2022 -- S 2235 | |
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LC004086 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- RHODE ISLAND EARLY EDUCATOR INVESTMENT | |
ACT | |
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Introduced By: Senators Cano, DiMario, Quezada, Euer, Murray, Lawson, Kallman, | |
Date Introduced: February 08, 2022 | |
Referred To: Senate Education | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Legislative findings and purpose. |
2 | (1) Young children's healthy brain development and learning depends on consistent, |
3 | nurturing care and enriching learning opportunities at home and in early care and education settings. |
4 | Starting at birth, day-to-day interactions with family members and early educators shape children’s |
5 | brain architecture upon which all future learning and development is built. |
6 | (2) Many of the early educators and early childhood professionals in Rhode Island earn |
7 | very low wages even when they achieve credentials equivalent to kindergarten through grade |
8 | twelve (K-12) teachers and demonstrate effective practices. Childcare, family home visiting, early |
9 | head start, head start, Rhode Island pre-K, and early intervention (Part C of the Individuals with |
10 | Disabilities Education Act) programs across the state report difficulty attracting, developing, and |
11 | retaining effective early childhood professionals. |
12 | (3) A 2019 statewide survey of early childhood professionals in Rhode Island found that |
13 | over forty percent (40%) of infant/toddler educators worry about having enough food to feed their |
14 | family and fifty percent (50%) worry about having enough money to pay for housing. |
15 | (4) The 2019 statewide survey also found that almost one-third (1/3) of early educators had |
16 | a second job to help make ends meet and almost two-thirds (2/3) reported that they plan to leave |
17 | their early education job if the compensation does not improve. And yet, most report that they enjoy |
18 | working with children and families and many have earned college credits and degrees in child |
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1 | development and early education. |
2 | (5) A landmark report issued by the National Academy of Science in 2015 found that |
3 | educators of young children, including infants and toddlers, need the same high level of knowledge |
4 | and competencies as teachers of older children and that educational qualifications and |
5 | compensation of early educators should be equivalent to those of kindergarten through grade twelve |
6 | (K-12) teachers. |
7 | (6) According to 2020 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for |
8 | a childcare teacher in Rhode Island was twelve dollars and eleven cents ($12.11) per hour and the |
9 | median wage for a preschool teacher in Rhode Island was fourteen dollars and thirty-two cents |
10 | ($14.32) per hour, well below the state median wage of twenty-two dollars and seventy-seven cents |
11 | ($22.77) per hour and significantly below the level of kindergarten teachers who had an average |
12 | annual salary of seventy-nine thousand one hundred fifty dollars ($79,150). Rhode Island state |
13 | agency data show that median wages for Early Intervention (Part C of the Individuals with |
14 | Disabilities Education Act) specialists and Family Home Visitors are significantly below Rhode |
15 | Island median wages for similarly qualified individuals. |
16 | (7) By enacting this chapter, the general assembly acknowledges the need to develop and |
17 | implement strategies to improve the compensation of early educators so programs can attract, |
18 | develop, and retain effective staff to care for and educate young children and provide family- |
19 | focused services. |
20 | SECTION 2. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled "EDUCATION" is hereby amended by |
21 | adding thereto the following chapter: |
22 | CHAPTER 112 |
23 | RHODE ISLAND EARLY EDUCATOR INVESTMENT ACT |
24 | 16-112-1. Short title. |
25 | This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Rhode Island Early Educator |
26 | Investment Act". |
27 | 16-112-2. Establishment of a target wage scale. |
28 | (a) The children’s cabinet created in § 42-72.5-1 shall work to establish goals to improve |
29 | compensation, including a cross-departmental target wage scale, for early educators linked to |
30 | education levels above high school and demonstrated competence working with children and |
31 | families. |
32 | (b) The target wage scale shall be developed to apply to educators working in childcare |
33 | centers, family childcare homes, Rhode Island Pre-K classrooms, family home visiting programs, |
34 | and Early Intervention programs pursuant to part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education |
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1 | Act (20 USC §1431). The cross-departmental target wage scale shall promote parity with |
2 | kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) public school teachers for individuals with similar |
3 | credentials. |
4 | (c) In developing this cross-departmental target wage scale, the children’s cabinet may |
5 | consider findings and recommendations including those provided in the 2019 moving the needle |
6 | on compensation task force's report "improving the compensation and retention of effective |
7 | infant/toddler educators in Rhode Island." |
8 | 16-112-3. Developing strategies to increase compensation of early educators. |
9 | (a) Once the target wage scale has been established, the children’s cabinet shall design |
10 | strategies and estimate the cost to close the gap between current wages and the cross-departmental |
11 | target wage scale, including parity with public school teaching staff or individuals with similar |
12 | credentials. In developing the plan, the following shall be considered: |
13 | (1) Continuation and expansion of the existing statewide, comprehensive, research-based |
14 | early childhood workforce development scholarship program established under § 16-87-4 to |
15 | include stronger and ongoing support for compensation, such as implementation of wage |
16 | supplements or regular stipends for early educators to lift annual income to meet or exceed the |
17 | levels in the target wage scale. Consideration shall be given to the infant/toddler educator education |
18 | and retention awards demonstration program recommended by the moving the needle on |
19 | compensation's task force. |
20 | (2) Proposals to increase rates paid to early childhood programs that are adequate to enable |
21 | programs to pay early educators wages that meet or exceed the levels in the cross-departmental |
22 | target wage scale. |
23 | (3) Contracts to early childhood programs to expand the availability of high-quality |
24 | services for young children and families with educators in the program paid wages that meet or |
25 | exceed the levels in the cross-departmental target wage scale. |
26 | (4) Registered apprenticeships for early educators that support completion of college |
