade. Thus the travesty of paying these teachers less than the going babysitting rate in a posh DC suburb. I get that many people can’t or don’t want to stay home with kids(sacrifice involved, alongside blessing). But 1. Society should recognize the fundamental importance of raising small children (whether by an at-home parent or teacher), and 2. preschools should strive to mimic a natural maternal method of intellectual stimulation- low class ratios, warm maternal teachers who are good role models, w/enthusiasm for the kids, and smart enough to foster their natural curiosity. Funds should go not to technology but to teachers. imagine if even the poorest schools had loving teachers with small classes. We don’t need science to tell us a miracle method. It’s easy- it’s called love and attention
3
This speaks to American values and priorities much more than empty political speeches. This is the real American of poor children, poverty pay for teachers and always more money for defense.
1
Probably because pre-school teachers are not the most important teachers.
1
I taught in a public high school for 34 years. Money is not the answer for a reason that might not be obvious as it has very little to do with performance in the classroom...REALLY! We were paid based on our placement on a salary schedule. Everybody, quality of not, with equal placement, was paid the same. Using evaluation, our best administrators were able to get rid of the worst but good administrators, as opposed to good old boys, we're hard to find and firing a worthless individual was a difficult process. I could have been paid twice what I was and not put in any more effort. Money? Right or wrong, a measure of a person's value to the society. "How much do you get paid for teaching and coaching"? Common question. Then, "my dad's a mechanic, roofer, whatever and he makes a lot more than you". Money? Maybe status and self esteem issues more than anything else. Unfortunately, most of us never got to find out.
How about the NYT showing ECE educators some respect. I had to jump through hoops to receive the educators discount. My email address is not a .edu address. Lucky I work for a .org organization and got one of there email address. The same for Apple or any other corporation. We are not considered educators. Just babysitters that wear 50 different hats
24
Because they are predominately female and female professions aren't valued.
15
Socialism at work.
Shameful that people have children and then toss them off to a preschool at such a tender age. If you can't raise them stop having them.
7
Good article
Thanks for sharing
3
People in power have always known that to keep the masses uneducated makes them easier to bamboozle.
That's why our most important teachers are paid the least.
24
to answer the question poised in the headline; improving training and pay will give the same ol thing just at a higher cost.
5
Several have asked about the parents. Why are they not raising their kids. Why? Maybe because they're in jail, especially the fathers. Maybe because they have to work because welfare doesn't support stay at home mothers any more. Maybe because they want to be able to buy food for those kids? The amount of privilege that seeps out in some of these comments is appalling.
38
I remember as a young woman sometimes making the choice between food, the bus and birth control. The latter always won hands down. That's not "privilege."
2
Professionals are allowed to have children!
2
Privilege or choice?
It is time we take another long look at the Finnish system. Finland is a child centric nation and they seek top students to become teachers. AND they get paid. WHY? Because the culture values developmental education and is will to pay for it. The results? A well educated populace. Of course there are holes and exceptions. But the Finns knew a long time ago that education and good health at the very beginning was the way out of poverty. The Untied States is a laughing stock and our inaction and indifference is criminal
42
No -- that is untrue. Finnish teachers earn 35% LESS -- yes less! -- than American teachers. And those Finnish teachers all have master's degrees, whereas most US teachers do not.
It is a myth that Finland pays more. They pay much less. The reason they do better? Most Finnish children are born into stable homes with both parents.
1
Paying teachers of young children more might very well increase outcomes. Even if it doesn't, every worker in the US and especially those taking care of the young and the old and the sick, should earn a living wage. Yes, they should measure up to performance standards. This should go without saying. They should also be paid a living wage. This should also go without saying.
24
You know why our most important teacher are paid least, we all know why. It's because profits are more important than people.
30
There's something wrong with a society that pays a black woman teacher less in a year than a black man who shoots baskets makes taking one shot playing a kid game. How can you expect young people, of any color, but especially disadvantaged kids to work, sacrifice and study to be a teacher or any low paid but essential job when they can see themselves as multimillionaire superstars, no matter how unrealistic? Until we value the truly important people in our society, like teachers, we will continue to decline as a nation.
20
When you elect a President who is applauded for saying 'I love the uneducated', what do you think?
The US has been dropping in comparison to educational standards internationally and is now average to below average in the latest PISA tests which compare reading, science and math for 15 year olds across the OECD. This will affect quality of life, economics and competitiveness in future years. The writing's on the wall, and I don't mean the border with Mexico!
14
Our most important teachers are paid the least because our least important teachers are paid the most. In NYC, we spend millions of dollars to "teachers" who spend their days in a "rubber room." In NYC, we keep teachers on the payroll when no school wants them. Great union contract, which means less money is available to the most important teachers, so that worthless teachers can get paid to do nothing.
13
I was a principal at three levels of education, elementary, middle and high and I would put my money in early childhood ed, preK through 2nd. It’s here where you see the greatest changes in behavior and learning; these are where the building blocks needed for a successful education are laid. You can’t pay these teachers enough for the work that they do.
44
More money will not fix broken families, and broken families are part of the story.
15
Providing poor education to children from broken families will not increase the likelihood that they will produce successful families in the future. Recipe for disaster for all our poor children.
2
Let's try it and see what happens. Less money surely hasn't improved anything, has it?
1
This situation, and others like it, is truly disgraceful.
How much does this country care about its children?
NOT much at all.
5
I know I’ll be pilloried, but I think kids need two parents & we don’t have that anymore, for the most part. We have a country full of wonderful, caring teachers, but until kids have parents going to parent-teacher meetings & helping with homework, it’s all over. Kids need the income coming in from two parents. They need a back-up if they need to get to soccer or from school. It is almost impossible for one parent to do all that’s necessary to get a kid through life. The proof is out there. And yes, please give teachers more money.
20
Why then does American capitalism demand that both parents work full time to make for a passable standard of living? Seems to me that you are blaming capitalism's victims for the dysfunctional nature of capitalism.
Why? Because we are not hiring or even interviewing the most qualified
1
All teachers pay in America should be increased! No ones home for many kids today, and I’m not referring to broken familes! But, anti intellectualism in American life, rules more than ever! They’ll blame the teachers anyway.
17
Could Ms Interlandi possibly provide a way to get in touch with Ms Kelly? Separately, would the NYT or Ms Interlandi create a Kickstarter fund for Ms Kelly and the children she teaches? I would like to honor her work and challenges with a financial contribution and can imagine others who have read your article might feel the same.
11
The only problem with your generous offer is there are THOUSANDS of other teachers who deserve the same support...
1
Why? Because we needed to spend 800 billion dollars on the military! That why!
14
But of course preschool teachers should be educated before they enter the classroom. It is literally disgusting that many daycares have such such turnovers and do not seek people with proper qualifications.
6
To answer that question, you must first answer the question "Important to whom?"
8
Why, b/c we value children so lowly in the USA. I find it ridiculous that the Republicans are so pro-life, and they didn’t give 2 cents about SNAP and CHIP, etc.
Listen to the George Carlin rant re abortion…
11
Read and see what happened when a teacher raised issues of pay - posted in todays Washington Post and filmed and reported also by KATC-TV
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/01/09/teacher-f...
5
When was the last time you heard our president talk about children, except his own & the ones he wants to deport? Tragically, he could care less. A far cry from President Obama who invested more in early childhood than any other president.
17
Women, don't do it. Better to quit than work for these wages. Take any welfare you can get, or steal. It's 100% justified in our unjust country.
1
life is so much more valuable than making money... but, jeez, here in USA you are made to feel ashamed if you don't make a lot ... even if you are staying at home doing a great job with your children, reading, being affectionate, teaching them wonder... washing, cleaning, cooking, having fun, when you can... making sure they don't watch to much tv... it's exhausting and you get no help sometimes... oh, and trying to get and cook healthy food (no junk) is so expensive... I don't know how people do it... and then when you work too... our children are the future...single parents exponential... the people who don't get paid a lot suffer ten times as much... what has happened here? Please, please, help these people out...neighbors, family... you are not alone... But you feel like you are
11
The fact that you can read this newspaper is thanks to a teacher.
6
Was that a question? Maybe 2 questions?
Please, pre-school "teachers" are overpaid babysitters.
2
Congrats and thank goodness you're retired.
6
Have you ever taught a class of twenty four year olds? No, I thought not. If you were asked to do it my guess is you’d fail. Taking care of preschoolers all day is very difficult and requires a lot of skills. Then teaching them on top of just keeping them safe and fed? It’s seriously skilled and intellectually challenging work. I’ve been doing it for years and I’m very good at it. I’m so happy I don’t work in a day care center for $7 an hour anymore; I work for a school district with a commensurate salary. All preschool teachers deserve to be paid well for their valuable service to society.
4
You get what you pay for. In other developed countries, preschool teachers are well educated and salaried like an elementary school teacher because they believe young children deserve quality care and education. Imagine if we had no public education and everyone had to hire a teacher? It's like that.
trillions for war, nothing for teachers
3
Preschool age children need caring and loving adults around them, like the woman in the article. Let me know when you can quantify, measure, and reproduce in quantity caring and loving. Or guarantee it with a college degree.
4
teachers here in wisconsin are not underpaid. the are overpaid for their part time jobs. thank god for Scott Walker.
1
Maybe being a college dropout worked out ok for Walker but it doesn’t mean he’s worth listening to on this subject.
2
Mark,
I do not know who you are and I apologize if this sounds rude. However, I'm not sure what you mean by "overpaid." I will be working as an Urban teacher in the heart of Milwaukee and the staff at my institution need a second job in order to help pay rent because our job does not pay enough. Perhaps you are talking about Suburban districts?
Scott Walker's policy (from my understanding, please feel free to correct me!) wishes to have more privatize education and cut out a lot of funding for public school. I don't know if you realize but Wisconsin, like many other states, have a lot of public school and cutting those will definitely hurt the children.
Please let me know your thoughts!
Best regards,
Leanrene
3
When this country goes belly up
we might wonder why - during the "Fire Sale"
why we paid Wall Street so much money
to mishandle our meager pensions
and so little to those who matter most:
Teacher and Nurses.
Why are we destroying our 'seed corn' ?
9
Teachers for all levels of K-12 have been grossly underpaid and undervalued (as a profession) forever in the USA. It was the same for college/university professors too, generally, but now Universities have become a haven for PhDs to sit on their rears, collect pretty fine salaries, perks, and bennies, and be accountable to no one but themselves in terms of production. (They should either be pumping out the truly important research or, for most, they should be teaching a 4/4 like non-tenure "instructors" or what have you. Anyway, different rant.)
But I do not believe it is mostly a "woman" thing, but more so a prime example of how we, as a society, have an extremely warped sense of value in respect to work.
Look at all those service and hands-on type jobs, from laborers, general (small) contractors, roofers, painters, to cooks, waitstaff, to garbage/recycling collectors, and so forth. These are jobs done by people who keep it all running. Everything comes to a halt pretty much if the low-paid workers stop working. They are *necessary*.
Bankers, hedge fund thieves, er, managers, most politicians, CEOs of most any company, not to mention many companies, and more...they aren't necessary. Oh, they may make life more pleasurable, make things convenient, may help ones wallet to get fat so one can buy a big house and have a huge water-wasting lawn whilst the owners, assuming in residence, live off the sweat and toil of others, paid less than they.
We value the wrong jobs.
6
How many of the commenters here have spent an entire day in a classroom managing 13 preschoolers? It is exhausting — physically, mentally and emotionally. Rewarding, yes, at least some of the time, but draining nonetheless.
Ms Kelly deserves our appreciation and support. She seems devoted to these kids, even at a cost to her own health and family well-being. And is paid about what she'd make as a cashier at Walmart.
22
100% agree.
As someone who came to US from another country a long time ago, one thing that blew me away had been the dedication I saw in teachers - specifically preschool & elementary school teachers. What a shame that they are compensated so poorly for everything they give. If we value children, how can we not value their very first teachers. And those teachers are so much beyond academic teachers - they are vanguards of their mental & emotional health.
Thank you for this important article.
10
The reality is that teachers, no matter what they teach, have to endure miserable working conditions and poor pay. What other professional do you know of where employees are expected to reach into their own pockets to buy the supplies needed to do their jobs? In any office if there is no paper on the copier too bad the work doesn’t get done. But when you are a teacher with dozens of faces staring at you, doing nothing isn’t an option. Is it any wonder young people avoid the professional like the plague?
2
USA problem only...in Canada. teaching is a plum job if you can get it.. teachers union, good pay, lots of benefits, retirement plan, and lots of paid time off.
I just made math and it is depressing. 5 years of quality daycare for my daughter - approximately $84 000. I could buy a flat for this in my home country of the Czech Republic. All my friends are on 3-year maternity leaves, spend time together with their children and friends and receive $500 each month (at least my educated circle) for the duration of their maternity leave from the state for necessary child-related spending. Generally speaking, Czech children are better behaved, with better impulse control, less loud and with better manners. The math is making me rethink our lives. Because I will be doing the same math for college which is still free back home...
7
Leave while you still can, things here are not going to get better.
5
Wow 3 year maternity leave! That is wonderful! I know it’s not simple to enact, but ideally, we should have that. I love that your home country seems to value motherhood and see it’s importance for society (maybe even more than money?). Or perhaps they see that ultimately encouraging mothers to be with kids in early years is a better investment in the future,even monetarily. Wish women could make that same decision so easily here, without guilt, unnecessary financial stress, pressure, or inferiority complex.
My mom took a six-year maternity leave.
She and my dad planned and SAVED to finance it, instead of breeding willy-nilly and expecting others to pick up the tab. On low wages, in the early 1960s, with no tax breaks for parents.
If you want to be a parent, plan and save for it just like any other endeavor. On an overpopulated planet, the notion you are doing the rest of us a favor by breeding is long, long obsolete. You are gratifying a personal want, nothing more.
I'm all for improved public education -- including FAR more rigorous standards for the students and FAR more accountability to parents, who should be (as happens in other countries) fined if their kids miss school, fined if they miss parent-teacher conferences, etc. I would support the loss of child-related tax credits for parents who don't do volunteer work in schools (on weekends or evenings if necessary, to fit around work -- they can clean, paint, prepare classroom materials) or for parents who don't show up to conferences. Or whose kids are not doing their homework promptly, or meeting other metrics.
We need to take education more seriously, but it's a two-way street.
2
Unfortuately, I believe that it is because children - and their education - are not valued in this country.
4
they say the highest value and most important jobs in life are the lowest paid, even unpaid - teachers, nurses, mothers.
3
"They get four wage increases over a two-year period, so that by the time they complete the program, which grants them both an associate degree and a journeyman card, they are already earning $2 to $3 more an hour. “That’s a life-changing increase,” McCarthy says."
No it isn't.
$2 to $3 raise in hourly wages for a full time, professional job is not life-changing.
It's insulting.
10
Nearly all studies of the benefits of attending pre-K find that initial impacts on children’s learning are greater than the advantages that persist even a few years later. This has been called “fade-out” but that term conflates two very different types of programs and patterns of effects.
Some pre-K programs have been found to have small initial effects and little lasting impact. Others produce lasting meaningful improvements in achievement together with reductions in the need for special education and grade repetition that save taxpayers money and put children on a path to greater lifelong success.
Our research has found that the Abbott pre-K program is in the second category. For example, by 5th grade Abbott pre-K was associated with a reduction from 19% to 12% in grade repetition and from 17% to 12% in special education.
Such differences are much larger and more consequential than what many readers might have supposed from reading that the Abbott pre-K program suffered from “fade-out.”
5
Why are important jobs paid poverty wages? Because, as Nancy Pelosi says, "we're Capitalists, that's just how it is."
Capitalism doesn't value labor. Workers are seen as an expense and burden.
3
If we as a nation want to live up to our own hype "Greatest Nation on Earth" we need to do a number of things, but 3 count here with our children:
1- Put Pre-School into the Public System fund it properly and make it a year around thing.
2- Professionalize the staff and pay them a wage worthy of someone you trust with your children 8 hours a day.
3- Get CHIP fully funded yesterday.
10
Truth. I leave my children at the daycare in our "underserved" community. Due to gentrification in our city, their center enrollment is now about 50/50 middle/lower class. The cost of tuition is almost my entire take-home pay as a K-12 teacher in the same city. I am aware that many of the teachers at the daycare center enroll their own children at the center, and swipe their state childcare benefit cards to help pay their children's tuition, since they are earning way less money than I am.
The teachers at the center, although not very educated, and very limited in English, are wonderful, and our children (and their language, both English and Spanish) has blossomed since they enrolled. Still, I can't help but wonder how my children's lower-income peers could ever have as level of a playing field as my own children when they enter kindergarten at the public school across the street. The research is true, and I've seen it play out year after year with my students in elementary school. The children of lower-income workers have the deck stacked against them. People who complain about welfare and freeloaders need to consider opportunity, ability, and empowerment, and how those characteristics need to be made available to all children.
14
Outcomes have been well documented over many years. Children who have the opportunity for preschool and extended day kindergarten stay in school, succeed and graduate. Their teachers are well educated. However, their teachers are not adequately paid for their efforts.
This fact has also been well documented. It reflects the values of our country: women's work and kids can't vote.
The preciousness of each life is not respected. Yet the child is the future.
2
Public schools need to include pre-school starting in infancy and the teachers need to be part of the regular pay/benefits package, negotiated by a union that represents the interests of teachers and children. Public school teachers are required to have certification, are incentivized to achieve advanced degrees, and must participate in ongoing professional development. Why not the teachers of our youngest in their most formative years? A related issue: Other wealthy countries have 18 months and upward for parental leave when a child is born -- not 12 weeks! Quality child care is financially out of reach for most working families. As the recent tax "reform" bill shows, our society has all the wrong priorities.
