Inside The PK Classroom (848K) - Foundation for Child Development

AcknowledgmentsThis research study was made possible by thegenerous support of the Foundation for ChildDevelopment. The views represented in this reportare those of the authors only, and do not reflectthe views of the funder, reviewers, or the study’sAdvisory Committee.Project Coordinators: Alice Burton, Marci P. Young,Dan BellmProject Advisors: Mindy Fried, Anne MitchellResearch Associate: Brian DuffResearch Assistants: Jeannette Antongiorgi,Kassin LavertyInterviewer Training: Kate TheganSurvey Interviewers: Jeannette Antongiorgi, CariGast, Mary Ellen Knapp, Kassin Laverty, MicheleSchiroSpecial thanks to:• The many prekindergarten directors and teacherswho participated in this study and gave sogenerously of their time.• Our reviewers, who provided us with manythoughtful suggestions about this report: SharonHawley, California Department ofEducation, Child Development Division; ArlyceCurrie, BANANAS Child Care Resource andReferral (Oakland, CA); Rory Darrah, AlamedaCounty (CA) Children and Families Commission;Margie Wallen, Office of the Governor (Illinois);Anne Mitchell, Consultant; Mindy Fried,Consultant; Daphne Hailey, Georgia Office ofSchool Readiness; Marsha Moore, Georgia Officeof School Readiness; Ruby Takanishi, Foundationfor Child Development; Carol Shattuck, TexasCollaboration for Children; Sandy Anderson,Texas Association of Child Care Resource andReferral Agencies; and Doug Smith, LegislativeDirector, Office of Texas State RepresentativeMichael Villarreal.© 2002 Center for the Child Care WorkforceAll rights reserved.No part of this report may be used or reproducedwithout permission.For information:Center for the Child Care Workforce733 15th Street, N.W., Suite 1037Washington, DC 20005-2112Telephone: (202) 737-7700Fax: (202) 737-0370Website: www.ccw.orgPrinted in the U.S.A. by Harris LithographicsBook Design: Free Range GraphicsISBN: 1-889956-25-2About the authors: Dan Bellm is a ConsultingWriter/Editor for the Center for the Child CareWorkforce (CCW). Alice Burton is Senior PolicyResearcher at the Center for the Child CareWorkforce. Marcy Whitebook, Ph.D., is SeniorResearcher at the Center for the Study of ChildCare Employment, Institute of Industrial Relations,University of California, Berkeley, and was thefounding Executive Director of the Center for theChild Care Workforce. Linda Broatch is ProgramCoordinator at the Institute of Industrial Relations,University of California, Berkeley. Marci P. Young isExecutive Director of the Center for the Child CareWorkforce.

Inside the Pre-K Classroom:A Study of Staffing andStability In State-FundedPrekindergarten ProgramsDan BellmAlice BurtonMarcy WhitebookLinda BroatchMarci P. YoungCenter for the Child Care WorkforceWashington, D.C.

The Center for the Child Care Workforce(CCW), founded in 1978, is a nonprofitresource, education and advocacy organizationcommitted to improving child carequality by upgrading the compensation, workingconditions and training of child care teachers andfamily child care providers. The Center for theChild Care Workforce advocates for fair anddecent employment for caregivers; affordable,quality care for families; and a greater investmentof public funds into our nation’s child care system.CCW’s goal is to create a unified and powerfulvoice for the child care workforce. As this reportwent to press, CCW was in the process of endingas a freestanding, Washington, DC-based organizationand transferring many of its activities andfunctions to another organization. Further informationabout CCW’s plans were unavailable at presstime and will be released in Fall 2002.The Institute of Industrial Relations (IIR) is anOrganized Research Unit of the University ofCalifornia at Berkeley. IIR brings together facultyfrom several academic departments and supportsmulti-disciplinary research about labor andemployment relations. IIR sponsors numerous communityservice programs, including the Center forLabor Research and Education, the Labor Projectfor Working Families, and the Center for the Studyof Child Care Employment. IIR publishes the widelyrespected academic journal, Industrial Relations: AJournal of Economy and Society, and houses animportant research library that collects and preservesa wide array of information about work,organizations and labor issues.

Table of Contents1 Highlights of the Study3 Introduction9 Overview of Study Findings27 California State Preschool Program39 Georgia Prekindergarten Program53 Chicago (Illinois) PrekindergartenPrograms65 New York State Universal Prekindergartenand Experimental PrekindergartenPrograms79 Texas Public School Prekindergarten Program89 Policy Implications of Study Fundings andRecommendations91 Appendix: Study Design and Methodology97 References

