Decades of research shows that a high-quality early childhood education is the foundation upon which students' future school successes are largely based. That same research also shows that one of the key factors in determining the quality of an early childhood program is the person in the room delivering it. The most recent data (2006) shows the mean annual salary for child care workers was $18,820. Since 1973, the hourly wage of child care teachers with some college education has gone up only 39 cents -- about a penny a year. Mean hourly wages comparable to child care workers include parking lot attendants, bell hops, and animal trainers.
To this end, WEEL/AFT and its members pursued passage of House Bill 2449, an act relating to improving quality, access, and stability of child care through providing collective bargaining for child care center directors and workers, during the 2008 legislative session. The bill passed the House. Representative Eric Pettigrew from the 37th district was a major sponsor of the bill and fought hard for its passage. "Now the legislature knows what we're asking for and if they care about this they will put their money where their mouth is," he said. Unfortunately, that did not happen and the bill did not pass through the Senate and died.
To recognize Representative Pettigrew's tireless work on this bill and his commitment to ensuring good early learning environments for children and good working environments for the adults responsible for their care and education, he was given a Children's Champion Award. The award was presented by Angie Maxie, executive director of Tiny Tots Development Center in Seattle. WEEL/AFT organizers Mary Jo Shannon and Rosalinda Aguirre, as well as AFT Washington President Sandra Schroeder, thanked Representative Pettigrew as well. Parents and children were also onhand to congratulate Representative Pettigrew and to thank him for his continued support.
Executive director Angie Maxie runs Tiny Tots, a center where 90% of the families whose children attend the center are on state subsidies. She knows firsthand the struggle to pay her staff a living wage and the struggle to get the political and public support the centers need to continue to educate our state's youngest students. "We can start to begin to turn the tide here. It starts with us," she said.
Ms. Maxie also stressed the importance of working with parents on the issues and stated, "We need to have parents be a powerful voice." Shanta Hibbit, the parent of a 3-year-old at the center agreed. "They take care of my child," she said. "They love my child. But when they get home, they can't afford to put food on the table for their family. I am an advocate of anything I can do to uplift them." Another parent stated that she could "see the love and compassion they have about how they're taking care of" the children. The faces of these children as they surround Representative Pettigrew brings home these points.
The 2009 legislative session will be an opportunity for us to continue our work with Representative Pettigrew and other legislators, center owners, directors, and their staff, as well as parents, to uplift early childhood educators as we again work towards passing this most pressing legislation. But for now, we pause to appreciate the hard work and support of Representative Pettigrew. "Every child has the right to have a dream to be what they want to be. It's our responsibility to give them that dream as parents, leaders, uncles and aunts," he said at the ceremony. "If we fall short of this, then we fall short of ourselves."