3
Law of supply and demand. If we want to pay the school teachers more, we need to create higher standards for being a teacher which will limit the supply of teachers available. It is counterintuitive but sometimes regulation is required to protect what we care for.
2
I agree that children and teachers are undervalued in the US. While I also empathize with the children in underfunded programs (and more so their underpaid staff), it is fact their parents' choices put them there and, to do what is best for young students AND their teachers, it is going to take a combination of more responsible family planning, higher earning parents, and parental involvement/teaching ABCs(at the very least) at home, along with advocating for better preschool teacher pay and preschool funding. Parents must value their children more than society and the government does. This value is evident when parents only bring children into the world that they can affordably care for independent of government funding AND they are their kids' first teachers.
Preschool teachers are grossly underpaid and deserve a living wage but low pay is by design in any capitalist society where somebody's got to be poor and somebody's got to be rich. Until preschool staff are paid salaries that cover their housing, healthcare, food, insurance, and other living expenses, both poor and middle income families will continue to struggle to pay for preschool. It is a choice to have children, therefore, a choice to pay for preschool/ childcare or watch one's child(ren) get left behind. It costs to be alive. Having children is a right and personal choice and so are childcare costs.
I have worked at several public schools with pre-kindergarten classes (called K1 or TK, depending on the state) whose teachers make the same as all other public school teachers in the district— because they are part of the teachers’ union. Aside from a great moral reckoning and/or transition to democratic socialism, the first step in raising preschool teachers’ pay is to broadly unionize. This would be challenging in private, unaffiliated preschools, but I do believe it would be possible.
10
When we talk about the need to fund, support, and expand infrastructure, why does that refer only to jobs typically thought of as masculine (building bridges, digging highways, etc.). Aren't the typically "female" jobs, like educating the young, just as vital and important for our nation and our "human " infrastructure, our underlying support system ? Funding and expanding infrastructure should include both. Our well being as a nation requires it.
2
Preschool teachers might be more important than college instructors because students of college age are adults who are typically capable of watching out for themselves. Yet, you might be able to write a similar article about pay levels for adjunct teachers and graduate student instructors at the community college level who often are at a similar payscale to what is described here. Not having a union may be the common factor.
Whether a salary is adequate depends on the cost structure. That includes housing and child care. Whether housing is affordable or not depends very much on how much OTHERS are paid. If a one bedroom apartment in Manhattan costs nearly a million, that is because there are some people who can afford to pay that million.
If THEY were paid less, school teachers could afford more housing.
A paradox, no?
1
This is only part of a vicious circle. The pay for the preschool teachers comes from those who use the services, and in all too many cases, both parents need to work to come close to being able to pay for preschool, which is a necessity for them to work full time jobs. It obviously gets even tighter for families where there is only one parent as a result of divorce, never marrying to begin with, or death/incapacitation. As a result, many of the preschool families need to look for the least expensive alternative for preschool - which sometimes means that the qualify of what is provided is compromised because the preschool does not have the money to pay for the staffing it ideally needs.
There are only two ways to address this. One is to find a way to subsidize it, but that is not likely to happen under this President. The second is to hope that incomes go enough for those using the services that they can afford to pay more (and that some of that gets passed down to the pre-school teachers and other staff.
Duh. No sector of society deserves an across the board 100% increase in their salaries more than (the vast majority of) public and pre-school teachers. The importance of their roles in shaping the minds and character of our children is beyond question. Vouchers? Call them what they are - code language for eroding separation of church and state.
3
Our country, our teachers, and our children will be thought of as "most important" when educator wages are higher, when a second language education is mandatory beginning in kindergarten, when the multiplication tables are memorized before completion of 3rd grade, and when public classroom size is reduced to 22 students in K-12 classrooms. All teachers know this. For logical reasons, we'll be a better nation when these issues are solved.
1
This problem begs for a broad, multi-faceted solution: not just standard-setting, but appropriation of resources to support the social and professional systems necessary to ensure quality childhood education in this country. While it may not be popular to say so, only a government (flawed, imperfect, not entirely efficient) can implement the society-wide programs needed to ensure the broad reforms that can lead to a properly educated workforce - and voting populace.
Conservatives will protest this as 'socialism' and 'government control of our children.' They preach 'freedom' as a means to hoard resources and knowledge to the top 20% and perpetuate that status quo. Well, privatization and freedom are nice banners, but they will not solve this problem for our kids, our best hope for the future in a country that Lincoln called the "last, best hope for this earth."
You are right to point out that it is always the pre-school teachers who get the short end of the financial stick. As an urban HS teacher I do take issue with the headline's question. We are all in this together and every age segment matters equally in its own way.
A rich set of educational experiences in early childhood is essential to developing the complex synaptic connections that will enable the child to excel in primary and secondary education environments and later on in work and life. Children who grow up in poverty are most at risk of not receiving this enrichment from parents or extended family and are thus set up to repeat the cycle of poverty in their own children. Neglecting these children during these critical years of development and then blaming them for the outcomes later on makes a complete mockery of the values we claim to hold as Americans. It's right up their with lead in the water supply and locating polluting industries next to the most impoverished neighborhoods. It's time to either fix it or feature it as who we really are.
3
What's missing here is how higher salaries will lead to higher daycare costs (it's never going to be lets make less profits). When my kid was in daycare, I essentially brought home no money from working. I was able to maintain my position, build credit for seniority and get credit towards social security. All good things but I couldn't do it if I wasn't at least making enough to cover the cost of daycare. Many parents with kids in day care make similar amounts to the daycare teachers.
4
I cannot think of a class of employees in our society whose earnings the tax code should treat more generously than a pre-school teacher making less than $25 an hour.
Making it as economically attractive as possible to do this hard, foundational work seems like a “no-brainer” that both parties should be able to agree on, maybe along with full deductibility of first few thousand dollars of each student’s pre-school tuition.
2
I have been a college adjunct for eight years. I usually teach around 150 students a semester. I will make around $28,000 this year. No health insurance. No promise of future work. There are coaches at my school who clear six figures. Our previous University president held no PhD and ran the school like a corporation. She also made decent money. Multiple new multi-million dollar buildings have been built to accommodate a generation of phone addicts who care little about academics. If you push them too hard, they cry to administers who are afraid to lose tuition. Classes start tomorrow. I'll be there!
13
Amy O'Leary of Strategies for Children makes an important point (or two) here. The pre-school teaching community has a large component of teachers drawn to the field by their love of children. They are not necessarily college educated. An apprentice program, coupled with courses, job security, decent pay and knowledgeable mentors is a hands on way to learn. Early in a teaching career one must learn how to learn to teach pre-schoolers. College courses don't necessarily teach this. But other teachers do.
To keep the work force that we have, lots of black, immigrant and working class workers, and train them to become excellent teachers has many advantages. As long as respect and pay are raised of course. First of all it begins to lift this varied group of mostly women into the middle class. Second it keeps the cultural knowledge these women carry in the world of young children, many of whom come from the same backgrounds as their teachers. There is a great comfort in parents of young children to be able to relate to and seek advice from their kids teachers. Advice is often best taken from someone with whom you have cultural connections, and see as more astutely aware of issues that one faces.
Both Kelly and Amy are doing excellent work. Glad you published their voices and their challenges.
3
Most everybody agrees that these pre-k kids deserve the best possible education and that their teachers should be paid a good, living wage.
What is missing is any politically realistic discussion of how to pay for this. Income taxes cannot be raised, as evidenced by the recent tax law. Even liberal state governments are reluctant to pay for this through increased income or property taxes, the deductibility of which are now limited by the new tax law. Nor is there any discussion of which programs could be cut in what amounts to pay for this necessary pre-k schooling. (My personal favorite is to cut Defense spending by hundreds of billions of dollars but that has zero chance of happening.)
So the real issue is finding a realistic financing method to improve or ameliorate these problems.
3
If more men were teaching preschool they would have higher salaries, plain and simple. Modern teaching has always been a female dominated profession, hence the low pay and respect. A perfect example of this is in my own high school district where I have taught 16 years, and the elementary district that feeds into ours. My children attend the elementary district in grades 6 and 8. With the exception of PE, my son has had 3 male teachers (of 21) and my daughter only 1 (of 11). The elementary district pays significantly less than the high school district. Within my own school (and one could extrapolate out to the whole district) we are approximately 50:50 female to male. I would suggest this trend is found nationwide in areas without unified K-12 districts.
Low preschool teaching salaries are only a small portion of the problem. We are currently experiencing a teaching shortage, especially in the Silicon Valley, where a new college grad can go work for a start-up at four times the pay of a teacher. When we start valuing teachers over technology we will all be better off.
7
Thank you for this. My sister is a single mother and a preschool teacher. She lives with our parents, and probably will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. It makes no sense she cannot afford to live on her own, despite having one of the most difficult and important jobs of anyone I know.
2
Multigenerational households are the norm in many countries and were here until relatively recently. No one is owed a single-family dwelling. I don't see the problem in what you describe. She chose her career and is managing her household accordingly.
2
The few professionals who choose to help children with disabilities, particularly children with severe cognitive or physical impairment are often under recognized and under compensated.
They endure much more physical and mental stress then most others in their field. They deal with temper tantrums that often times become physical and teenagers who still have "challenging hygiene issues".
My wonderful but challenged son has autism and epilepsy and I have the upmost respect and gratitude for what they do for my son and his peers.
Please include them in this very important conversation.
4
several comments speak to my feelings about the economics of education (in a system defined much more by capitalism than socialism). first, as other have said, the worth to society of a job does not correlate with the compensation. Nor does it correlate with skill (college coach with losing season, investment broker who does not beat an index fund still make millions). Childcare workers and teachers get paid according to how much is in the tax base to pay the school budgets. As the article stated - the benefit to society years later from those attending early childcare programs is hard to argue with. I am a 20 year teacher (mostly happily settled in with the middle school age) whose own experience is that my best work has been in those years/times when i had a little less on my plate and was able to devote greater attention to difficulties in a timely manner. I'm lucky to be in a position where my wife does better financially than I - such that I've often tried to convince school leaders that I'd prefer to be paid a little less so that I could do my job better.
My sense is that if you wanted the best outcomes for the kids, yes it would start with money but i'd suggest spending that money on more people rather than giving one teacher money more money and more students. Can you imagine if Kelly had a similarly skilled and devoted co-worker to take over for a bit while Kelly worked with a child having a particularly tough time?
1
Taxpayers might be willing to spend greater amounts on education if it truly went to improving the knowledge and skills of those who need four or more years of college. But, as it now stands, we throw money, lots of money, at K-12 and more for the tens of millions whose jobs do not require any education or training beyond perhaps the sixth grade. A good portion of factory labor, virtually all non-managerial retail, most last mile logistics, and every tire and oil change shop would suffice with that level of coursework, provided the student is physically big enough to do the work. In 1912, my grandfather was pulled out of his West Virginia coal company school and put to work in a factory. He was to stay there until he was big enough to work in the mines. It actually made him a better American who dearly loved and appreciated this country.
3
People are paid according to their value and the values of the society as a whole. We value entertainment, sports, and being an entrepreneur, not education. You may want to blame the government, a certain political party, or someone else, but the key towards changing anything is acceptance of personal responsibility and then work. In the US, we are experts in placing the responsibility of problems on others.
this was an issue when my children were in daycare. they are now on their thirties. my son describes the difficulties of the pre school teacher for his children.
I needed good quality daycare so I could move forward in my career but the great caregivers remained in poverty.
As a teacher for many years in an inner city very poor area, I've said for years that more money needs to be invested in preschools. These students from poverty stricken areas start Kindergarten so far behind their economically stable peers that it limits their potential in school and beyond. My daughter went to a great day care and got so much development, in addition to support at home, that she was ahead of some of my students in Kindergarten when she was 3. This imbalance along with a lack of emphasis on education at home results in students performing poorly in school. If students were more prepared for school and had a foundation of good practices in place they could be more successful and accomplish more. This new success would then be taught to their children and really have a huge impact on breaking the cycle of poverty.
2
In my state, the public school districts that sponsor Early Learning programs do not have to hire licensed teachers. Even the licensed teachers they hire do not necessarily qualify for union representation. Further, only a few districts include Early Learning teachers on the regular k-12 pay and benefit schedule. They are truly treated as 3rd class employees. They max out at $40k for full time work, but do not qualify for the same health insurance contributions or retirement contributions as k-12 teachers. This is not for lack of effort from the teacher union, Education Minnesota. Republicans legislative leaders said in no uncertain terms that they do not want more teachers to be union members because they tend to vote for and contribute to Democrat candidates. What a craven calculation made on the backs of our littlest citizens.
2
All that young children under the age of 5 need is a physically and emotionally safe environment maintained by nurturing, responsible adults who genuinely like small children. We all know those special caregivers when we see them. Any "education" that takes place is incidental. What we need in our childcare system is well-regulated and inspected, non-profit childcare so that these special caregivers can get more of the money parents pay for the care of our children. Like healthcare, childcare is essential and should not be left to market forces.
2
Maybe the parents and the community don't value education, and simply think of preschool as day care. Maybe the parents think of the teachers as mere baby sitters and not as teachers who can add value to their child's life (as opposed to adding value to the parents' lives by baby-sitting their children). Maybe the pay starts with the value the parents place on the preschool experience.
1
First, I'd like to thank all of the hardworking childcare workers that shaped my daughters' lives. We need to do more as a nation to appreciate the impact that teachers have on our children.
1
I don't know. Obviously there's some truth to all of this, but on the other hand, teachers don't work a full year, they don't work nearly as long a day as a lot of private sector employees (and certainly not me, unless they're working 13 hours a day, on average, 12 months a year, and consistently dragged into issues in the evenings and on weekends), receive generous benefits and retire decades before I'll be able to and they'll have guaranteed benefits for the rest of their lives.
Re: pre-school teachers, I'd agree, they're on the short end of it. They deserve the same crummy treatment regular teachers get.
2
Early educators work in programs that are open all day and every weekday (except for national/star holidays). No summers and school vacations off, and all for abysmal pay. There is a big difference between teaching in public schools an teaching in a community based program.
I've just seen the article about a respected teacher in Louisiana arrested for asking why, at a public meeting, an administrator was getting a raise when class sizes were increasing and school personnel that actually interacts with students (teachers; cafeteria workers; others) haven't had a raise in 10 years. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/us/teacher-arrested-louisiana.html)
We simply do not respect the teaching profession in the U.S. the way we should -- clearly even at the preschool level. It's appalling that we do not value education and pay individuals who go into this field any more than we do.
3
When we believe that wealth is measured in fame, electronic gadgets, guns and transportation and forget that money cannot buy happiness or contentedness, we live in a world where football coaches are paid more than school leaders. When we reward our spiritual leaders with earthly treasures out of balance with the lessons in holy books which we do not follow, we live in a world where religion becomes a weapon. When we forget that dignity, kindness and respect belong to everyone, we live in a world where the leader is not capable of leading.
As a retired teacher administrator, I have frequently spoken out in regard to our salary and class load structures. The public have it all wrong. The most important teachers (after parents, who are sometimes inept) are those who train the youngest of our children.
The most important years are ages 3-6, with 7-9 being next for proper nurturing an training in social skills and self-discipline/self- soothing, and self-starting with real "work." Play is children's work. Conversation and vocabulary development are children's work. Social skills--sharing, following rules, acknowledging authority, asking for help-- are necessary for success at ages 10-17. If unprepared for fifth grade, the child will find success further from his/her reach while ignorant of what it takes to be truly human and functioning at age level.
Those teaching ages 3-9 should receive a salary equal to 150% of those who teach in departmentalized settings, and should have aides for every 6+ students in the class. Actually, I recommend classes of 8-12 for pre-K through grade 4. one or two aides, as appropriate, to closely guide the children in their social skills.
By the time the children are 10 (usually at 5th grade) they have formed their unique learning styles, social skills, independence, and interests. With proper nurturing by well-trained, well-paid teachers, they are ready to conquer the world and love learning. Believe it!
Every child and teacher deserves the best!
3
This high school teacher is chuckling. Were it only this easy.
Been there, done that. Middle and high school students (grades 5-12) are infinitely easier to teach than unsocialized babies. I thrived with 8th and 9th graders--it was a blast.
When I was an elementary principal, I once sent my secretary into 1st grade while waiting for a regular sub. No way would I work in a first grade classroom.
I'm chuckling, too. The general public has no clue how much effort goes into working with 3-9 yr old children--basically teaching them how to be human.
1
We are considered the working poor and my son is in a Head Start PreK class. His time with public assistance started when he was 2 years old and we realized he had a speech delay. From there we got involved with Any Baby Can who did home visits. At 3 he was eligible to attend part time classes at the elementary school called PPCD. Now at 4, he splits his day between PPCD and a PreK class at the elementary school. During his initial screening it was shown he was on the autism spectrum as well.
These programs have changed our lives. They have educated our child and us as his parents. He can speak and articulate his feelings. He's finally potty trained. At 2 years old he couldn't even tell us his name. Him going to PreK for a full day allows me to go to college and avoid the cost of daycare which the previous year amounted to almost the same as rent.
I like to think of how teachers as super heroes who do amazing things for their students and their students' families. PreK and child care in general are largely overlooked it seems and the lack of access is stifling and holds so many people back from improvement in their lives. It damages families that never seem to see each other because parents are always working opposite shifts to avoid the overwhelming cost of it all.
