Today, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) announced it will reconvene the Early Childhood Educator Compensation Task Force to help inform the continued implementation of the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, a first-in-the-nation initiative to increase compensation of early childhood educators. Abigail Smith, chair of the original task force and former DC Deputy Mayor for Education, will chair the relaunched Task Force, which includes DC child care providers, early learning advocates and experts in child care policy and financing.
“Since launching the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund in 2022, we’ve heard countless early childhood educators share how these funds have positively impacted their lives,” State Superintendent of Education Dr. Christina Grant said. “The recommendations produced by the Task Force in 2022 have been essential to the program’s early success. Because the work we are doing is unprecedented, we are learning as we go, and this is an appropriate time to take stock of what we’ve learned so far and how we can use it to further refine and improve the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund. We are excited to reconvene this group of experts to help us do that.”
DC is the first jurisdiction in the country to advance equitable pay for early childhood educators working with children from birth to age 5 in child care settings at scale. In less than two years, OSSE distributed nearly $100 million to providers and facilities through the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund.
In 2024, the Task Force will review implementation of the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund to date, including the minimum salaries established for early childhood educators and formula through which funds are distributed to child development facilities, and identify options for improvement and make recommendations to ensure equity, efficiency, and sustainability in the long-term implementation of the fund.
“The Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund is about creating real, lasting change to make sure that DC early childhood educators are equitably compensated and that their pay reflects the crucial importance and value of the work they do every day with young children and families,” Task Force Chair Abigail Smith said. “I am honored to chair the Task Force again and look forward to working closely with fellow members to outline the vision for the continued implementation and success of the program for years to come.”
Task Force members include:
- Ruqiyyah Anbar-Shaheen, Director of Early Childhood Policy, DC Action
- Cynthia Davis, Executive Director, DC Family Child Care Association (DCFCCA)
- Sally D’Italia, Co-chair, DC Directors Exchange
- Maria Cristina Encinas, Board President, Multicultural Spanish Speaking Providers Association (MSSPA)
- Marla Dean, Ward 7 Education Council
- Michael Madowitz, Economist and DC resident
- Kathy Hollowell-Makle, Executive Director, District of Columbia Association for the Education of Young Children (DCAEYC)
- Sara Mead, Deputy Superintendent for Early Learning, OSSE
- Taryn Morrissey, Ph.D., Professor, American University School of Public Affairs
- Marica Cox Mitchell, Senior Director, Early Childhood, Bainum Family Foundation
- Kellie D. Salley, Early childhood educator
- Abigail Smith (Chair), Owner, BlueSkyEd Consulting, Chair of original Early Childhood Educator Equitable Compensation Task Force
- Wallrick Williams, Ward 4 Resident and parent
Following the Task Force’s recommendations in 2022, OSSE distributed more than $80 million directly to more than 4,000 early childhood educators between August 2022 to September 2023 through the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund.
In October 2023, OSSE transitioned to distributing funds to child development facilities to increase wages and salaries paid to staff, and $13.9 million has since been distributed to more than 270 facilities. Additional funds will be distributed in March, June and September 2024 to participating child development facilities.
Additionally, nearly 1,500 early childhood educators and their dependents now receive health insurance through HealthCare4ChildCare, an innovative partnership between OSSE and the DC Health Benefits Exchange that leverages Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Funds to increase access to and affordability of health insurance for child care educators.
For more information about the Early Childhood Educator Compensation Task Force and Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, visit osse.dc.gov/ecepayequity.