The Birth-to-Three for All DC Act of 2018 (D.C. Official Code § 4-410.01; D.C. Law 22-192) requires the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to “develop a competitive lead teacher and teacher assistant compensation scale (“salary scale”) for child development facilities that achieves parity.”

In compliance with this requirement, OSSE’s Division of Early Learning (DEL) has produced the Compensation Scale for the DC Child Care Workforce report. The report presents compensation scales for infant and toddler teachers and teacher assistants in early child development centers that reflect parity, defined by the Act as “compensation equivalent to an elementary school teacher employed by the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) with the equivalent role, credentials, and experience.”

These salary scales are based on those used in DCPS and existing laws governing the minimum wage and living wage. The report also provides an estimate, developed using the DC Cost Estimation Model, of how these increased salaries from the compensation scales would increase the cost for child development facilities to deliver infant and toddler care. Using this estimate, the report estimates the cost to the District to set subsidy reimbursement rates for infants and toddlers participating in the District’s child care subsidy rates program at levels that match the estimated cost for providers to deliver infant and toddler care while paying salaries that reflect parity.