It hurts my heart to know that deep down, PreK and childcare are neglected because the poor have little value to a society that choose to ignore them. We seem to offer nothing but a sense of uneasiness.
5
First, this was a wonderfully written and researched article. I would use it in my college writing classrooms as an example of excellent journalism, and I wish it was more headline worthy. Second, as an educator with three degrees and experience teaching in classrooms with students from teenagers to graduate level, I believe that quality preschool should be the beating heart of American education. Third, Kejo Kelly is my hero. What a wonderful woman, mother, and educator. Thank you for bringing her to our attention.
3
I wish I had the writer's optimism. Require more credentials, pay more money. But in this country, standards in public education bear no resemblance to those in other fields. And as long as that's the case, and as long as teachers unions are apparently untouchable, money is unlikely to change anything.
In most industrialized countries, a public teaching job is a plum catch, and the cream of the crop vie for it. It's the money, you say? No.
"How will current teachers rise to meet the new credential requirements?" the author asks. Maybe that is indeed a matter of money. But to my mind the real question lies a multitude of logical steps previous to that. Shouldn't someone examine what passes as "credentials"? Is more time spent in college Education Departments really the answer?
I'm admittedly out of touch with current research. But not so long ago, darn near every college Education Dept in this country had a singular distinction: that was where the students with the lowest SAT scores congregated. If teaching is really so important to us, why is that acceptable? But if a student is patient enough (or yes, has money enough) to satisfy "credentials," they're allowed to teach.
There are a multitude of jobs in which college-educated beginners earn an hourly wage smaller than their counterparts in teaching--and without the considerable perk of having summers off. Yet standards are still held high. Journalism is one; work in nonprofits is another.
Standards, not money, are key.
1
Teachers and Public Education have never been valued or respected in this country. I've worked as an early childhood teacher and program director with both handicapped and non handicapped children, in both public and private schools. I was often in specially funded programs using innovative approaches. Though several of these programs were proven highly successful, funding often mysteriously disappeared, and the programs and jobs eliminated.
After extensive training with several masters degrees, I was tired of poor pay and job insecurity, and spent another five years, full and part-time, getting masters and post-masters degrees in clinical social work. Still working in school settings, I felt I was able to make a positive difference in the lives of children and families I served. The financial compensation was way less than if I was employed doing anything in the private sector.
In both situations, educators and therapists were not respected by the general public, yet we were the ones who spent most of our time helping your children learn and overcome difficulties, so they could lead fulfilling and productive lives.
Education should be our first line of defense in building a stable, productive and creative society. Somehow this is not valued by the Wall Street mentality, where the only thing that counts is the financial bottom line.
1
The trickle down theory that's discussed and used as an excuse for gov. to offer tax cuts to businesses and the wealthy isn't based on science or economics. It's obvious that trickle down means trickle up. Whether it's taxes, education, healthcare or corporate write-offs. Too large a percentage of our nation's wealth is being accumulated by too few. One remedy is simple: stop warring. If a healthy amount of the money used to fight wars in the Mideast and Afghanistan were applied to improve education, healthcare and Veterans benefits, we'd be a much happier country. I'm no expert on the Mideast. Though, I traveled and worked in various Mideastern, Far Eastern and African countries for many years. I learned one thing from first hand observations. Money we spend on helping these countries, militarily, is going right down the drain. My thought on this matter is to offer only our expertise and the tools necessary to provide a better way of life for these people. Most important, no money for military purchases. Focusing back on education, use that money to improve our education system. Most improvements should be based on common sense. Good, well lit buildings, good nutritious food without any vending machines in sight, and salaries commensurate with a teacher's training and experience. Teachers would have to expand their training to move to the next income level. Reward them for excellence. This should be a number one priority!
I'm astonished that the author did not mention the Montessori method of education in this article. Maria Montessori, the first female doctor in Italy, discovered a century ago that children before the age of six are capable of great and complex learning (they are able, she said, to learn as many as seven languages), and that they learn best through hands-on experience and a carefully prepared environment. The ultimate goal of education, she believed, was peace on the planet. But we know already how little we value this goal in the U.S.
2
I thought Massachusetts had the best schools overall but I guess I was wrong. Maybe only the best private schools or colleges? I think private 1 on 1 tutoring will work best for many of those kids that don't get attention at home. And maybe the achievement gap is can be blamed on differences in the parents' culture and genes and community stability. If you live in an area with gangs then, your kids probably have high chance of getting involved in violence. If parents tried to get the kids to use the free libraries maybe they'll stay in school. Now I think it might be easier to give ipads with educational material to all kids who need preschool since that's how some parents are raising their kids anyways. That's probably cheaper than hiring full time teachers that can't make it to work. I get more pay as a retail worker than that teacher since we have high min wage. We do have high cost of living here and I wonder how parents afford to have kids in this age. Private education is a big business but education itself shouldn't really a business. If parents had to pay for quality school, they would only want the best of the best so most teachers wouldn't make it. It's like expecting bells and whistles for kids' schools from preschool all the way to university. We need to fix the public education and its horrible image before any private schools go away though. But private or individualized teaching may work better in some kids.
parents, not teachers have the most important jobs in this country. the sooner we realize that, the sooner we'll resolve a lot of societal problems. the idea that teachers are parent surrogates has been proven wrong for the past 50 years. remember headstart? generations have gone through headstart and not improved their living conditions.
i support better conditions for our teachers but to say that raising teacher salaries will provide better outcomes for students is bogus. better outcomes for students is driven by the parents, not the teachers.
1
Quite a few people seem to make it a gender and feminist issue. I have dated recently and expressed that I wouldn't mind to be a dad at home. The women looked at me condescendly and said they couldn't respect a man staying at home to take care about the kids. Beside those comments being rather sexist, it seems to indicate that the low pay is not due to a gender issue but rather a job that the society finds ungrateful and not much respectable.
I also realised that if I was to choose such a career in the education sector, many women would snob me and my dating life would be quite negatively affected. When men are still expected by women to be the financial provider and highest earner, it is not that surprising that men don't necessarily consider those careers in education. That leaves a false sense that men leave those jobs to women because they don't value women and the job.
2
This is well told and brings us right into the reality and experience. I hope someone listens.
Why would a person even consider this field in the first place knowing that the pay is a step or two above the poverty level?
Altruism is fine and all that, especially when one is young, naïve and full of hope to become an effective change agent (I know because I was a social worker. I "wanted to help people".)
But at the end of the day, the disgraceful low wages eventually takes its toll on the individual and a person can barely find either end, much less make them meet.
1
It's all about ignorance, non-involvement and priorities. Our society is becoming one of entitlement instead of one of achievement. If the public (yes, that's YOU who are reading this) would place a higher, more appropriate priority upon primary (and ALL) education, there would be much less internal conflict, greater ethical behavior and better critical thinking for generations of children now climbing the ladder. Those who choose to send their children to very expensive private education (often well over $30,000/student/year) are not only doing their children an injustice, but making our national public education less viable.
I attended public schools in the 50's and 60's, and had the advantage of a diverse student body and dedicated teachers. I achieved a lot (certainly better than the failed Dotard), with Doctoral and Post-Doctoral degrees at top Ivy League schools. That is only significant with regard to what one does with one's education and for society
Imagine a world where children are happy to learn, where their teachers are motivating and mentoring them - a world with much less crime and many fewer poor political choices due to defective critical thinking skills. SUPPORT PUBLIC EDUCATION!
Respectfully, you're preaching to the choir here. NYT readers support public education. It's our conservatives that need to be educated. Look at the "leader" of our country and that's all you need to know of who needs to be educated. A biographer who shadowed him said he never saw the man with a book. Ever. It's people like him need to be educated, not NYT readers.
A few thoughts. The reporting on this article was excellent and hit the main points well. You have low income children being taught by low income and in some cases poorly educated adults. I don't say this to denigrate anyone. Preschool teachers for the most part do an absolutely amazing job educating their children with the tools they are given. My mother and several of my friends teach preschool and if you ever want to see true dedication to task in action this is the group to watch. And they do this, as the article pointed out with most people thinking that they're nothing more than glorified babysitters. And as the article and many commentators pointed out, it says everything about how we, Americans, value women, children and education in one package.
On the same day there was another article about the person currently occupying the Oval Office who wants to spend 18 Billion dollars for a border wall that a majority of Americans do not want and in fact Is. Not. Needed! Can you imagine if we spent that money on something that really mattered? And a real fix could help 2 underserved populations. Poor children and the poor women who teach them.
Because it is very, very difficult to get citizens with a decent education to vote against their own interests.
Many of the comments shared state that the reason pre-school teachers are paid less is because society deems teaching young children women's work. Male students would not dare to chose this as a career. There is a gender imbalance in early childhood education because of the presumption that men are a threat to children. Society does not think that this overt and systematic discrimination against males is a problem? Many of the children in this article come from single parent (female) homes. Children need positive male role models too!
1
Ms. Interlandi needs to shake off the cob webs and rewrite this attuned to the 21st century, or go back to following the Roma. Law enforcement (carrying weapons) and teaching are the most important of careers, although these folks are among the most poorly compensated. We know anecdotal snippets of beautiful children, in poorest of conditions, but this is stuff of labor, education and tax allocation reform. Please, file clerks and switchboard operators, is this the best we can do? Perhaps, many of our urban schools were constructed the in days of file clerks and switchboard operators. I can see that in DC Metro and Richmond, for sure. This was a hard read.
Having raised a child outside and inside this country, I can say that as a culture we don't care much for kids, at least compared to much of Europe and South America. Yes, many adults here devote their lives to ensuring the well-being of children - bless them - but generally, as a culture, not so much. North Americans prefer celebrities, entertainment, money and sexiness.
In addition, we don't care much for the poor, whatever their skin color. That puts countless children in double jeopardy.
One day maybe we'll grow up and see that there's nothing more important in the world than children and their well-being. Until then we'll continue undervaluing people like Kejo Kelly.
6
I would like to offer two points.
The first is that providing quality education, especially for disadvantaged children, is a complicated business. In the end, pumping money and new strategies into the classroom is a band aid approach. If we want to improve education, we must fight poverty. Schools are already on the front lines of that battle, but their heroic efforts are nowhere near enough.
The second is that we must do more to attract top intellects into teaching. A few years ago, during a break in a professional development meeting, led by one of those instructors from the educational service district whose job it was to teach teachers practices that most already employed but use different jargon to describe them, the instructor asked me a question. I had just finished discretely pointing out to her that it was not correct to equate energy and power, as she had just done in an example she had used to describe a strategy, let’s call it scaffolding. Sensing arrogance on my part, she challenged me by asking, “So, what would you do to improve teaching?” I said, “Pay teachers $100,000 a year.” I was shooting from the hip with that answer, but I have since found it defensible, at least as a simple response to such a question. Final solution? I doubt it. But until we begin offering compensation to compete with that offered doctors, lawyers, engineers, and executives, we will not bring education up to the standards we all like to talk about.
3
There are many unsung saints in this world, and Ms. Kelly is one of them.
5
Pre-school teachers don't need a college degree. They should have specific, research based, training in early childhood education.
The excuse given for the pittance that teachers are paid is that they get 16 (or however many weeks it is) of vacation time. That summer off seems to justify a whole host of injustices against the teaching profession. Why don't we move to a more modern approach to education without these ridiculously long breaks where the kids' brains turn to mush?? Winter break and summers are a nightmare for working parents anyway. Let's make the school year longer and pay the teachers more. It would benefit kids, parents, and teachers' salaries.
In a big city, you can get $20-$40 an hour just by babysitting one child. And you don’t need a college degree. Pre-school teachers deserve a lot more than $15 per hour.
Because the United States is a capitalist market economy. Capitalism demands the valuation of only those things and those people who are immediate creators of cold hard cash.
Thus, Donald Trump is valued highly, and three-year-old kids are not. We have no system for valuing things that can’t be immediately converted into cash. So, we don’t value clean air or a habitable climate or the minds and characters of our children because we can’t redeem them in the stock market.
Visit a country where socialism allows some valuation of non-material stuff. In the Czech Republic, the government pays women (and men) to take up to four years off to raise their children, and companies must retain the position and salary of those who take maternity leave.
The powerful in the US value only ruthless acquisition of wealth. If early education were valued here, a system would be created to support it.
106
Both the United States and the Czech Republic are capitalist countries. The difference is that the Czech Republic has a more extensive social welfare system than we have. This could easily be corrected by voting all republicans out of office.
1
This an absolutely perfect analysis of what is valued in society in the United States. I left teaching after 8 years. I taught students from age 4 to 74 in private school, NYC public school, and college.
In pubic school your hands are nearly tied if you truly care about teaching, but many private schools pay less. The principal of the District 13 elementary public school in Brooklyn, NY where I taught told me "I don't care if they [the kids] learn, as long as they go home happy. If they go home and complain to their parents they [the parents] will pull them out of the school." Such statements by the head of a school are disheartening to caring teachers who care about their students and their social and academic development. Unless you teach or work in education, you have no idea just how much a dedicated teacher actually works-it is not just 8am-3pm with summers off and plenty of vacation.
Dedicated teachers work much more than the public realizes and they are not compensated for their time or the money they spend on supplies. I spent $6K of my own money in one year on a new Bilingual Ed NYC DOE program. Naturally, I was not reimbursed. Lastly, some teachers find a way to profit from the system. When I taught for the NYC DOE, books ordered for bilingual programs were ordered from a teacher's husband's company in violation of NYC conflict of interest rules. She was also paid extra as a curriculum consultant and to order books.
Education is underfunded and undervalued.
Capitalism is about making a profit for those in power. That's it. Everything else is window dressing.
Ooooooh! I know! Pick me!!!
"What is, 'Women's Work', for 500$ Alex..."
103
Cute comment.
1
Why? Because it's work WOMEN have traditionally done.
NYT-- when are you going to have a feature story on how little adjuncts are paid to teach college?
162
Yes, the inequity in pay between tenured faculty and adjuncts is a fact of life for those of us who prefer to work in education. Many teachers in day care centers are barely making the minimum wage. Preschool teachers and special ed tachers are often looked down upon by those in "higher" education. What are we thinking?
The truth is that teachers feel a sense of gratification that goes way beyond how much we earn per hour. The question is what do we really value in order to make "America Great Again."
College teaching pays even less. Although underpaid, I was paid more to teach K-5 than to teach adults. Either way you can make a better living in another profession.
If your greatest concern is not the size of your paycheque because you are
passionate about education, teaching in the NYC public school system will zap your enthusiasm because you will be engaged in test prep from K-12. You will not truly be able to teach as before the test prep industry took over education.
You can't get to college without getting through pre-school.
The dirty little secret about this sector of education is many are not only underpaid but they are women of color. Trying to educate some children in the same difficult circumstances they find themselves in - poor and underserved.
Adjuncts have degrees and enough experience to teach in higher education. Which is a choice, not a requirement in our society to attend. However, Pre-K preps a child for a life of success or struggle.
I understand you may feel some kind of way about adjuncts not being paid more but it's usually a good idea to start from the beginning and work towards the end. We need to focus on raising the standard of lviing for teachers in America period, with specific support for pre and primary grades.
College is a choice, this is not. Fundamentals are critical to having successful students. There is no comparison.
Would improving their training — and their pay — improve outcomes for their students?
NO, you can take a horse to water, but you can't MAKE is drink (or think). We still don't seem to understand that kids learning anywhere must have a desire to learn and work at it. You can make Einstein a teacher but if everybody hates physics, that 's it. There are too many distractions for kids of all ages, we have poo-pooed education among the population for so long they think it is a waste of time. Sure, there are people who pay thousands to send their kids to private schools but that is largely THEIR EGO at work. MY KID is going to be the brightest, and then we turn around and tout the real smart kids for their start in humble beginnings." Johnny Carson worked his way up from humble beginnings in IOWA" and such cornpone.
and we have lots of "teachers' but few real educators. We no longer have faith in rote--but after that you need people with degrees in psychology and other social sciences BESIDES subject knowledge.
14
Try educating other people sometime. You may change your opinion.
This article centers on preschool education for 3-4 year old children. Please explain how a child at that age should 'work at it'? Why are you comparing children to horses watering? If we have poo-pooed education for so long, and kids don't even want to learn- then don't you think its an issue that should be addressed when a child has not yet been disillusioned by the school system and when there is chance of igniting their love of learning? I don't know if you have children or not, or maybe your children are grown and you no longer recall, but at that age if approached correctly, all children are ready to learn. Anytime a young child points something out to an adult is an opportunity for the adult to further the child's insight on why, what, and how things work.
2
Because they are females.
39
Perhaps the fact that our greediest sociopaths make the most has something to do with why our most important teachers are paid the least.
91
What's with the "blond" boy? Why are other kids Hispanic or Black, while one is described by the color of their hair?
Mark Lipsey: "We throw the phrase around a lot, but we don’t actually know what it means.” This would apply to 80% of education "research".
Some examples of the verbiage in an unnecessarily long and rambling piece.:
“specifically to engage and nourish young minds at their ripest juncture.”
“the care of children who have not yet aged into public school” (preschoolers?)
“The technique was called scaffolding, and it was a key tenet of current preschool pedagogy” (scaffolding has been around for decades)
“should pay close attention to what the children themselves are interested in, or puzzled by, and respond to that” (they’d be teaching about poo, snot, hydrology, astronomy, barbie dolls, and guns if that were the case)
…really individualized intentional teaching” (public education is by its nature non-individualized)
The article needs focus and a haircut imo.
