Preschool Teachers Have A Right To Better And Higher Pay
According to some studies, children who are enrolled in formal education before kindergarten are more behaved with higher IQ’s than children who have not received quality preschool education. Educators at Star Bright Montessori believe that young children learn more when they are not pushed too hard. Educators have to assist and direct children but their natural desire to be independent must also be encouraged.
Workday starts at 6:30 am for preschool teacher Lorena Gomez. She has a dozen 3-year olds in her classroom. Every day, Gomez spends 9 hours standing, sitting and crouching to the height of a toddler. She oversees everything from giving out snacks, supervising playtimes and teaching them numbers, shapes, colors, letters and social nuances.
Class is dismissed at 3:30 pm and Gomez hurries to her 2nd job as a ride-share driver and 3rd job as a nanny. Being a preschool teacher does not pay enough to live in the costly Sacramento housing market. Early childhood educators across California are paid poorly and they have to rely on public assistance.
This year, legislators and advocates of early childhood education were happy when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a budget that included significant investments towards early childhood education programs. The $1.8 billion investment will provide tens of thousands children access to subsidized preschool and childcare. Hundreds of millions will be invested into educator training and new childcare facilities. They forgot to increase the pay of teachers.
All the training money will go down the drain if college graduates and more qualified teachers will not be attracted to join the preschools because of the low salaries. The governor wants quality education for children but he won’t get that unless he raises the salaries of teachers.
Providers of early childhood education that rely on fees from parents say that increasing pay will mean raising school fees in California which will further price out the lower and middleclass families.
Preschool teachers at Star Bright Montessori are trained to provide children with the freedom to practice and improve within limits. When children learn to take care for themselves and the environment where they live, their demeanor changes to one of self accomplishment and self confidence.
