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Building an Early Childhood System from Its Existing Assets — Capita [1]

['Joe Waters']

Date: 2021-12-10  

If our goal is to create an equitable system that creates access for all families and affirms the preferences of Black and brown parents and providers, then we should fully fund the pluralist approach that currently exists rather than build on a one-size-fits all system like K-12 school districts. An equitable system would elevate home-based care as a quality option and value its unique ability to meet the myriad needs and desires of families. These unique needs and preferences will vary greatly across many domains from daily meals (can halal, kosher and vegan all be on the menu?) to cloth diapering to other child rearing practices that are personal and nuanced and that many parents currently find in their care providers.

Such a system would also acknowledge that especially for infants and toddlers, family, friend, and neighbor caregivers, and/or caregivers who share the same racial or ethnic identity as the children in their care, advance the reciprocal relationships that nurture children’s curiosity and affirm their identity. We agree with researchers that the color blind definition of quality spotlighted in the famous North Carolina Abecedarian project of the 1970s, where 98 percent of the children and all of the teachers were black, “misses the assets that Black children and families bring to the classroom.” Our systems must connect and support all kinds of providers and families to thrive by preserving and valuing their diversity and distinctiveness, rather than squeezing them all into a single mold or definition of quality.

Compensate providers equitably. Another huge asset of early education, in contrast to K-12 education where the workforce is mostly white, is its racially diverse and deeply committed workforce. Data from the Department of Education show that nationwide only 18% of public school teachers are people of color. But 37% of workers in child care centers and listed home-based child care providers identify as people of color, and this number increases to 49% people of color when looking at unlisted home-based providers. Consider that K-12 teachers who worked through the pandemic were paid whether or not their students showed up on the Zoom screen, whether or not their school was shut down for an extra week or three of spring break. Meanwhile, family, friend, and neighbor caregivers who took care of teachers’ children when they worked, earned less than $8000 per year for their essential services and often struggled to pay for utilities, rent, or even food for their own households. Few of these caregivers had access to hazard pay, relief funds or subsidized protective equipment. The elder care and child welfare sectors have figured out how to value and compensate family members who step up to care for their loved ones. Can we build on those organizational structures to implement an equitable compensation and subsidy structure for all early childcare workers?

Providers’ responsiveness to families and communities at large is an essential feature of child care that needs to be celebrated and compensated. As we rethink the administrative structures that can deliver for children and families, let's start with the women and programs that always do.

In conclusion, we agree with Haspel that making comprehensive, quality early education accessible to all families requires us to rethink how we support and compensate childcare providers. But instead of reinventing the wheel following the model of K-12 education, we believe a better approach is to build new early childhood systems upon existing assets. Comprehensive network hubs that build on the existing assets of early childhood education can ensure quality, sustainability, and universal access to child care. They can also advance progress toward equity by valuing the strengths Black and brown caregivers bring to the table and promising equitable compensation for their services.

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[1] Url: https://www.capita.org/capita-ideas/2021/12/10/building-an-early-childhood-system-from-its-existing-assets

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