13
It sounds like you do not know anything about early childhood education.
I am sure the giants of the tech industry are hard at work developing robots that can work as classroom aides in pre-school settings--no chance they'll protest or join unions or argue about time off. However, there is still room for the human touch; I am not sure a robot will be able to deal with the kids who poop their pants.
14
I have worked in Early Ed from the time I graduated from college in 1980. My first job, at an underfunded Head Start Program, required me to shop and cook breakfast for the children and we “bugged out” of our room everyday (packing everything away each afternoon and setting up again in the morning). I made $5.25/hour with a B.S. in Human Development.
It is sad that the salaries have not improved that much in nearly 40 years. It is sadder still that we continue to argue the value of Early Ed and use the research of the Perry Preschool Project, itself many years old, to point to the value of quality programming for children.
Once again, we leave behind the children in poor communities, minority communities, and immigrant communities while families wealthy enough to afford it pay for beautiful centers with highly qualified teachers. The wealth gap starts here, not in which elementary, high school, or college a child can attend.
I don’t see any improvements in Early Ed without a concerted effort by government at both the state and federal levels. As I watch the assault on health care, especially the CHIP program, and other entitlements I am not encouraged that we will see any change anytime soon.
81
A teacher is anyone who imparts knowledge to another being. Until we value knowledge, knowing and learning, will we value teachers. Between corporate greed and Hollywood heroes, we have overlooked the most undervalued in society. I ask you, where would you be without a teacher?
19
I have been an ECE professional (preschool teacher to the great unwashed) for twenty-five years. I earned my BA going to school evenings and weekends. (I am not even close to paying off my student loans)
I am not in this field for the money. My dedication is to the children and the future of our nation. Having said that we need more money to invest in the future of our nation's children. The teachers of young children need to be paid more, the schools need more money to provide a quality learning environment, the establishment of ECE needs more money to research ECE and determine the best path.
One more area which needs to be addressed is parent education. Parents love their children, and they want to do right by them, but they often don't know what that is. Students whose families are involved in their education have a much better chance of success. Parents need to know that by talking to their children, reading to their children, talking to the teachers, helping with homework, and being generally interested and excited about what their children are learning they can make a big difference in their child's future success.
The problem is not all funding. It is not all teacher education. It is not all classroom environment. it is not all parent education. No single intervention is going to fix the achievement gap. It is going to take investment (time and effort as well as funding) in all aspects of early childhood in order to make a difference we can see.
46
Look at other nations that have vastly more respect and pay for those who teach the youngest children. And, have you ever tried the joy (even visiting) for one day? At the end, you will be exhausted. That's one day.
When we can make such a difference in the lives of the next generation, why are we so indifferent? Anger making. Sad too. Disappointing too. Discouraging too. Politically flawed. Poverty reifying.
28
Which countries are those?
2
The US pays top dollar to union public school teachers, so there is no tax money left for anyone and anything else.
1
In several European countries kids don't start school until they are 8. Preschool teachers are paid less because they are teaching less. Parents are and should be the first teachers of little ones not another layer of bureaucrats.
17
Of course parents are the first teachers. But if pre-k education is not important, why do the rich fight to get their kids into “the right” schools with the best programs and teachers?
16
Well that's all fine and dandy, Ed, but what about those parents who can't stay home until their children are 8 years old because they have to work? What about those parents who, though they may love their children, lack the skill set to be effective teachers in the way that trained, dedicated teachers actually are? What about those parents for whom English is a second language, and therefore they cannot fluently teach in the language in which their children are going to be expected to learn? And I know that no one likes to consider this possibility, but what about those parents who simply don't care? People who shouldn't be having children have them all the time. Do you honestly expect a neglectful or abusive parent to happily take the place of a preschool teacher and give his or her child the tools necessary to succeed in elementary school and beyond?
Preschool teachers are not "teaching less". Just because they aren't teaching the kids calculus doesn't mean they aren't teaching things of significance and value. They are laying the foundation for intellectual curiosity, appropriate social interaction, and emotional expression in young children, a foundation that, if done properly, will set them up for future success in school. You can't put a price on that, and flippantly shoving it off as solely a parents' responsibility undercuts the value and importance of a preschool education to our youngest members of society.
But in some European countries (like France) high quality childcare is affordable, and early childhood educators are educated, respected, and well compensated.
During the short duration of my parenthood (about 30 months), I have spent much of my time obsessing about the best childcare for my daughter. We have spent about $2k on childcare each month since she was six months old. Given those costs, and the fact that I believe she deserves the best, I have high expectations. Yet I see how little these teachers are paid and I can't understand the disconnect. Why is good care so hard to find, and so expensive, and yet teachers are universally paid so little? Is there where the government has to come in? As important as this issue is to me, my daughter has the benefit of two educated parents and four grandparents. She is read to, sang to, cuddled, every day and every night. This issue is important for us but it is also so important for children without her privilege. It needs to be fixed.
36
I think small business taxation (most daycares are "small") and liability insurance are big costs. I am in the same situation and have the same wonderings.
She is sung to, dear, not "sang to."
I'm going to take a contrarian view here. Being a preschool teacher may be stressful, but it is *extremely* rewarding work, psychologically. Thus, despite the poor pay, we observe so many people wanting to do it.
Wouldn't you rather be a preschool teacher than, say, an information tech grunt in a cubicle?
9
As a grunt in a cubicle I can safely say no, no I would not, thank you. Librarian? Sure. Middle school teacher? Possibly. Pre-school teacher? No way on God's green earth would I want to do that, for any amount of money.
Pre-school teacher salaries are so low because the work is not valued, both because women traditionally do it and the education profession itself looks down upon it. We pay lip service, at best, to our ideals of helping all children achieve.
1
As a Grandma that volunteers at my Grandson’s pre- School it is very tiring work. Fun but exhausting
1
Yes, my days are rewarding. I have autonomy in my classroom. I am in the highest pay level in Berkeley, California. I have health care. I am single, rent an apartment and have no retirement. Living is expensive and no matter how wonderful my days are I don't get paid enough. Parents are paying high tuition. Most go to teacher salaries but after 40 years of teaching I still make under $30.00 an hour. (Like I said I am on the high end and stil have trouble making ends meet )
I think ECE educators need degrees, professional development, and the willingness to keep learning throughout their careers. It is not an insult to grow. The government needs to give incentives to all early childhood schools and teachers, not just the parents, so the teachers can earn a professional living.
2
Unfortunately the benefits preschool education are hard to measure based on the following quote from this article: "Part of the problem is that the benefits of a preschool education tend to manifest unevenly. Developmental gains made by the start of kindergarten can be enough to close racial achievement gaps, but those gains often evaporate by third or fourth grade, a phenomenon that education researchers call the fade-out effect. " People have to realize that homework and study are where a student acquires their education. A good teacher can present material in classrooms in a attractive way, but the student, unless they are extremely bright, will master the class room presentations by home work. The article mentions that families on welfare don't have access to books and that their children understand roughly one-third the number of words that their middle class peers do at the start of kindergarten. A personal computer can help erase this deficit, if the child in driven to use it after school by a parent, teacher or their own curiosity. But less not pretend that paying preschool teachers more is an automatic cure.
2
Research shows homework has little impact on educational outcomes.
"Would improving their training — and their pay — improve outcomes for their students?"
Why are we even asking this question? Teachers like Kelly are a godsend. And she's doing it for virtually nothing. Imagine how many other college students with her instincts and love of children would be encouraged by the prospect of a living wage and then some to fulfill their passion for teaching children.
In fact, students who want to pursue that career should get free tuition and expenses in exchange for a promise to teach for, say, at least 10 years. Then they would find whether the higher salaries we would have instituted, plus the rewards of teaching young minds naturally eager to learn, would convince them to remain in teaching and be devoted to improving their skills over the span of their careers.
For me, good teachers are as essential as good doctors and should be paid and honored as much.
62
Three of my closest friends--sisters--ran a preschool in our community for 38 years. For 38 years, these college educated, dedicated, creative, caring women performed one of the most difficult and important jobs. All three, while acknowledging the significance of their work also now say that financially it was NOT the best decision as none have the financial stability 38 years of challenging full time work should provide. One regrets not becoming an attorney as her father wished. Another states she wishes she had gone into accounting despite being known by hundreds of community residents as the "toddler whisperer."
There my own daughter learned the planets of our solar system in order from the sun, knew all colors, could identify many dinosaurs. She knew her safety signs and reminded me when I sped through a yellow light that yellow meant slow down, not speed up and go really fast. She learned lines for skits, played with countless costumes, attended children's theatrical productions, made beautiful artwork, played outside with abandon and went on nature hikes. Somehow her preschool teachers could even convene 14 toddlers around two little tables eating calmly and conversing like civilized beings while I could barely manage to get both my kids to finish a meal without feeling like a disheveled short order cook.
When we devalue preschool teachers, we devalue our children. We may say we care about kids, but follow the money. or lack thereof. How sad,
153
What was stopping you from paying them more if you think their work was so valuable? Seriously.
3
Saddens me to think that three educated, caring women like your friends couldn't make a decent living providing the crucial underpinnings of the lives of probably hundreds of children, but it seems evident of our undervaluing of women's work, not only of the educators but of the mothers whose children benefitted. Until funding for pre-school is universal, we will continue to penalize those who provide it. Maybe the graduates of the pre-school those women founded could contribute to a retirement fund for them.
Yes, some pre-school operators benefit handsomely by meeting this unmet need, but ask the teachers they employ about their pay, and you'll probably find it's not adequate. Teachers like Kelly are gifted and talented, too, and we should find a way to compensate them handsomely.
America undervalues both women and children. Caring for babies and young children is considered "women's work" and is therefore looked down upon. When I was contemplating becoming a kindergarten teacher during college, I was actually told - by a professor - "You're too smart to be a kindergarten teacher." These attitudes towards teaching are intermingled with our attitudes towards females generally. And the poor kids don't have the ability to speak up for themselves, or vote, so the future looks grim for them unless we demand a change en masse.
73
Why is the one-time number 1 superpower country now run by a casino owner, who neither reads nor listens because he is a stable genius, who got rich swindling gambling addicts out of their rent checks?
The world is full of great questions, aint it?
27
3-year-olds don't learn that well in large groups. They learn through a parent-child relationship. The school system will never be able to make up for deficits in parenting.
24
So let’s abandon even bothering? Wow. That’s cold.
6
Maybe not, Anne. But if you've got a young child with a neglectful parent - or an overwhelmed parent, or a seriously ill parent, or a chronically absent parent - and then you've got a preschool teacher willing to devote time and energy to that child, no matter how large the classroom group, scant the resources, or miserable the pay, then that young child is probably going to respond, learn, and enjoy that teacher's company. A good teacher trumps a bad, absent, or disinterested parent every time.
Schools exist to educate children. I'm tired of the starry-eyed notion that parents should be everything at all times because not only is that impossible, it ignores the fact that some parents - poor, middle-class, and wealthy alike - won't lift a finger to do anything for their offspring beyond what is absolutely necessary to ensure basic survival. In those instances, a good teacher can not only be life-changing, but life-saving.
1
It's about early childhood teacher salary.
1
Why don't we pay teachers a salary consummate with their value to society? A better question is "what do we owe the land speculator?" If your answer to the latter question is nothing, then we can be on the path to fixing the former question. Society generates sufficient wealth every second a major city hums like a top, but as it is usual, that wealth gets up and walks ... walks away in the pockets of parasitic land speculators, forcing others like me to pay an income tax, property tax, sales tax, and parking fees.
11
Come to Long Island in NY and teachers are treated like kings/queens making more than most people and getting 3/4 of their salary in retirement for the rest of their life. Hence sky high taxes.
15
I’m sure you are talking about public school teachers. Preschool teacher salaries are not publicly funded and they are not paid on a public school scale.
Long Island also has many of the best public schools in the nation. This supports the idea that paying high salaries attracts the best education professionals and leads to the best outcomes.
When children are as plentiful as they are now, on a weary, polluted planet burdened by 7.5 billion humans, of course they are going to be regarded as a commodity of little value. Perhaps if we reined in our shameful pace of breeding, fewer offspring would be vying for resources and societies would consider them more worthy of care. As it is, when millions of offspring a day are pumped out willy-nilly, they are treated like the dime-a-dozen commodity that they are.
Stop unfettered breeding at the expense of every other species on Planet Earth. I'd rather save an elephant, dolphin or monarch butterfly than contribute to the production of more little waddling Walmart shoppers.
20
You sound like you've given up on life yourself, how sad.
1
Is there any other professional caste to which we would pose the question, "Would improving their training—and their pay—improve outcomes?"
The depths to which this country has to sink, sometimes.
26
Good teachers are our most important resource in this country. They naturally leverage their talents and skills over the years by teaching many students in each class. They shape the future of our country, and they produce results with tangible benefits: quality human beings who are able to learn, apply, and go out into the world to prosper and make that same world a better place.
So why don’t we value these people more?
Why don’t we compensate them commensurate with their skills and positive effect on society?
In a perfect world, teaching would be one of the highest-paying careers in existence, and fewer teachers would have to struggle to make ends me.
This is totally nonsensical.
15
I think there should be full day preschool and daycare for all children. This daycare/preschool could be overseen by college graduates, but the bulk of the work should not rely on college graduates. At this age I do not believe children need to learn. Suffice with learning how to speak clearly, learning to eat balanced meals, learning proper hygiene and how to get along with others (teaching manners). Teaching civics at this age would go a long way, too.
11
Isn't that what parents are supposed to do?
1
When was the last time you spent the day with a three year old? They are bursting with enthusiasm and love to learn. It is a time of immense learning. Too bad adults can not learn and absorb like a young child
Yet professional athletes and entertainers have millions of dollars heaped upon them. Teachers and the education systems deserve much better as they are influencing, shaping, and encouraging the foundation of our society and country. Our values of the truly important needs to be re-focused on rewarding those that can enable our country to thrive to the best potential.
18
Many years ago, there appeared in the local section of the Miami Herald a new column devoted to keeping readers informed about the goings-on in our public schools. The column was titled, "Who's minding the kids?"
I was offended by the choice of words, because it at once reduced all of our professional educators to the level of babysitters and nannies. And insulted, because choosing the phrase implied that "minding the kids" was all that we parents wanted from the schools.
So I wrote a letter of protest and sent it to the editor in chief, whom I knew on a first name basis. Nope, she replied, "the title is cute," and she would not revise the wording, which originated with one of her underlings.
To the extent that politicians and stingy taxpayers are content with minding the kids as the main role of early childhood education, we are crippling our youngest generation from the very get-go.
There's no way to make that up for them, with the result that our society, culture, and economy are all thinner and weaker as those deprived children age and eventually become adults.
13
This is the focus most needed. A heartfelt and heartbreaking insight (for children, teachers, parents...for every single citizen) to digest. The core crisis our nation faces is education, and it must not nor should it be steered by DeVos or the likes of her at any level to a dead end of either a PTA shout-out or shouting match of self-indulgence.
6
As I read the incredible struggles Kelly has and the marvelous work she is doing, I think of the salaries paid to athletes and performing arts celebrities. Shame on us for our ridiculous priorities. We destroy future generations because of these priorities.
43
I hold my bachelor's from an elite university, a master's and an advanced degree in Educational Administration. I have been teaching pre-kindergarten for over 7 years, successfully, in a Title 1 public school district. When I went to apply for positions in Educational Administration, I was repeatedly told that I did not have enough classroom experience, even though I had been a pre-school classroom teacher for many years. I realized, and was told. that I had been labeled "just a preschool" teacher, and continuing as a pre-school classroom teacher would never allow me to advance my career in education. The pre-school teachers received no benefits, and prorated pay.
How can we expect non-educators to value the profession, when educators themselves look down upon the role? Change needs to happen from within the system.
501
ditto, same experience ... and kinder teachers are often valued as sitters and keepers of the peace. Admin often clueless as to basic educational philosophy, psychology, or staying up to date, meaning in the last decade or two...
3
A similar situation happened to me. I was a preschool teacher in several different types of preschools for a number of years including a couple of very good programs at university preschools. Then I went back to school to earn my bachelors degree and then another year for my state teaching certification. Off I went to interview for public school teaching jobs thinking I had an edge with my previous experience. Instead I was told that I had “no teaching experience.” I was in my 50s, and after all my years of work it was meaningless according to these ignorant public school people. As an older woman I was unable to get a teaching position and ended up working as a paraprofessional in several different schools because I needed the money. None of the young teachers I worked with had good classroom management skills.
So here I am at 64, too tired to continue as a paraprofessional, but I still have $40,000 in student loans which I used to get my teaching credentials. I’ve never earned more than $15 an hour in my life. My retirement is quite dim, but I really did love my career as a preschool teacher! I’ve spent a lifetime watching these articles pop up over the years about the value of preschool education. Nothing changes. Children are just not important enough to our US citizens and neither are the people who teach them.
7
NH, your comments made me very sad. No one really knows that education of 3-9 year olds is infinitely more important than that of 10-17 yr old students.
What's worse is the uninformed public harping on the exorbitant vacation time we teachers are awarded...how stupid non-teachers are about this phenomenon! Conscientious teachers work 60-70 hours per week, but are "paid" for only 30. Little does the public know that over the whole year, teachers work many more hours in ten months than do 9-5ers in a 52 week period. And at half the pay they deserve for those 60-70 hours per week!
