A state-by-state analysis revealed early education conditions and policies are undermining early learning development, according to UC Berkley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSSCE).

The conditions and policies set up undermine the more than 100,000 members of the early childhood teaching workforce, the study showed, hindering positive school and life outcomes for California’s 3 million children birth through age 5, according to CSSCE officials.

“High-quality early education and care is a must have for our young children and working families, yet California woefully under invests in the educators who teach and care for them,” said Deborah Kong, president of Early Edge California.  “Early educators are society’s brain builders – we urgently need state policies and investments that provide them with the skills and supports they need to promote the best outcomes for our children.”

The CSSCE has created the first state-by-state analysis of early childhood employment conditions and policies. Click here to view that analysis. 

The index provided by the CSSCE determines that California does not measure up on a handful of important employment indicators, which include earnings, early childhood workforce policies, and family and income support policies.

“Early educators’ skills, knowledge, and well-being are inseparable from the quality of children’s early learning experiences,” said Marcy Whitebook, director of CSCCE and one of the study’s authors.

“But states across the country are largely failing to provide the combination of appropriate compensation, professional work environments, and training that teachers need to help children succeed.”

An area policymakers and stakeholders seek to improve upon specifically is ensuring high quality early care and education, which includes advancing the preparation of the early educator workforce through education, training and career pathways.

The California Legislative Women’s Caucus have made investments in young children, their families and early childhood providers.

This has been a top budget priority for the group and it is important to recognize early learning in lifting up both working mothers and members of the early childhood workforce.

As of right now, early educators are among the lowest paid workers in the state, their median hourly wage for childcare workers being $11.61, and only $15.25 for preschool teachers.

Gov. Jerry Brown, as well as the leadership in the Legislature, have agreed upon significant increases for early educators, which means keeping up with the rise in the state’s minimum wage.

Increasing conditions and policies within in early education will help ensure all children have the experiences necessary to be successful learners by the end of the third grade, which in turn set them on a path to college and career readiness, according to Early Edge California officials.