27 | coursework and attainment of college credentials while providing opportunities to develop high- |
28 | quality practices through regular on-the-job coaching by master early educators. Apprenticeships |
29 | shall be designed and funded to enable successful participants to earn wages that meet or exceed |
30 | the levels in the cross-departmental target wage scale. |
31 | 16-112-4. Reporting. |
32 | The children’s cabinet shall report back to the governor and general assembly on or before |
33 | December 1, 2022 with a cross-departmental target wage scale and initial cost estimates for public |
34 | funding to close the wage gaps for early educators. |
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1 | SECTION 3. Title 40 of the General Laws entitled "HUMAN SERVICES" is hereby |
2 | amended by adding thereto the following chapter: |
3 | CHAPTER 6.7 |
4 | CHILDCARE AND EARLY EDUCATOR REGISTRY |
5 | 40-6.7-Section. Childcare and early educator registry. |
6 | (a) On or before December 1, 2022, the department of human services shall implement a |
7 | childcare and early educator registry that meets the recommended guidelines of the National |
8 | Workforce Registry Alliance, and includes information about staff who work directly with children |
9 | in all licensed childcare centers and family childcare homes in the state. The registry shall be |
10 | designed to support communication of important information and opportunities, including training |
11 | opportunities and opportunities to receive a wage supplement, directly to front-line childcare and |
12 | early educators. The registry shall also be designed to help the state gather and maintain information |
13 | about the demographics and annual turnover of childcare educators by key factors including |
14 | educational qualifications and age category of children they teach. |
15 | (b) Annually, on or before March 31, 2023, the department of human services shall produce |
16 | an annual report on the status of the childcare educator registry and the characteristics of the |
17 | childcare workforce, including demographic information, qualifications, and turnover data. The |
18 | report shall be shared with the general assembly, the children’s cabinet, all licensed childcare |
19 | centers and family childcare homes, individuals participating in the registry, and posted on the |
20 | department’s website for the general public. |
21 | (c) On or before December 1, 2022, the department of human services shall design and |
22 | begin implementation of a five million dollars ($5,000,000.00) pilot program to provide monthly |
23 | wage supplements for childcare educators. The program shall be designed to close the gap between |
24 | the actual wages of the childcare educators and the target wages according to the cross- |
25 | departmental target wage scale for early educators developed by the children’s cabinet. The |
26 | department shall consider the design of the infant/toddler educator education and retention awards |
27 | demonstration program recommended in 2019 by the moving the needle on compensation's task |
28 | force. The pilot shall include childcare educators who work in both licensed childcare centers and |
29 | family childcare homes and shall be available statewide, with priority given to childcare educators |
30 | who work with infants and toddlers and children enrolled in the childcare assistance program. |
31 | SECTION 4. Section 42-72.5-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-72.5 entitled |
32 | "Children's Cabinet" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
33 | 42-72.5-2. Policy and goals. |
34 | The children's cabinet shall: |
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1 | (1) Meet at least monthly to address all issues, especially those that cross departmental |
2 | lines, and relate to children's needs and services; |
3 | (2) Review, amend, and propose all interagency agreements necessary to provide |
4 | coordinated services to children; |
5 | (3) Produce an annual comprehensive children's budget, to be submitted with other budget |
6 | documents to the general assembly; |
7 | (4) Produce, by December 1, 2015, a comprehensive, five (5) year statewide plan and |
8 | proposed budget for an integrated state child service system. This plan shall be submitted to the |
9 | governor; the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate, and updated |
10 | annually thereafter; |
11 | (5) [Deleted by P.L. 2015, ch. 141, art. 5, § 21]. |
12 | (6) Develop a strategic plan to coordinate and share data to foster interagency |
13 | communication, increase efficiency of service delivery, and simultaneously protect children's |
14 | legitimate expectations of privacy and rights to confidentiality. This shall include data-sharing with |
15 | research partners, pursuant to data-sharing agreements, that maintains data integrity and protects |
16 | the security and confidentiality of these records. Any such data-sharing agreements shall comply |
17 | with all privacy and security requirements of federal and state law and regulation governing the use |
18 | of such data. Any universal student identifier now in use by the state or developed in the future |
19 | shall not involve a student's social security number. |
20 | (7) Establish and maintain an updated target wage scale for early educators working in |
21 | childcare, RI Pre-K, family home visiting, and Early Intervention pursuant to part C of the |
22 | Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 USC §1431) programs that aligns with |
23 | compensation of similarly qualified kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) educators. This shall |
24 | include the design of and oversight of the implementation of a strategic plan to close the gap |
25 | between current wages and the target wage scale, including parity with similarly qualified public |
26 | school teaching staff pursuant to the provisions of chapter 112 of title 16. |
27 | SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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LC004086 | |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- RHODE ISLAND EARLY EDUCATOR INVESTMENT | |
ACT | |
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1 | This act would require the children’s cabinet, to develop and implement a strategic plan to |
2 | retain early childhood educators by creating a cross-departmental target wage scale of early |
3 | educators and that of a similarly qualified public school teaching staff or individuals with similar |
4 | credentials. The children’s cabinet to would be required to consider matters such as scholarships in |
5 | early childhood education, wage supplements or stipends, apprenticeships. The children’s cabinet |
6 | would report findings to the governor and the general assembly by December 1, 2022. It would |
7 | also require the department of human services to create and maintain a childcare and early educator |
8 | registry. |
9 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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