The average, hard-working teacher who performs all the expected duties, including calling parents in the evening and collecting/paying for educational materials, earns (for total time at work) about $16/hour for 2600 hours of work per year...........SAD! Although many pre-school teachers (the most important ones) average $8 for their efforts! Sad, sad!
3
Oh, oh, oh. Pick me teach. I know the answer to the headline's question.
Because Americans do not value education, seeing it only as a means of narrow exchange.
America is an anti-intellectual country and it isn't by accident. The free-enterprise system requires an ignorant populace that business owners and money people can exploit for cheap labor.
Now ask me about American culture? Ha ha.
94
Amen
They don't vote.
14
Americans are way too selfish to consider the greater good of society.
They see "teachers," or, more specifically, their unions, as bilking "the public" (a code word for their selfish little selves) and providing students with substandard education.
This is most likely because most "Americans" couldn't care less about THEIR job, which they see as only a paycheck, and they think everyone feels the same way. Most Americans are people who get to forget about what they do when they walk out the door and don't have to think about it again until they walk back through it. These are people who think every job is just like theirs. And they think that everyone approaches their job and performs at their job exactly as they do and if you don't you're a sucker. Trying to convince them otherwise is a futile exercise in preaching to the dumb.
Therefore most people cannot conceive of someone who actually does a job because they believe in it with passion. They also think teachers (or educators, if you will) ONLY work 10 months out of the year, which is not true. They RESENT that, they see the "average" pay for teachers in their town/city and don't understand the meaning of AVERAGE pay or that this is a total, yearly compensation.
28
Why not explain more why teachers get all summer off with pay, even though this has not been an agrarian society for 100+ years -- yet teachers still operate on a "farm calendar" to get a long summer break with pay ON OUR DIME????
1
Kids who babysit regularly get $20 per hour. The wages discussed here are an absolute disgrace.
109
It's actually a little stranger than that. A high-priced fulltime nanny can earn upwards of $65,000 per year if you count the health insurance, FICA contributions, and a few weeks of vacation. But, nannies who get those jobs are expected to function at a very high level. They are on call for 12-hour days (and periodic weekends), often have to agree to travel with the family, and have long to-do lists that they are expected to work through.
So, at some level, the labor market is working. Well-to-do families are willing to pay a lot for high-quality child-care, and ambitious (and hungry) pre-school teachers quite to take these jobs.
Go to Appalachia and similar states.. and find out what people really earn.. Ever heard of Walmart wages??
BTW do you know what the adjuncts who teach your kids at the university level make? ditto the graduate teaching assistants? Do you know what houses cost in Akron Ohio. Do you know how ulitility companies make their money?
Do you know what books are there for reading in public libraries-- esp outisde NYC?
Do you know why people are against self-driving cars which could provide transportation for people who suffer because they don't have it?
Lots of discussions need to take place.
1
Fields that are primarily peopled by women are always underpaid.
109
The problem here is the teacher has virtually no education, and the artical seems to sympathize with her " forgoing her own education at a community college for her childen." Nonsense! Community colleges are filled with people exactly like her except that they do whatever they have to succeed. There is NOTHING more joyful to watch than the graduation ceremonies of first generation college students whose life's prospects just skyrocketed and a great many of whom will pursue bachelor's degrees and beyond. And many of the women, particularly those in high demand fields such as nursing immediately flee from abusive relationships as they are able for the first time to be self sufficient. Anyone who really wants an education can get it.
1
It says a lot about our society that were willing to pay people catch balls, shoot pucks and star in you tube videos so much and the people that help inspire our children so little.
33
A rare, thoughtful article on education in the New York Times. Bravo. These have been as rare as hens' teeth since Michael Winerip stopped doing his education columns for NYTimes.
16
Nobody in America really supports public education, or the poor, or women, or minorities. In a capitalist society, you get what you pay for. Americans are to cheap and greedy to pay for the education of other children since such citizens are often failed Christians and human beings: they lack empathy.
34
The country probably trains too many teachers.
6
The trend in Western society to believe that education isn't necessary anymore has led to the underfunding of the educational system and to the ridiculous remuneration of teachers.
Just look at the masses that voted for Trump. Are they educated? No. But they are proud of their limited brains, they think to be the only ones in possession of wisdom and the world has to turn around them, them only. Being dumb gets beautiful.
Such an attitude is poisoning the human society, it's a slowly creeping intoxication. Politicians, similarly not very intelligent, are following this trend because it enables them to save money which is very popular and the teachers are the ones to pay the bill. This is the real scandal!
18
What are 3 & 4 year olds doing at school!! And, Hey Jenee! What are we talking here... "according to at least two longitudinal studies, the very best programs can produce effects that reach far beyond those early years, increasing the rates of high-school completion and college attendance among participants and reducing the incidence of teenage parenthood, welfare dependence and arrests."
...these kids are just 3-4 year... and you are writing about teenage parenthood, arrests!! Come on!!!
6
It's all linked, PR. That's the point. Successful adults don't emerge from the ether.
8
Your attitude shows both how much you don't know about the value and necessity of early education and how you don't understand how much small children learn and understand.
Why? Because we don't VALUE them. People think it's babysitting. So why pay them more than you would your 13 year old neighbor? Same with CNAs-we don't value their work. We think anyone can do it. Wrong.
38
Nearly all are female, and often minorities. Period.
82
What is wrong in this country? Our children are less valuable than bombs aircraft carriers and planes. Jack Ma said it we invest in the wrong things
16
supply and demand
5
Kelly and the thousands of others like her are a national treasure, and our society's apathy and animosity toward supporting their efforts is a national disgrace.
28
I read his raticoe and cried. I cried for Kelly and teachers like her, who are so committed and capable and paid so little. And ia cried for her young charges, who crave her attention, and need that and so much more.
I hope, though I have dim hopes, that this article might actually make people think harder about this issue, especially people who are in roles where thay can effect changes.
I would like to reach out to Kelly and to help her, and I am sure that others too would be willing to help. Can someone please say how to send some financial support to Kelly. People like her are so precious to our young children.
Thank you for reporting this, and thank you Kelly, a million thanks to you and to all the other amazing Kellys, for doing what you do. As someone who came from a very disfunctional family without love and nurturing, I know that every time you hold a child’s hand, look into their eyes, or stroke their head, or let them lay down cuddling up against you, you make a difference by giving them that love they so desparately want and need.
23
I know Ms Kelly personally. She's a beautiful soul, we share the same grandson (my son murdered, which she mentioned in the article). You can reach Ms Kelly at:
Kejo Kelly
Arbors Kids
74 Walnut St
Springfield Ma
01105
How about paying them well just because everyone deserves to get paid decently for the work they do?
44
America devalues children and women. This is why preschool teachers are paid so little. Congress refuses to refund CHIP. The current Betsy Devos does not believe in public education and is actively working to destroy it. The fields most predominated by women are often the lowest paying.
36
Wrong. The current devaluing is for little boys in America and if you cant see it you are not looking.
4
We don’t “undervalue” boys. They’re in the same classrooms as the girls. It may seem this way because we’re beginning to actually notice and value girls and women more than we previously have—a momentum created because they have been undervalued for so long. This is long overdue corrective, and not a slight to males (I don’t advocate telling boys that girls are better, or vice versa). Any given young boy can most likely still expect to get paid more than a woman doing the same job once he’s older. If all he can look forward to is earning the same money for the same work, well, that’s hardly a crying shame.
1
This story on early child development is likely the most important piece in the NYT today, but most of the readership and social-media buzz will focus on vapid speculation about a wealthy television celebrity's inclination to run for high office some years hence.
The decline and fall of the world's once-great pillar of democracy is not hard to explain, is it?
We attend to carnival barkers and celebrity circuses, while the future of our civil society — the development and training of our young people — rots and crumbles for lack of attention and funding.
The sickness is there, in our villages and cities across the land, right in front of our eyes, but . . . hey, what's on TV tonight?
306
+1 Well said.
Bread and circus.
Hey, it worked for the romans - at least for a while.
In this modern day, we get Creutzfeldt-Jakob courtesy of your teevee.
Good points. We tolerate outsized compensation for entertainers (including news anchors), athletes, coaches and CEOs who lead underperforming companies. Yet we shortchange the people (as noted, mostly women) we count on to help children develop the core learning skills they will need to succeed in life. If the U.S. proceeds down the path of economic advancement with a perverse sense of what matters most, the core function of the achieving society -- to nurture successive generations -- will be relegated to a low-cost outsourced service (not unlike the home health aides we count on to care for our aged, infirm grandparents.} As history has demonstrated, this is a sure sign that before long, America will begin its slide into oblivion, much like previous successful civilizations like Greece and Rome failed through successive generations.
1
Education? We don't need no stinking education. It upsets the power apple cart.
Why to the question of why our most important teachers paid the least? Because, since the Pilgrims arrived, we feared education as dangerous, an educated person was seen as uppity, that's why. We still have not shaken that because the Republican Party is still controlled by sclerotic white men (and their oligarch handlers) who clutch at power and believe that if the public was educated, it wouldn't vote for for such relics.
We saw this in action with the Republican Party's coup d'etat of November, 2016. It manipulated a win through its nefarious exploitation of gerrymandering and years-long campaign to take over the country and return it to the days when white, Anglo-Saxons ruled.
Teachers are potentially dangerous to the powers that be; they are not wanted by the bosses that run this country.
26
Of course. It is the time of greatest learning. But the US govt is little interested in national education; never has been
7
We don’t value our teachers because we don’t value our kids.
16
Teaching, caring for elderly=women's work=low pay and social esteem.
35
In the simplest terms as a society we don't care.
11
All the new emphasis on obligatory pre-school is misplaced and misguided. Where are the parents in the mix? Pawning your kids off to paid babysitters and expecting them to do your job is not responsible parenting.
5
So insulting. I have a BA cum laude from a public ivy and worked in demanding professional positions for name brand employers including MIT and Mt Holyoke College. I also worked in early childhood education later on. Being a PK teacher was far more challenging, and much more physically tiring as well. It was NOT babysitting.
12
How old is human civilization? And for how many of those years did humans raise children exclusively in the nuclear family unit?
1
Hey Paul -What century do you live in? About half of women work outside the home. If they all stayed home, the country would grind to a halt.
1
One of the fantasies about America is that we are 'all in' for our children, all of the nation's children, not just our own. In reality, we don't value children at all. Republicans value them when they are inside their mothers' wombs but once born, "You're on your own kid. Sorry you chose to be born to a poor mother. get a job and pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Don't have boots? Too bad." Democrats say they put children first but they are wimps standing up to the Republicans.
The most important years in our lives are the very first ones. Those first five years can make or break a life. Can we not do the right thing for the children, the parents and the country as a whole? Can we not give up a small bit of money for the rich and for wars to help our children and do the right thing for all of us?
It's all so sad what's happening in our supposedly 'exceptional' country. And this can't be blamed on Trump. This has been decades of not doing the right thing because the rich are so very afraid of giving up a little bit of money.
Ivanka? Where are you? I thought you were all about the women and children. Oh, that's right. You are just for the RICH women and children, the high middle-class women who can afford child care and a good pre-school, the ones who don't need any help. More money for the rich who itemize taxes, nothing for the very poor and lower middle class who are struggling to keep their heads above water every day.
280
Yes, Ivanka worries about those mothers with nannies, those who can afford her dress collection and pricey accessories. This is what rampant capitalism, left unfettered and now become unmoored, looks like. Your letter was/is excellent. Thank you.
11
"It is all the fault of the Republicans". Republicans have come to occupy the role in society which the Devil once did. The Devil performed the same function which Republicans currently perform, namely making it easy for us to blame the scapegoat and not look at the real causes.
My last four A+ were given to Asians, all of whom went to schools which were far less funded than the typical American school. And they got their high grades because they scored 98% or 100% in the final exam.
The leaders in math education in the world are Shanghai and Singapore and they do not have the benefit of super liberal governments which New York does. Indeed Singapore is not particularly democratic. And of course neither is Shanghai.
Instead of repeating the usual liberal mantras why not ask, "Why ARE American children not doing well? Is it REALLY a lack of money? Or is it that the children are watching too much TV?" Maybe we don't ask them to study?
Trump has, in many ways, the mentality of a six year old child. But his big asset is that he takes liberal mantras with a grain of salt. Liberals should ask themselves, "If a six year old can do better than us, what is wrong with US?"
Maybe what Trump has is not intelligence. Just a certain skepticism towards liberal dogmas.
1
Cue the republican contradictory mantra: 1) It's not about teacher pay, we have to use the funds smarter, better, more efficiently because there's plenty of money; 2) We need to run government like a business (ignoring that businesses, when they need to attract and retain good people often go straight to the obvious issue: raise pay and improve working conditions so you can compete in the open market for other skilled laborers).
It's always incredible to me that republicans, including those in my state, can say both these things simultaneously and not experience paralyzing cognitive dissonance. I guess, though, as long as their well-heeled contributors keep shelling out the money they can convince themselves to believe anything. I think they need a little circle time.
30
I take exception to the "most important teacher" part of this article title. I have two sisters and three cousins who taught high school kids their entire lives. I think ALL teachers are important and 90% or more are grossly underpaid. The sad joke in our house was always that the city trash collectors made more money than a teacher. Not only are they underpaid, but underappreciated and underrated. I always thought teachers should be revered and respected.
When in college studying for my social work degree, I worked as an unpaid intern at a residential treatment center for youths, ages 6-12, 20 hours week. Every one of these kids were broken in some way, in some fashion, each suffering from physical and/or emotional abuse. It was considered a good shift when no fights broke out, kids allowed you to help them with their homework, and/or if even one child smiled back and said thanks for loving them.
The little ones illustrated in this article all seem to have one thing in common - needing love, friendship, affection and a sense that they matter. Any child coming from a single parent home has to be tough - there are only so many hours in the day and the parent works, prepares meals, helps with homework, does laundry - and all of this usually before 6 p.m. I marvel at single parents who raise one or more kids and I marvel at teachers like Kejo Kelly who perform their profession with such passion but for so little pay. Society's priorities are backwards.
33
I, too, found the comparison unproductive.
Because tax cuts for the rich are all that matters.
28
It's shocking that a wealthy nation finds itself short of funds to invest in preschool education. The window of time is so short to make such an impact on young people and their future lives. This is a story of inequality which is heartbreaking. The advantages of the 1% start to kick in before a child can even speak or write.
30
Our most important teachers are parents. There is little I can do in a 7 hour school day to change a damaged home life. I can, at best, inspire a couple students a year.
As to early childhood educators, the solution is to raise the standards in order to raise the quality and pay. When admissions standards for teaching colleges rose consistent with unions demanding that their members meet standards instead of deliberately fighting standards, then we will have a recipe for success. But today? My union is focused on protecting the worst of the teachers and cementing political power.
Out doesn't have to be this way. Other trade unions set high standards and enforce them. Consider the electricians and plumbers and ironworkers. All unions that have standards for work and pride in their work. Not surprisingly, they work with their customers to create good products. My union? Not do much. We've thrown a world scale snit at every effort to instill any measurement of effectiveness, much less accountability.
8
"My union is focused on protecting the worst of the teachers and cementing political power. "
Thank you, sir, for admitting the hard truth!
1
Look at the states that are making cuts to education or are pushing for vouchers and charter schools.
Then see how many of those are dominated by the GOP.
You will then quickly have your answer. The GOP does better when the voters are not educated.
22
Would any of this be an issue if we could check a box when we file our taxes? Doubtful the masses would put a mark next to war and planetary plunder -- I mean defense and economic growth -- instead of public well-being and education. Right there is how we solve the funding crisis.
Another way to solve money shortage: accept that bachelor degrees are not the solution to all of our problems! Degrees do not guarantee good teachers. Let's skip the university monopoly and spend money on funding schools, salaries, and apprenticeships. Debt and extraneous coursework, really? Let's empower teachers with relevant knowledge of educational pedagogy and cognitive development through on-the-job study (as mentioned in the article), and also learn to respect something less quantifiable but just as necessary and real: intuition. They can't teach that -- or empathy -- in college.
6
There is no greater calling, no more honorable work than that of supporting the curiosity, hopes, and dreams of young children as they seek to understand the world around them.
Everything which follows will build on that initial foray into the world of ideas and relationships. What a young child finds in school--- a welcoming smile and a perfectly-timed question, or a set of unimaginative rules and institutional living-- will shape them powerful ways.
Why on earth would we not value this guiding role--one with a greater effect on the future of humanity than any other profession-- enough to make it a financially secure one?
Because we can't see this work for what it truly is.
We fail to honor it with the respect it undeniably deserves.
We let the beauty and possibility in a child's curiosity and thirst for belonging wither on the vine in broken-down buildings among vastly underpaid and under-respected staff.
And yet, when a child smiles up at you, and that look of understanding--that electricity which says "I see you. I'm so glad you can see me too"---well, the questions of how to pay the rent fall away for a moment, and you realize that the world has this all upside down.
We have such an ugly, unstable man in the most heavily guarded and prestigious house in the world, yet the enablers of dreams and keepers of the light languish in conditions no child, and no one worthy of the title "teacher" deserves.
Please, please, thank a teacher today.
30
The author, unfortunately, exhibits only a journalist's knowledge of child development and the complex research in the field. For example, she cites the vocabulary gap that accompanies poverty, pointing out that poor children, particularly of color, are exposed to about 1/3 the words of more privileged children. That's outdated, Subsequent research demonstrated that the pertinent variable was social context of language, not the number of words. Nonetheless, her generally thrust is right, particularly in pointing out that these are arguably the teachers who do the most important and lasting work.
