Why We Matter…..

WHO WE ARE:

We are a group of Early Childhood Educators (ECE’s) owning, operating or teaching home based or center based educational programs in Pinellas County.

We care for and EDUCATE children ages birth to five, before kindergarten as well as school aged children in after-school programming in our homes or centers who:

• Live in poverty and access subsidized state funding for childcare as well those whose families pay for care out of pocket

• Live in foster care or within the child welfare system due to abuse or neglect

• Live in domestic violence shelters/receive services

• Were exposed to drug and alcohol abuse before birth

• Struggle with trauma-based behaviors and unresolved mental health issues that affect their ability to learn

• Have been diagnosed or show signs of learning or developmental disorders

OUR ISSUES TO TACKLE:

• The living wage/annual salaries for ECE’s are at or below poverty level nationwide (1)

• Florida ranks 4th in the nation for the number of ECE’s employed, but ranks #47 for salaries (2)

• there are 3,980 ECE’s in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL earning an average of $25,870/ yr (3)

• Only 15.0 percent of ECE’s receive health insurance from their job, compared with 49.9 percent of workers in similar occupations (4)

• The median hourly wage for ECE’s is $10.31: 39.3 percent below the $17.00 median hourly wage of workers in similar occupations (5)

• ECE’s are often excluded from federal protection in times of crisis

• ECE’s are often excluded from grants/funding opportunities without a nonprofit status; home based ECE’s are historically excluded from emergency funded altogether

• ECE’s experience class and racial bias in their profession and within the families they serve

• ECE’s who are non-white experience limited opportunities and access to the benefits of multiple systems that benefit their white counterparts

• ECE’s who are non-white and serve minority children struggle with accessing the same supports, opportunities and benefits to ensure a quality education that are more typically available to children and families of their white counterparts

• The children and families served by ECE’s are often living in poverty and which equates to adverse life experiences and results in trauma; these childhood experiences require advanced training for educators along with onsite coaching and realistic, time sensitive interventions from multiple sources; all of which are extremely limited.

• The children and families served by ECE’s are often living in poverty which equates to multiple needs that impact the quality of a child’s learning that includes meaningful access to family support services such as consistent food sources, housing, emergency funds, counseling, and evaluations for specialized services that are all limited and comes along with some stigma.

• The children and families served by ECE’a rely on their early learning provider to inform and guide them in social, emotional and developmental norms that need to be delivered in consistent ways throughout the community along with viable resources that are limited in this form.

• ECE’a who strive for high quality delivery of educational services require access to high quality educational resources that are often priced outside of their salary range and difficult to obtain given their need to be present on the job every day.

(1), (2), (3), 2018 Occupational Employment Statistics sourced from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) [salary data  accessed April 2001 https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_fl.htm#25-0000

(4 )Economic Policy Institute https://www.epi.org/

(5) Economic Policy Institute Issue Brief $405 November 5,2015 “Child Care Workers Are Not Paid Enough to Make Ends Meet”    https://files.epi.org/2015/child-care-workers-final.pdf