Somerset County advocates press for statewide aid to combat child care teacher shortage
Somerset County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ron Aldom quoted a new report that Pennsylvania is losing $6.5 billion annually in earnings, productivity and tax revenue because so many parents have to stay at home with their children.
Standing next to a group of pre-kindergarten students, The Learning Lamp CEO Leah Spangler said her organization's Somerset center could be preparing 63 more kids for elementary school if just seven more teaching positions were filled.
'That's 63 futures,' she said.
That total would grow to 25,000 more children statewide – and thousands of families would benefit – if the statewide teacher shortage was erased, Spangler added.
Aldom and Spangler were among the early childhood education advocates aiming to ramp up support for a $55 million state budget proposal to help address the shortage.
It's at a 'crisis' point – and Pennsylvania, its businesses and its next generation of workers are all being impacted, said state Sen. Patrick Stefano, R-Fayette, who supports the measure.
The child care teacher shortage has continued for years across the region, which has seen child care centers struggle to find staff – and, increasingly, close as a result.
It all boils down to the reality that early child care teachers are paid near-poverty-level wages – less than half of their elementary school counterparts, Stefano and Spangler said.
They earn an average of just $29,480 annually statewide – barely enough for one person, let alone a parent with a family of their own, to survive in today's economy, United Way of the Southern Alleghenies CEO Karen Struble Myers said.
Low wage-earning families and 'the child care workers who serve them are trapped in a cycle where underfunded care equals underfunded staff. (That equals) unaffordable care and workforce shortages,' she said. 'It's a downward spiral that hurts everyone.'
There are people on the sidelines who want to work, Aldom said.
'They just can't,' he added, 'because for many people, the cost of child care offsets the money they make.'
That's one reason why child care providers such as The Learning Lamp cannot solve the teacher wage crisis by simply ratcheting up tuition costs for the working families they serve, Spangler added.
The Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young People cited an Early Learning PA Coalition study that showed 83% of likely voters surveyed in March supported increasing state funding for child care teacher recruitment.
Stefano, a state Senate Aging and Youth Committee member who has backed efforts to solve the issue, said there's reason for hope this budget cycle.
Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed adding $55 million to the early education budget specifically for child care recruitment and retention – a move that may be a first for a Pennsylvania governor, Stefano said.
It's important to make sure the topic remains a bipartisan priority as budget discussions continue, he said. Lawmakers need to settle on a final dollar amount and how it will be paid for and, separately, work with Pennsylvania businesses to clear regulatory hurdles that are barriers to supporting child care-needy employees, Stefano said.
Shapiro was in Erie Thursday advocating for a stronger investment in early childhood education. Part of his proposal calls for a Child Care Works recruitment bonus program aimed at retaining new hires.
Stefano said it's going to take several different measures to solve the issue.
'It's going to require public-private partnerships,' he added.
He said the fact that Chambers of Commerce statewide, including Somerset County's, are lobbying Harrisburg to address the teacher shortage adds weight to the movement.
Aldom said it's a no-brainer for businesses.
'I think we're all on board with this idea,' he said. 'Child care is vital to the future of our economy and the well-being of working families everywhere.'
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