What the Perry and Abecedarian programs demonstrated was the importance of play-based preschools, particularly when compared to pre-academic preschools with lots of direct instruction. It really isn't complicated. Young children need loving, confident adults who are attuned to their individual needs and spend lots of time talking and playing with them. In that environment, children will explore, discover and thrive. Education theorists and researchers have known this since the 18th century, but education policy is established by bureaucrats, politicians and economists.
I was head of a school for 19 years, so this is not uninformed opinion. And, as to the article's theme, our pre-school teachers were paid on precisely the same salary scale as the high school teachers. A loving pre-school teacher was compensated exactly as was a high school advanced calculus teacher.
10
The reason, of course, is caring for and teaching children are considered "women's work," and so the pay is commensurate with how this country values women and children.
These little ones are our future. We should be supporting those interested in early childhood education to pursue degrees or certifications, and provide opportunities to learn with great teachers such as Kejo Kelly. We should be providing them (and all educators) salaries that reflect the value we place on our children -- and our future. And all families should have access to quality daycare and preschool, regardless of their incomes.
Instead, we have tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, and not a dime for our kids and those who care for and teach them. There's something seriously wrong with this country.
477
The low pay has nothing to do with the gender of the person doing the job. A female or male kindergarten teacher in any Long Island school district s paid 60k to start. A male or female preschool teacher on Long Island is a minimum wage job.
4
Here on Long Island, a public school teacher is a well paid union job with a starting salary of around 60k. For pre-school jobs, it is a minimum wage position. The same is true for any social service position working with the developmentally disabled and homeless population. The low wages show we place no value on the people who take care of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.
15
We ought to invest more in preschool learning (which means paying more to preschool teachers) its an investment that pays off in leaps and bounds. Let's take money from private prisons and put it towards better child care and preschool learning.
4
Why are they the "most important teachers"? My son's stats teacher made the most difference in his life and he never had a preschool teacher.
I think this is emphasized to make the story more dramatic.
8
So many children are born to young, poor, iincompetent, damaged, abusive, addicted, criminal and/or low-intelligence women -- that these offspring have little chance of being properly socialized in their first few years. Their only chance is in some other setting besides their own "homes."
What we really need is to shut off the spigot at the source. Instead of spending trillions when it's too late, how about spending money to put a birth control clinic in every public middle and high school? Cross-train EMTs to perform surgical abortions at fire stations and the like, readily accessible in most neighborhoods. Free, no questions asked. Ramp up the use of pills for medical abortions. Offer cash incentives to women age 15 to 26 for every single month they do not bear a child.
Two million infants a year in the US alone born to indigent Medicaid Moms is two million too many. If a woman can't be self-supporting, marketable, educated and involved with a similarly situated, committed partner, she has no business reproducing.
8
As a former preschool teacher I can assure you that plenty of kids from “advantaged” families need help too. They don’t need the full gamut of services due to poverty, but many have social, emotional and learning challenges as well.
10
The US underpays almost all classroom teachers for the amount of education versus pay. Many have way more education than hedge fund managers. US teachers have to be really dedicated to work for as little as they do. We invest shockingly little in our most important resource.
Want better quality education? Pay more.
13
In WA State, the regulations for running an in-home preschool are suffocating, and each year they add to the pile. It simply is untenable for most people to comply, let alone the stay-at-home moms and single mothers who are most often the ones trying to start and maintain such businesses.
4
Because the children and grandchildren of the only people who matter are in private schools from the time they are 2 years old. The publicly funded school systems of America have been a tremendous burden on the top 5% of our nations wealthiest families. Because of this burden they have bought the best congress and President their money can buy. There will be no improvement in wages and salaries or Public School teachers in our lifetimes. And if those workers have pensions those will be removed also. This is the America we live in. Sadly.
11
Our country seldom pays its most important workers what they are worth. Instead we pay CEOs and athletes billions, to the detriment of society, in general. We have plenty of money, in this country, to make sure every citizen gets what they need to have a decent life. How do we choose to spend it?
4
Can you imagine Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, or any of the other tech heroes in a classroom full of 4 year olds? I can’t. And yet pre-school teachers as a whole have a much bigger impact on society. We value money more than children in our society.
6
i wonder what the current administration would be doing for Americans if instead of oil barons in the cabinet they had hired PK-12 teachers for those positions.
1
Or the question should be and why our football coaches paid more?
2
Sit still, control emotions, engage others == self-control, self-regulation. These are skills many people could benefit from, and it is a learned behavior. This is a good article, but the message should be more simple.
Sadly but truly, teachers are generally paid poorly because, despite all the rhetoric of 'family values, pro-life, ad nauseum", now-a-days, unless a 'big buck" can be made off 'the children', these teachers and children are simply not valued. Hence a small list of results: poor pay, decaying school buildings particularly in inner cities and poor rural areas, inadequate supplies and materials, the willful and purposeful ignoring of neurosciences as related to early childhood development. etc. Any good and it does that results from early childhood intervention is generally the result of dedicated and informed professional teachers, support staff, parents and community. For-profit prisons and corporate, for-profit charter 'schools/factories", where a good number of these little ones may end up have more numeric value and more promotion from the same institutional entities that are charged with responsibility of benefiting the "public good" via providing equal and quality education to our nation's children.
Having had worked for decades in public education as a specialist, including experience with the preschool population, the travesties, nonsense, disrespect, disregard for teachers and children via the current politically-motivated rhetoric, trash-talk is like a run-away train, heading straight to the profit mill of the DOW and stock market. So much for 'the public good".
1
It's disgusting to see politicians praising the value of education but doing little to provide adequate funding. Teachers should not have to spend hundreds of dollars of their own money for school supplies and then, recently, worry that Congress would cut that deduction. That idea should have never been on the table. In NC now school systems across the state are faced with an unfunded mandate, smaller class sizes for K-3 grades, with no additional funds. That means more teachers, more classrooms (trailers) and other resources. On the surface a good idea but without funds systems are looking at what to cut.
So cuts to the arts and other important programs are on the chopping block. Our Republican controlled legislature says it will work on "an acceptable solution." Not holding my breath.
1
It's all about priorities. We don't have any qualms about spending millions to kill children in other countries like Yemen, but refuse to spend good money on early childhood education. The early childhood educator should be and has to be qualified to be parent counselor, nutritionist, well versed in developmental ages and stages of psychological, physical and mental growth, safety expert, able to write and speak to groups and individuals to explain goals and to be an advocate for children.
Our national government is showing that providing needed health care for children and food for underpaid families is not as important as appeasing overpaid corporate, banking and energy giants.
Many European countries provide early childhood care and excellent learning environments to all.
Many studies have shown that qualified, well paid early childhood educators benefit the whole society in many ways. It's all about priorities.
2
Everybody had a teacher growing up yet the profession is predominately female, not respected and forget the pay. American life is rife with jokes about the profession - e.g., does who can't, teach; ivory tower and eggheads. Comics depict as "funny" kids cutting school, not doing homework, etc. The slow inexorable decline in respect for the profession of education seems unstoppable. We talk a good game about educating our children but it's all talk. Basically if you have money, you send your kids to private school and hope for the rest. Those who can't afford to are hostage to where they live - just hope that your district is well funded. American society values money, making money and sports. Education? Teachers? Not so much.
6
Of course improving the pay and and the training of preschool teachers would improve the outcomes for their students.
2
This pay deficit is nothing new; it’s just that the stakes are higher today. During the 90s my children went to a very fine, pricey preschool that prided itself on the number of children that went on to exclusive private schools (my kids went to public). The kicker, my daughter’s preschool teachers was my friend’s cleaning lady! By day this hard working young woman was a masters-educated preschool teacher, by evening she was a much appreciated house cleaner.
3
We live in a society where values of extreme importance are not promoted or even forgotten. These teachers are the interface between the world and the still forming brain of a young child who will be part of our future society. It's an immense responsibility that should be compensated appropriately.
1
America's war on teachers at all levels (as well as the public school system in general) that has been waged for the last several decades is one more contributor to the wealth and income disparities that have so severely diminished the country.
2
How are these educators paid so little yet my daycare costs are at least $2000/month per child in the Boston area? Something simply doesn't add up.
7
Administrators and owners pocket the excess.
BTW: Home health care for seniors works the same way.
1
In the 1960s there was a British sociolinguistic theroist, Basil Bernstein, who explored the relationship between vocabulary and specific social conditions demonstrating a close relationship between social space and the adequacy of language. Bernstrin was challenging the basis for IQ testing. Bernstein's example was a bathroom in a poor working class area vs an upper middle class area. Poor children described all white appliances: a bathtub, sink and toilet. The upper middle class children hd to use more complex language : the bathroom looked like other rooms. They described a toilet that was not white, had a "carpet" covering and carpet where it was attached to the floor, with a walled partition. The sink was not white; there were two with a vanity and countertop. There was a bath tub and a seperate shower. Walls were painted a color with hanging pictures. Bernstein concluded: language was adequate to the situation, neither inferior or superior. Bernastein's research was controversial. Todays article documents the poor pay for pre-school teachers. Past research demonstrates the positive impact the pre-school teaching environment can have on adult development. Bernstein's research--improving a child's environment, langauge capability, interaction with other children and the impact of a gifted teacher is critical, particularly if the pre-school is in an underpriviledged area. It might be instructive to take another look at bernstein's work.
1
Having worked in education for 30+ years, I can tell you which students had a quality preschool education and those who did not. Those that did went onto prestigious universities and now are upper middle class. Those who were not ready for school at age 5 or 6 because they were not exposed to their numbers, letters and colors are the ones who mostly are in low wage jobs. There are other factors that contribute to a child's future
but my money is on quality early childhood education.
3
It is a travesty that the wealthiest country in the world can't provide an excellent education for every child, beginning with pre-school, no matter where they live. We can, but we choose instead to give tax cuts to the wealthiest among us.
2
I raised two children who have graduated college.
Early childhood education is so very important. Vocabulary development, social skills, children are developing in so many ways. Parking kids in front of screens is not the way to go, no matter the claims of educational software. They need supervised play with tactile toys, like blocks, dress up costumes, sand play, etc.
I also would love to work in that industry but in no way could I afford the cut in pay and benefits.
Hubert Humphrey said “the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”
America fails in this every day because some giant corporation hasn’t figured out how to make lots of money providing quality child care. And the misguided “smaller government” advocates throttle the only possible answer for nonprofit but enriching childcare.
As a “civilized society” we should be ashamed of our priorities.
9
For the very same reason that people everywhere who work in the ‘caring-helping’ professions are paid so little despite our regular paeans to how much we love our children, our grandparents, the sick and unfortunate, veterans and first-responders whose courage we ritually honor—they cost money to pay and don’t have revenue sources connected to their job descriptions.
6
Why the question? In most other professions we assume a link between pay and performance. Recent U of Chicago studies confirm that investment in early child care and education has a 10+% ROI. It's a slam dunk. Yet we pretend that it's 1950's with stay-at-home moms while punishing states and local governments that do invest. This is yet another example of the triumph of ideology over common sense which is placing our future prosperity at risk.
4
Why don't we pay preschool teachers a living wage? The answer is simple. We do not value them and their contribution to society. We pay more to the people who manage our money than to those who take care of our children. The message is loud and clear: children aren't that important.
4
Terrible to read how much this teacher suffers from gun violence and material uncertainty in her own life. I'd like to know how credentials would help anymore in an environment so fraught? Ms. Kelly is doing an admirable job in a society that isn't supportive. I'd advise any young person to go to college elsewhere, Australia, Canada, Europe, even China, the US doesn't care about its ordinary citizens, or honor learning and teaching.
6
How sad. As long as society’s priority is to reward entertainers and sports figures instead of public servants, nothing is likely to change. We do not value teachers or public education, especially around property tax time (which usually funds schools). It should be educators making 6 digit $’s while professional athletes try living on $30-50,000 annualy.
2
I hate to be a buzzkill but requiring a bachelors degree would help PreK teachers be counted as full teachers and likely boost their pay by reducing the number of people qualified to teach them. Requiring only a high school diploma really does sound like they are currently babysitters. They have no real training? Even though I am a 12th grade teacher with an advanced degrees teaching in a low income school among other teachers (at least 2 getting their PhD soon) we are still considered glorified babysitters many days by administration and the public. Our pay in this district is capped at $47,000 with a PhD and 20 years of experience. I have no hope of paying off my $40,000 in student loans for my degrees as long as I stay a teacher.
Underpay, little respect, long expected hours, and the large class sizes are what drive teachers to burn out in 5 years in my experience.
9
Move to Massachusetts; the teachers there make an average of about $120K a year, for a part time job -- 6 hours a day, 180 days a year -- all summer off with pay.
1
A most important article to wake us up from our ill-advised complacency, the thinking that preschool education is a trifle...instead of a virtuous-affirming experience for kids to start a life-long adventure of discovering themselves and the world, so they welcome whatever comes next with the eagerness of a highly absorbent sponge of information, then knowledge and understanding, and experience. For that to occur, we need well prepared teachers, and paid accordingly (very well, that is). The best a country can do, for it's own wealth and that of it's neighbors, is to develop the best it has, human talent. Incidentally, other civilized countries are way ahead of the U.S., still stingy about how to spend wisely it's money and human talent, while 'generous' in it's military might. Can you imagine changing the world by helping with jobs, schools and medical facilities...instead of deadly bombs that kill indiscriminately, with a blind rage? But I digress. If we are smart, we would be learning from countries (i.e. Finland) that recognize their teachers (and nurses) as highly valuable and pays them well, to teach being cooperative instead of competitive, with great benefit to all. And what a difference with the crooked politicians we have in congress, blind to the evidence, self-serving but unwilling to set priorities with a reasoned eye..
1
If the salary for a job reflects its value, it’s clear these employees are grossly underpaid. They’re not just babysitting so parents can work, they’re interacting with children during their formative years. They have a huge impact on our society and should be compensated appropriately.
2
Too many people view teachers as civil servants. After all, they went into teaching: they should do it out of the goodness of their hearts. You will see that teachers are actually valued--monetarily and socially--in the countries that are putting our education system to shame. It's simple capitalism. If you want the best education system, you need the best teachers. To get the best teachers, you need to value teachers. Sadly, we have evolved to expect low salaries for our teachers.
6
US teachers make far more than their counterparts in foreign countries.
Finland,which has the best schools in the world, pays their teachers (all of whom must have a master's degree!) 35% less than US teachers with NO master's degree.
Read it again. FINLAND PAYS LESS, much less than the US -- with 10 times better results.
1
You always get exactly what you pay for and as dedicated and talented as these teachers are, most cannot afford to work as early educators. Our education system in America is dreadful and way behind most civilized advanced countries. This is one of the main reasons we have a president like Donald Trump today.
2
Why are useless diamonds more expensive than precious water?
I realize this story is really about extolling the hard work of front line torchbearers of civilization. BUT the headline premise is a demand we look at economics and resources, not culture and spiritual values and estrogen.
People without children in school are asked to help pay for schools. "Asked" is a polite way of putting it. Refuse to pay and people with guns and handcuffs will eventually come to your door to take you away to a place of no liberty. It is arrogant beyond measure to demand that someone else who you do not know pay money, under threat of imprisonment, for a thing just because that thing is precious to you and has the power to move you to tears. Taxes is where you stick your elbow in somebody else's eye.
Many years ago I attended a pre-k entirely organized by and for an ad hoc, informal group of young mothers. They took turns volunteering. No one was paid in coin. The program existed outside of the laws of economics and the coercion of government. The children were well served.
1
"our most important teachers"? I think you can focus attention on the issue of insufficient pay without resorting to needless ranking and "breakfast is the most important meal of the day"-style hyperbole.
1
In America, talk is cheap. Oh yes, we care about our children's education, we just don't want to have to pay for it. Trillions for war, billions for lawyers and accountants to game the tax code, billions for lobbyists for drug companies to prevent Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices, millions for lobbyists to retain the carried interest loophole for hedge fund managers.
Got the picture?
3
Yes, we owe those poor little children more attention and better funding to provide it. The problem as described in this article, however, did not start with inattention to pre-school teaching facilities. It started with tolerance of and failure to crack down hard on procreational irresponsibility -- tolerance of out-of-wedock pregnancies -- and failure to force the fathers to live up to their responsibilities. That is what first needs to change, along with the current and mindless discouragement of contraception and termination of careless, irresponsible --- I say criminal -- conceptions!
3
Three points:
Unions
Seniority
- burnt out high salaried teachers
vs.
- young, engergetic, low salary, first to be laid off
Union coffers filled by dues collected on the backs of seniority
This sums up the public education nightmare in simple terms and why young, enthusiastic teachers suffer. Please attempt to prove me wrong...
1
Union dues sent to Democrats, only, who rubber stamp pay increases.
1
Preschool. Between the ages of 0-6 years old a human baby learns at the fastest rate in its history.
You can teach a preschooler five languages before first grade.
And we pay preschool teachers better then our janitors.
So unenlightened. Really.
2
We’ve known the importance of early childhood education forever. How does the United States get away with “leading the world” in innovation when we repeatedly act like backwater rubes, ignoring our own research? Don’t forget (I haven’t) that Richard Nixon vetoed universal preschool. The troglodytes are in control again and we can look forward to another 40 years of blaming victims for their own punishing lives. Imagine where we’d be today if two generations had learned to love to learn and think from trained early childhood educators.
1
Beautifully written piece. So sad that, like everything in the Trump administration it seems, the policy choice being made in response to this crisis of inequality of experience, resources and opportunity, is to double down and make it worse.
2
teaching kids ios easy. the work may be important, in that it has an impact on people's lives, but it is not cerebrally difficult. people tend to get paid for intellectual difficulty, such as being a professor of neurosurgery or a famous philosophy professor or a successful hedge fund manager. A Porsche mechanic makes more than a Nissan mechanic, because, arguably, the engine of a Porsche is more complex.
Aside from celebrities, higher pay goes to mentally more demanding work and to rare skills. Social importance doesn't really matter. Soldiers risk their lives but get paid squat.
Lefties underestimate just how hard finance is. I was an English professor. Now, I trade stocks. Trading stocks is much harder than teaching Hamlet.
1
I’d like to see you manage a classroom of 12 kids with three hyperactive kids, two in the autism spectrum, one with hearing loss and another whose parent is transitioning female to male, plus a few divorces and one with a terminally ill sibling who’s in and out of the hospital.
6
Yet you chose to bail, jzzy.
1
Everybody thinks THEY are the most important. Teachers are a dime a dozen and pay rates reflect that. And sorry, but preschool is glorified babysitting; you can spin it however you like.
Throwing money at a problem seldom fixes it.
4
Oh, please. Detroit schools cost taxpayers approaching $15,000 per K-12 pupil. The cash is not being well spent.
8
...and no mention of how expensive early childhood education is despite the fact that these teachers are paid so poorly. Someone is making money.
4
Administrators and the owners of 'for-profit" day cares and preK.
1
In Los Angeles the teachers are overpaid. Factor that into your equation. In fact they just returned to work yesterday, January 8, at the end of the Christmas holiday.
3
One sentence "The story of inequality is increasingly that the very rich are leaving everyone else behind." says it all.
4
How much do value a woman who stays home to mind the kids? How much respect is she afforded? That is how much these teachers doing women's work are worth. Do the math. Yep, pretty much "zero".
1
In a culture of selfish individualism, I give as little as possible to others, especially those who can least voice their own needs.
Too many school districts decide to overpay layers and layers of administrators instead of building from the bottom up. Many times they're their own worst enemy.
5
The GOP demonstrated its unending hostility to public education in the recent tax bill debates. They savaged states that actually spend money on education, expanded 529 tax benefits to private elementary and high schools, tried to cut back the deduction for teacher classroom supplies. As long as the GOP is in power Teachers of Other Peoples Children will be treated like dirt.
7
The answer is obvious, economics. Private pre-school is a huge industry in the US, the goal is usually to squeeze as much from middle-class parents as possible. This is the sweet spot, how do you develop a parasitical approach to the relationship without killing the host. It varies, better neighborhoods have better pre-schools and higher costs. For many working class Americans it boils down to the unlicensed care-giver down the street or a family member. We have no vision as a society, would rather invest our dollars building bases around the world and blowing money on walls.
174
The preschool industry is loaded up with corrupt non-profit "charities" where the directors are skimming off substantial resources for personal wealth and underpaying providers. A substantial portion of the government provided vouchers is a wealth transfer to the politically well connected. It would be helpful if the NYT would investigate how many state, local and federal tax dollars are being gifted to the elite, who spend their time lobbying for more money, pretending the money would be spent on additional services for the poor.
If you think money is being squandered on national defense, consider the fact that 14% of federal spending goes to the national defense while 60% goes to ostensibly social spending. [That dies not include the state and local spending for social needs, and the states do not spend anything out of their budgets on national defense.] There is room in both categories for more efficient spending. There is no need for more government spending.
1
Private pre-school teachers fare little better. Many schools receive little to no government support and rely on the largesse of the parents. Expenses are huge - rent, insurance, etc. My daughter has been a Montessori teacher for almost 20 years and still makes less than $15/hour, works long hours after the children are gone, even answering work emails after getting home (none of that is included) - nor her research into classroom ideas, her trips to the library, her shopping trips for supplies. While there may be private pre-schools raking in the bucks, schools that serve the middle class also cannot afford to pay their teachers well enough, even if they have the best intentions.
1
At least in this state, cuts to early childhood education began at the same time as privatization (for profit) prisons. There are numerous studies showing that early childhood education reduces incarceration in later years; it is difficult not to be convinced that politicians are simply ensuring future profits for the prison operators.
9
Urban school districts in cities with majority minority enrollment are almost exclusively located in cities with minority administrations, often for decades, and most likely staff and administrators are members of teachers' unions. Setting priorities should not be political in etiology, but generally they are, and usually dictated by union rules and/or central administrative fiat - each locus of power has been concerned with workplace issues, and not with proper education. If that were not the case, achievement would be much higher and the continuing growth of "charter" or "alternative" options would not be the wave it now is. The sad fact is that prior to unionization, the hoi polloi got a much better public education than they do now; the upper middle and the well off of course have wonderful schools, as they did in the 50s and 60s. What has changed is the raw deal now served up in urban districts. Ask the grandparents of the kids in NYC public schools - grandparents of any ethnicity or race - if their educational years did a better job in the years before unions. Ask them.
2
Prior to the teacher unions, the US had the finest educational system in the world.
Today, with public teachers heavily unionized, and earning six figure salaries in Blue States....our public education is ranked #37 in the world. And dropping.
1
As a parent of a preschooler, I wholeheartedly agree that the financial health of teachers would go along away to helping our children develop to their potential. Same to be said of parents who are paycheck to paycheck like most of us whose energy is sapped and attention is short due to financial stress. It’s madness and the very wealthy and politicians are short changing themselves too in the long run,
3
This preschool teacher was low paid during the 8 year Obama administration so don't necessarily blame Trump. I think it's a disgrace. Paying teachers a decent salary is a necessity, but we also need teachers who have real empathy for young children, not just in it for the benefits.
2
A worker's wage or salary in the US has very little to do with the social value of the labor and services he or she performs. Indeed, many of the basic, everyday tasks that make society function are so devalued that workers who do these things often cannot make ends meet. On the other hand, monetary rewards for activities that have little or no social value are often the highest around. This fundamental perversity in our economy is tearing communities apart.
73
Excellent point.
In answer to the question posed by the lead of the piece: because they are not teachers by any reasonable definition of the job.
If you want to professionalize the job, then you will lose three-quarters of the present workforce - including the subject of this piece.
9
Many thanks for one of the wisest pieces of reporting I have read in a long time. If things are to change at the pre-school level, the public must learn about the 'facts of life' in that world. Really, a brilliant piece.
6
I spent time as a UPK coach and trainer for the NYC Pre-K program. At the private day care centers that were an official UPK site the incredibly hardworking teachers were making less than $10 dollars an hour with no benefits. I've lived in NYC a long time, and my coaching work turned into helping the teachers find free health care clinics and other social services. By the way, the UPK teachers in school settings make the same money as public school teachers. So if we are going to call it "UNIVERSAL" Pre-K shouldn't the teacher salaries and benefits be universal, too?
8
Our society gives lots of lip service to the importance of early childhood education, and then acts like the professionals in the field are domestic servants with low pay (not even near a living wage) and lack of benefits. This is a predominately female field, which I am sure is part of the reason.
Nearly every hands on job with taking care of people (all caregivers, preschool teachers, K-12 teachers, etc., many nurses) make lower wages than other fields. And, ironically, the way to boost your salary in every one of these caregiving and teaching fields is to move to administration and deal with papers, not people. Many nurses and teachers go into the field because they like working directly with human beings, but our society puts much less monetary value on that. Papers and policies are considered more important as we see with the pay scales.
22
NJ teachers are among the better-paid teachers in the country. I don't know that they are any better or care more about your child than anywhere else in the country. From my experience, they were very political in the school system. When I grew up in the 1950's, few sent their kids to nursery school and they turned out to be doctors, lawyers, titans of industry and entertainment. Today women must work especially in the poorer areas so they need pre-schools to do what mothers did in the past.
Low pay and little respect for pre-school teachers mirrors the disrespect shown to people who believe raising their own children is important societal work, and who make significant financial sacrifices in order to do so. As a society we have shifted from limiting women to working at home to demanding that they work full time outside of the home, even when they have babies and young children who would benefit significantly from being with their parents during the day. We have structured our society in such a way that women, and men, who would prefer to stay home and be their child's first teacher and caretaker for a couple of years before turning to paid employment are forced in to the work force sometimes within weeks of their child's birth. This lack of support for parental caregivers sends a very clear message that the work of raising young children is not important and this belief is reflected in the low pay and lack of respect afforded to paid caregivers.
337
AMEN!!
Completely agree. And culturally as well, the terms we use to describe them- i.e.
"stay-at-home" Moms. Degrading and insulting.
My wife and I are first time parents in NYC and are effectively leaving the city because of the outlandish cost of early childhood education in the city. There should be a compulsory option available to all starting from when maternity leave ends. These dramatic costs associated with pre kindergarten education are going to severely limit births for the middle class in the coming years.
1
I have several friends who are teachers, one, now retired, worked with preschool children from families whose first language was Spanish. Her family had fled to Cuba from Germany in the 1930s, where she spent the first 12 years of her life, and she has equal fluency in both English and Spanish. She considered the job working with these little children one of the most worthy positions she ever had. This is incredibly important work. Solving problems of the future starts in the present, and may not reap the rewards until many years later. A lot of our country's issues could be greatly alleviated by investing in early education and teachers - not just the ones with degrees, since college education is becoming less and less affordable to many who would be wonderful at the job, as this article proves. It's crazy that we spend so much money on the military and prisons (and now, billions on a wall), but are so short-sighted about education. Rome lasted longer than we will, at this rate.
3
I think it comes down to what we value as a society and the fact that these jobs are done mostly by women. In spite of the fact that these are some of the most formative years in a child's development, we as a society seem to be content with treating these early educators as little more than nannies--that, in spite of the fact that most of them have degrees in childhood education and certification to be teachers. Can parents demand that their children's pre-school teachers be paid more? They should. None of their children's educators should be living with the stress of mere survival.
6
They would all have to be held accountable to the same credential requirements as elementary, middle, and high school teachers. These would include obtaining a masters degree and passing all certificate exams. In New York City those that work for the city schools already do.
1
...Would improving pre-school teachers' training and pay improve outcomes for their students?...It would be a START and it would HELP to improve outcomes,...but positive successful outcomes for students are dependent on not just a few isolated factors at an early stage of learning. Successful education is a result of a complex interaction of the various levels of school education AND a positive home environment. Leaders in education and parents must recognize education as an integrated partnered process which must be funded and supported from early childhood level to college or trade level.
This is the single most important factor holding back the improvement of educational performance. Although lip service is regularly paid to how critical it is to have motivated, competent teachers K-12, we do everything possible to discourage serious professionals from entering - and staying - in the field, making it a struggle for anyone to raise a family on the income from a full-time teaching job. We then demand overtime and inspiration from people trying to figure out how to make ends meet. How realistic is this? You get what you pay for. In the case of most teachers, we get far more than what we pay for, although still not enough.
3
It is difficult for me to be too concerned about preschool. As a young child, where I lived, even kindergarten was not offered. But I went on to graduate from college. My father had only a fourth grade education and my mother only eight years. However they were loving parents who provided me with a good stable home. That is what many of these disadvantaged children are missing.
5
A superb article describing an urgent need. I never realized the critical importance of pre K programs. I suspect that the need is just as great in affluent neighborhoods as it is in the schools mentioned here.
Pre-school teachers are treated like indentured servants, is why. So, they are expected to act as surrogate parents (mothers), and are demanded to be pillars of nurture, care. And that's considered a gift or duty, not a job, is why. Daycare, as it it, primarily exists for two reasons: to give privileged children an academic edge (and their parents, mothers, a break) or because some mother has to work and cannot afford to stay at home with the kids.
1
I have the great pleasure of taking care of my 13-month-old grand baby while my daughter and husband work at demanding careers. It's a joy watching him learn and experiment. He began walking at 8 months, speaking phrases at 10 months and loves music and books, particularly rhyming ones. I will be sad to send him off to preschool but hoping that it will be only half days so I can explore his world with him the other 1/2 of the day. Nothing like one-on-one care and love and attention to nurture a young mind. And banning electronics and television helps too. Perhaps senior citizen participation is the way to go to reduce adult-to-child ratios in preschools.
6
Preschool teachers are overwhelmingly female. This reveals a lot about the value we place on women's work, as well as on children's well-being.
9
Capitalism is not designed to distribute wealth to the people in society that contribute most - therein lies the challenge. Democracies counteract that flaw by rule making: Pay structures, credentials needed, e.t.c.
The United States among Western Democracies is the most adverse to "reigning in" or "constraining" market forces. It even has managed in many cases to tilt market forces with regulations that serve more the ones that create little value (real estate taxation comes to mind).
At the core lies that fact that market forces distribute money to the "already haves". It is of course not all bad. For example start-up investments are the highest in Western Democracies.
3
If a measurement of what we value as a society is what we invest our tax and corporate dollars in, the United States is far more interested in war and greed than our personal wellbeing and our future. We're a capitalist society and it seems like that means we're only interested in investing in our most valuable assets (teachers, first responders, etc.) to the degree that it makes sense for the bottom line. We're interested in seeing immediate results, not truly investing in the future, and as long as those with money have what they want, everyone that matters is happy.
So, while every politician talks about children being the future and the importance of education, few actually work to improve the current pay situation for teachers because it would detract from their efforts to pay back their wealthy donors.
If we want the United States to remain great, we have to take a long hard look at capitalism and fix the ways it fails us. We must invest in brilliant, inspirational teachers to shape young minds. We have to support our brave first responders, who put themselves on the line every day for our benefit.
3
Illinois has partially solved the certification problem through Gateways, a free online certification program. The courses are designed at the University of IlIinois at Chicago, and are a joy to work on. I currently work at a pre-school because of age discrimination in the local job market (I have a K-12 bilingual ed license). The short-staffing and the dilemmas described here are spot-on. I find though that teachers who use songs are quite effective, and that these "untrained" women do an effective job with the children.
2
Education is given volumes of lip service as to importance. Some schools are well-funded and provide sound programs. However, if America is to be "Great" (again or otherwise), the foundation lies in giving respect through funding -- money to pay for facilities, materials, salaries and benefits for teachers, resources to eliminate over-crowding, "infrastructure" spending to heal communities, families, health and all necessary "human services."
Three or four times a day, local newscasts spend a segment reporting on high school (and college) sports, but almost no reporting is devoted to other aspects of education.
Many, including those serving on school boards, place little value on their teachers, creative arts, intellectual endeavors. Many citizens who didn't enjoy their "dear old Golden Rule days" fail to support the learning process, the teaching profession.
Preschool is often regarded simply as organized baby-sitting. In our colleges and universities, the increased use of poverty -paid "adjuncts" while hiring ultra-compensated administrators and coaches shows where education's rubber really meets the economic road.
A personal note: Years ago, my mother, who brilliantly taught generations of children for over 30 years, retired at a time when the law required one to step down at the not-ancient age of 70. Called back to fill in for months when a teacher fell ill, the board refused to pay her more than the substitute wage.
Doug Giebel, Big Sandy, Montana
1
Surely the biggest need and opportunity here is for these children to have parents who do most of this. Family planning and stable households are going to make a bigger difference than anything we can do in a preschool. Why do we assume those things are off the table?
3
This problem of quality preschool education and paying preschool teachers appropriately is one of the reasons for a lack of "stable households." It just doesn't appear from thin air.
This story provides, in microcosm, a devastating indictment of our society. We are, collectively, judged by how we treat our weakest members -- our most vulnerable, which includes our youngest and our poorest. When we lavish our wealth on armaments and on the wealthy, we demonstrate our utter moral bankruptcy.
This story also provides, in microcosm, a paean to heroes like Kelly who work so hard to provide a positive and loving impact despite all the societal forces arrayed against her. Of such are saints made.
1
Perhaps it is because they replace an unpaid worker, the parent. What we should be questioning is not the value of the teacher, but the value of the parenting they replace. Herein lies the dilemma, even if we could come up with a dollar amount it likely would not be a suitable comparison for having a dedicated parent raising their own child. Of course this leads to a plethora of discussions starting with single parent families and the ability to obtain a working wage that would allow for dedicated parenting. Chalk it all up to the general breakdown in societal norms.
2
Comments like yours are always, always, invariably written by males. Wonder why.
1
The bottom line is that preschool should be universal and free and compulsory, so we have pre-K through 12th grade. As long as individual families have to pay for preschool or rely on vouchers, access to and quality of instruction will remain highly segregated, and the teachers will continue to make miserable salaries. The cost of preschool is outrageous, even for families in the upper middle class, and for that reason alone it should be provided by the government and funded through taxes.
1
I began to teach preschool in 1967, attended the National Association for the Education of Young Children annual conferences, and subsequently directed programs from New Jersey to California. Much of what is being "discovered" in this article was known, discussed, shared, back then. Why have we not moved forward? Why is this still a labor of love - not appropriate compensation?
Is it because the "clients" are so young, that we have been unable to move forward? This shocks and saddens me.
2
Properly funding preschool for all is important. But it means nothing if we don't get to the root of the problem.
Some of the biggest indicators of a child's future intelligence and success in life are a) the education level of their mothers and b) coming from intact, two parent homes with married parents. It is THIS - not the quality of their preschool - that gives such an advantage in life to middle and upper middle class children. Affluent children from the moment of conception are nurtured in lower stress environments, with better nutrition, more involved and verbal mothers who consciously try to enrich their development, and a stable relationship with their fathers.
We need to invest in making long active reversible contraception the NORM in low income communities, and in promoting the value of work, long term planning and saving, and marriage.
My husband works in an urban middle school. He has 12 and 13 year old students who are already pregnant. They don't care. Their parents don't care. The father is usually in a gang, between prison sentences, or otherwise absent. It doesn't matter what kind of preschool their children attend - in 13 years those babies will be repeating the cycle.
Lets start with better birth control and renewing a STIGMA on unwed and too young pregnancy. In a society with Mirenas and Paragards and other 99% effective, fool proof contraception there is no excuse for 50% of children being born on Medicaid and 40% to single women.
6
Not only would a preschool teacher see many types of behavior indicating some specific intervention at an early age, but also in many neighborhoods like Springfield, the children are coming in with a variety of languages that are spoken at home and thus, we have English Language Learners at various levels of listening and speaking in English sometimes up to 50 percent of the classroom. So we need to address home languages and hire preschool teachers with fluency in the languages of the children, often pairing the English only speaking teacher with the bilingual teacher to gain the fullest capacity of a classroom's ability to expose the children to a full immersion environment. Thus, we need to train teachers in early learning immersion methodology.
1
Bilingual teaching only stymies children and makes it harder to learn English.
The only method that "works" is total English immersion, with no other language spoken.
Fortunately, children that young -- 3-7 -- easily learn new languages without support. They are literally hardwired to learn languages.
1
The people who make the most in any profession are the ones that manage money, e.g. budgets. In education, the administrators make the most, not those in the classroom.
3
I didn't mean to be glib. I have long held that the biggest problem with our nation is the Bantu education our citizens get. We wouldn't be in half the mess we're now in, if teachers were respected and paid on a par with doctors, lawyers, politicians, et al. Of the 50 most successful countries in the "developed" world, we rank 47th in academics. Classes must be made smaller. Degrees in education must be rigorous, and we must be in awe of the art and science of educating. In this age of Greed, this demands that we attract highly innovative and dedicated teachers with huge salaries and a university campaign to attract, not only good, loving people to be educators, but people, who are also ambitious. That means money. I'm sure this sounds harsh, but we must, must stop the dumbing down of our students, in order for the country to defend against the autocracy we're nearly in. I don't think this was an accident. There was much preparation in order to put Reagan in office. We see clearly where voodoo economics have taken us. Could this have happened had we put half as much money into education as into defence? Skilled labor makes more money than teachers. It's not easy to be a doctor or a lawyer. We must, must have as rigorous training for teachers, and they will self-select according to money, respect, and a public awareness that those who can, teach!
4
The US spends MORE per child on education than any other nation does. Not unlike health care, we pay much more for a much worse result!
Why? our corrupt, greedy public teachers unions! Get rid of them, the problem solves itself.
1
The solution to this paradox seems obvious: Hold preschool teachers to the same standards as their K-12 counterparts, and pay them a salary commensurate with that training.
*********
Because K-12 teachers are "paid commensurate with that training," right?
Wasn't Ivanka supposed to fix all of this?
Teachers, whether pre-school or K-12, perform the most important work in the nation - educating, molding, and providing role models to future citizen voters, future parents and future entrepreneurs and tax payers. They should be paid accordingly.
283
You are ready for Comedy Central, cechance.
Neither teachers, nor police officers, nor fire fighters, nor soldiers will ever be paid what they are worth to the nation.
Capitalism just does not work that way.
2
Amen
How much is the executive director of the non-profit that runs the day care center being paid, and how many non-profits is the executive director director of?
If they are collecting $35/day for 13 children. That's $450 per day and they are paying the teacher $10/hour for eight hours and what, $8/hour for eight hours. So $144 goes to salary and another $50 maximum for benefits. It costs less than $5/day per child for food or $65 per day. Where is the other $191 per day going? Is the executive director renting the premises for an inflated rent from her cousin? Are the food supplies purchased at an inflated price?
There is plenty of money sloshing around in the system. Legislation universal pre school means that middle and upper class students will suck resources away from those in need and middle and upper class parents send their children to preschool for half days, not full days, so the public systems will, unsurprisingly, increase the achievement gap.
1
Preschool programs truly
enable children to advance.
Most critically, a social
environment is created
which gives children
friendships where they
learn how to solve problems
with their peers. Separation
from parents, the creation of
a structured approach to learning
with play time and
outdoor time is achieved at an
early age which leads to
a great deal of learning. Children
who have developmental issues
can be identified at young age
resulting in intervention
to help them.
I taught for ten years and was
lucky that salary was not an issue
for me. It was a big factor in the
best and the brightest leaving
the field or not even
considering teaching
as a career.
It is truly a travesty
that young men and women
do not enter preschool teaching
because of low wages
with little opportunity to improve
their financial situation or to
seek advanced education.
In an ideal world preschool
would be mandatory in a robust
public school system. Children
would develop a love of learning
at an early age and a chance to
work out social issues. Their
lives as they mature would, most
likely, be productive.
Thank you for your
perceptive article.
I appreciate the story, and pre-school teachers who are qualified to be so are underpaid. But to call preschool teachers the most important teachers is contentious. No one would deny that their role in cognitive development, as set out in the piece, is extraordinarily important -- now more than ever, given what many children are likely to receive at home in the way of stimulation. But many studies show that there are two other crucial points in education. Over and over again, the single most important period in a child's education -- the one that predicts "success" more than any other, is high school. Students who go to rigorous high schools find college easy and are taught autonomy of mind that later pays dividends. A great high school teacher is a rarity -- and are also underpaid. Third, college professors -- woefully underpaid given their educational level, are key to creating researchers, explorers, etc., not so much by teaching as by example of mind, i.e. as exemplary of what is possible for a thoughtful human being. The takeaway: the US cares not for education at any level, if one is to judge by teacher paycheck.
3
After 28 years of teaching math and the sciences in a high school, I am just barely earning more than what a beginning pharmacist or engineer will earn upon graduating.
I love what I do, but I do sometimes wonder if a life of public service and teaching are really worth the effort, bad pay, and lack of respect.
Everyone seems to love a teacher until they have to pay for my raise.
15
I am an advocate for a strong public education system. However, as a parent, my question has always been whether or not things like preschool and full day kindergarten are important academically. It seems to me that the argument for preschool and full day kindergarten is centered around parents’ need for quality childcare. Affordable childcare is an important issue, but it should be discussed separately from education. I find myself wondering how much structured education is necessary for young children.
8
Would-be parents should save up in advance for childcare needs or to fund maternity/paternity leaves. My parents certainly did so more than 50 years ago, on blue-collar / clerical wages. Until the village gets more say in who breeds, when and how often, stop tapping us to finance your lifestyle choices.
(And spare me the "you need our kid to pay your SS rhetoric; we can import all the future workers and consumers the United States ever will need.)
Children learn from the moment they are born. Both cognitive learning and social skills don't only happen in childcare centers, preschools, or the K-12 education system. One could make an argument that noncognitive skills cooperation, self regulation, confidence, and curiosity are essential for cognitive learning. See the work of Professor James J. Heckman. (https://heckmanequation.org/resource/understanding-the-mechanisms-throug....
Children develop those skills through their relationships with trusted adults.Right now we pay those trusted adults less that fast food workers. The adults leave because they can't afford to stay, and children will learn not to trust adults.
This is an area of education and of psychology that should receive higher respect and higher compensation. Most of the salaries that I see for these pre-school teachers offer unsustainable salaries, and many do not require prior educational training like a BA degree in elementary education. These types of unreasonably low salaries lead to high turnover, which creates risks for taking care of the children. Teachers without sufficient education and training also present higher risks to the children. If parents, elementary school principals, and politicians genuinely value the intellectual and socio-emotional development and safety of their children, they should be prepared to pay a higher salary and to require more educational training from these workers.
1
Teachers, their temperament and education, need to fit with the age and development of their students. Good early childhood teachers need classes on child development (not necessarily a B.A.) and a very nurturing personality. Most young children are like sponges, absorbing all experiences and learning from them. Every child needs to be exposed to learning experiences and those who come from impoverished homes, where food and shelter are always imperiled, are most likely to miss out on these experiences. Children who exhibit difficulties in a preschool classroom need evaluation and ALL barriers to that evaluation need to be eliminated.
The "fade-out" effect, often used to belittle the value of early childhood education, may very well occur because the safety net of extra attention provided in classes like head start does not follow those children to schools. If there is no one in the home with time to teach colors and letters, there is probably no one at home to help with homework, encourage independent reading and reinforce classroom learning.
In 25 years of, mostly, inner city teaching I never met a mother who did not love her child and want a good future for him/her. I did meet many who did not have the education, tools and financial ability to make that happen.
Education, in the long run, is far cheaper-and less heartbreaking- than incarceration.
Hats off to Ms. Kelly, she is the early childhood teacher every child deserves.
5
The difference money makes.
My daughter attended a "lab" preschool on the grounds of a prestigious college in an affluent suburb. Her very first teacher (at age two) was a Harvard PhD who led a "mommy and me" class several hours a week. (There were plenty of dads and nannies in attendance. It was a great group.) This wonderful teacher was a formidable support to the parents, as well as a highly-accomplished educator. Among other things, her job was to identify those children in need of early intervention, to chaperone the parents through that emotional and practical crisis, and to lead them to the appropriate services.
So, midyear, when one little boy in my daughter's class started flapping his arms and tiptoe walking constantly - classic signs of autism - the teacher was on it within a few weeks. The importance of early intervention to the child, his parents, and society cannot be underestimated. We should be making this a possibility for all children, not just those of us who can afford it.
4
It's not just the education requirements but the student/teacher ratio in younger classes that make the teacher education requirements untenable. In DC, which just enacted a requirement that daycare lead teachers must have an associate's degree by 2023, the infant/lead teacher ratio is 8:1, with a total infant/teacher ratio of 4:1, which means each classroom of 8 students requires one lead teacher and one assistant teacher. Infant tuition generally is around $2000 a month in DC. Despite this, infant programs are often a loss leader for centers because the ratios mean centers often spend more on salary than they receive in tuition. The new education requirements will will only make this problem worse, and increase tuition further because of increased staff costs, placing an unfair burden on parents but also putting centers in jeopardy of closure. It's also unfair to the teachers, who were already subject to continuing education and licensing requirements, and who don't have limited free time and money to spend going back to college.
2
My mother spent 30 years licensing day care centers and foster homes from 1968 to the 1990’s. Repeatedly she expressed frustration at the disrespect given to those who spend their time and efforts with the young children. It was not uncommon for new owners to visualize an infants care center that simply took care of their physical needs, or one that primarily provided a television set and peanut butter sandwiches for the older preschool children, while the adults interacted very little with them at any age. Never mind the ones that she discovered punishing children by locking them in closets or worse.
My politics are on the liberal side, but I watched the women’s movement make the attitudes worse by making women feel that their only value was in their work outside the home. That there is no dignity in just being a wife and mother. That might have not been the true message but that’s what was heard.
She reported that she noticed over the years as more women became involved in the workforce the percentage of behavior problem children increased.
My point is not that mothers are the only ones who can develop young children, but that it is labor intensive work to provide for their physical and emotional needs, and to provide society an enormous benefit by raising secure, confident, productive citizens. There is a reason humans don’t have litters, but produce children one at a time. Children need a high level of close nurturing. It is work critical to a successful society.
9
Wonderful article - thank you. So moved by the courage, dedication, and dignity of Kelly.
2
I work as a substitute teacher in a part of Maryland where some Head Start programs are part of the excellent public school system. This means that the teachers are paid the same as other K-12 teachers and are required to have the same training. The level of teaching is excellent and the gains the students, who are low income and very often not native speakers of English, make are wonderful to see. Having taught many grade levels, I believe that teaching prekindergarten is as difficult or more difficult than teaching older children. I agree with the premises of the article, teaching young children should be paid at the same rate as teaching older children and should require the same certifications. Teachers who are currently working without academic training should be hired at equivalent salary levels and then required to meet standards over a reasonable amount of time.
20
Everything this article says about the importance of understanding child development and the learning potential of pre-schoolers, I learned over 40 years ago when I was fortunate enough to attend Bank Street College of Education for a graduate degree in Early Childhood Education. After 15 years teaching two-five years olds, my last job paid me $5000 a year.
I left the field and became a social worker/psychotherapist. (A jump from one underpaid female profession to another.) It angers and saddens me that those working with young children, and the children themselves, are so undervalued and misunderstood.
3
I think this is because education management’s primary duty (by rules and necessities) is to its investors and boards, while education, by its nature, is about investment into the students. There is a trade-off between giving resources to the investors and for the students. When the resources go to the investors and not the consumers in other industries, consumers (adults) might avoid or disregard a place that is so unfair for themselves and choose another place. But students have no way of knowing or doing this (that’s the whole point of education - to let students have appropriate knowledge and experience) and the system seems to do much disservice to our young people and future. At the same time, there are instructors who dedicate so much for the students despite how little resources they receive for the students.
1
The concept of training educators via apprenticeships is illuminating. Germany uses this model extensively, in all fields, to great advantage. Peabody Teacher's College in Nashville also uses this 'live' student teaching model to great advantage for all. Direct modeling of good teaching and immediate feedback to enhance teaching skills is critical to learning. Additionally it speaks more directly to the lack of timed money for formal education which is sadly an issue in this country. We can be judged by how we treat our most vulnerable, and in the preschool area, looks like we are at zero score, Betsy DeVoss.
1
I’m a retired public HS principal. For most of my career I’ve thought that we have it backwards: Pre-K - 5 are the most formative years intellectually, socially and developmentally. Yet, the pay is generally higher for teachers (for administrators, definitely) as one “moves up” through the years. Supervising and keeping students safe is important at every level, but the IMPACT of a sound education and socializing experiences is critical during the Pre and elementary years.
9
I worked for 15 years in a non profit that supported child care providers. No matter how good the teacher's education, they're still strapped by what the patents can afford. Our agency tried to find ways to help that gap. We always looked enviously at other developed countries that valued children and subsidized the child care industry so it attracted the best.
3
Teachers of all children through high school in the United States are underpaid and suffer lack of respect. But, at least in public schools, the importance of the initial years of schooling is simply not understood, nor appreciated. Even in the realm of teaching, teachers feel more importance, are paid more and enjoy higher status at the high school level. It's odd really, children should be met early on with top flight education but that's not the case. The Waldorf School system does address this issue to some extent. This is a serious cultural issue in the United States, but who is going to address it?
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Public school teachers need to be considered precious to our well-being and treated accordingly.
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This article, as with much of the ire against public ed, speaks more to how children are regarded in this country. It's ok to put them in deteriorated buildings, little to no supplies, very little support when it comes to the emotional and social needs of students, and then blame the teacher.
The focus is on test scores. The focus is on hedge fund managers investing in charters knowing they will be paid back tenfold by our tax dollars when this money should be spent on lowering class sizes, improving the infrastructure and updating schools. And, focusing on the whole child first and foremost!
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Your comment ought to be on the cover of the New York Times. No more than this need be said.
2
I have been saying this for years.
Teachers to K-12 should not pay any income taxes and the society should pay for their social security contribution.
Least we can do.
3
"The focus is on hedge fund managers investing in charters knowing they will be paid back tenfold by our tax dollars"
Except that all charters in New York State are not for profit. This fixation to attack successful charter schools who provide better educational outcomes for poor and minority children and demean the private sector contributions that help to enable this is pure teacher's unions fabrications.
3
The simple answer is Mr. Market is the reason, and parents should be doing most of this anyway. Better training of course would be great and paying for better teachers should be a no brainer.
18
If parents should be doing this anyway, then why do middle and upper class parents send THEIR kids to preschool? PK education teaches many skills, including social emotional self-Management in a group setting. Failure to master those particular skills means the child is entering kindergarten unable to learn to the best of his or her intellectual ability. And there, their troubles really begin.
50
Mr. Market would actually want that people pool their resources to hire/support qualified teachers in order to invest in the next generation, not have each family set up their own preschool in their own home. That would be a silly reproduction of effort and would be of very uneven quality assuming our society even supported "parents doing most of this anyway". There would be no better way to reproduce existing inequality. I don't think that's what Mr. Market wants.
2
I greatly admire the early educators who do this critical work for so little pay and even less respect. That they should be paid better I know from personal experience.
After a 25 year career in marketing communications, I became interested in Early Childhood education as a path to pursuing an interest in promoting early literacy. Went back to school, got an associate’s degree and state license. During student teaching I realized I was most drawn to students with special needs, so after finishing that first degree, I immediately continued on to a licensing program for state teacher certification in Special Education. All the while I was working in classrooms.
Once I obtained my state teacher’s license, I never found a job teaching public PK because such jobs, in my state, are not just few and far between but also highly coveted by teachers already working in the district.
I refused to work for $15/hour in a preschool-only setting after the time and money I spent training. I left the field altogether.
I do volunteer work with seniors instead, and make money doing something unrelated to education.
137
So you spent money for education without knowing the market for people doing that? You must be wealthy.
17
This is an excellent and important comment.
18
Valid question. I did know, but I hoped I would be one of the lucky ones, with perseverance and drive (the American way, right? If you work hard enough, surely you’ll achieve your goals.) And supporting early literacy seemed important enough to risk it. I was in my 50s and had had a successful career in another field, and my husband has a decent job.
Finally, I was passionate about early literacy, and I still am. If I won the lottery I would create a fabulous bookmobile/enrichment program in a huge RV and staff it with people like the teacher in the article. It would visit neighborhoods where there was a need for early literacy services.
You’re quick with the put downs, but do you have any ideas that actually help anyone?
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