Highlights of the StudyThe present study aims to document the currentstate of staff qualifications, stability,turnover and compensation in state-fundedprekindergarten programs, and to identifythe conditions under which Pre-K initiatives promotea more skilled and stable, and better compensated,early care and education workforce.We selected a sample of programs in five states:California, Georgia, Illinois (Chicago only), NewYork and Texas. In addition to profiling Pre-Kstaffing in each state, we have also explored variationsin staffing among Pre-K programs housed indifferent auspices, including publicly-operatedprograms (based in public school districts or communitycolleges) and privately-operated programs(based in community-based nonprofit agencies orfor-profit organizations).Most Pre-K research to date has focused ondescribing program content, identifying recipientsof services, or assessing educational outcomes,without addressing how to recruit, train and retainthe workforce necessary to implement such programseffectively. To begin this project, the Centerfor the Child Care Workforce (CCW) conducted apreliminary survey of state Pre-K program administratorsthat found wide variations among thestates in terms of these staffing issues.Finding 1: Teaching staff in publicly-operatedprekindergarten programs had higher educationalqualifications than staff in privately-operatedprograms.Finding 2: Teaching staff in publicly-operatedprekindergarten programs received higherpay and benefits than teaching staff in privatelyoperatedprograms.Finding 3: There was greater teaching staff stabilityin publicly-operated prekindergarten programsthan in privately-operated programs.Study data revealed that program auspice — thatis, whether a prekindergarten program was publicly-or privately-operated — was strongly associatedwith differences in the qualifications, compensationand stability of prekindergarten teachers.Specifically, our results showed that teachersemployed in public school-operated or other publicly-operatedPre-K programs in the five study sites— California, Chicago, Georgia, New York andTexas — generally had attained more formal education,received higher wages and benefits, andexperienced greater job stability than did theircounterparts in privately-operated, nonprofit orfor-profit programs.Given the rapid expansion of prekindergarten programsat the state level, the current nationalstaffing crisis in early childhood care and education,and the heightened interest among politiciansand policy makers in making prekindergarteneducation universally available, CCW conductedthe present study to obtain more in-depthdata that can inform a variety of Pre-K policy,planning and assessment efforts.In general, educational qualifications, compensationand stability of teachers in publicly-operatedprekindergartens more closely resembled those ofteachers in grades K-12, while community-based,privately-operated prekindergarten programstended to reflect the lower qualifications, lowercompensation and higher staff turnover associatedwith the child care teaching workforce.Teachers in public school-operated Californiaprekindergartens (State Preschools) were thenotable exception, having attained significantlylower qualifications than those of their K-12 colleagues– largely because of lower requirements –and earning correspondingly lower averagesalaries.1

In all five states in our study, at least some prekindergartenprograms were publicly operated,most often through school districts. The proportionof prekindergarten programs operated under publicauspices varied by state, with Texas and Illinoisoperating public school-based programs almostexclusively, and California, Georgia and New Yorkadministering a mixture of publicly- and privatelyoperatedprograms. States in our study representeddiverse regions of the country; encompassedurban, suburban and rural areas; and representeda range of per-pupil funding. Across these variations,however, public program auspices weregenerally associated with better teacher qualifications,wages, benefits and job stability. This correlationdid not hold as strongly for assistant teachersor directors.Finding 4: Publicly-operated and privatelyoperatedprograms appeared to be evolving intoseparate segments of a two-tier prekindergartensystem.As a result of these substantial differences in qualificationsand compensation of prekindergartenteaching staff across auspices, evidence wasclear that a two-tier system of prekindergarteneducation was developing in the four states thathoused both publicly- and privately-operated programs.Privately-operated programs, in effect,often appeared to serve as training and apprenticeshipprograms to prepare teachers for eventualemployment in the higher-paying, publicly-operatedprograms.Finding 5: Prekindergarten programs, bothpublicly- and privately-operated, have had mixedsuccess in integrating their teaching staff intoexisting service delivery systems.Whether early childhood educators were workingin publicly- or privately-operated programs, integrationof prekindergarten teachers with other sitestaff also presented particular challenges. This hadimplications not only for teachers’ sense of professionalself-esteem, but for how fully they couldtake advantage of opportunities for professionaldevelopment and career advancement.2

IntroductionAcross the country, policy makers, educatorsand parents are increasinglyconcerned about how to prepareyoung children adequately to learnand succeed in kindergarten and the primarygrades. School readiness has been identified asone of the nation’s top five educational goals(National Educational Goals Panel, 1998). Inresponse, many states have substantiallyincreased their investment in prekindergarten pr o-grams over the past decade — spending roughly$1 billion in public funds between 1991 and 1999,and tripling the number of children served duringthat period from 250,000 to 750,000 (Schulman,Blank & Ewen, 1999). Thirty-nine states currentlyinvest to some degree in prekindergarten programs,with several states implementing “univers a l ”e fforts intended to reach all four- y e a r-old childre n .Spurring the creation of many prekindergarten (or“Pre-K”) programs is the substantial gap in schoolreadiness between children living in poverty andthose in more affluent homes. Judges in Arkansas,New Jersey and North Carolina, for example, citingschool districts’ failure to meet their states’ constitutionalguarantee of an adequate education forevery child, have ordered the schools to offerprekindergarten education to all disadvantagedchildren (Child Care Action Campaign, 2002). ThePew Charitable Trusts recently contributed $15 milliontoward research and policy advocacy to promoteuniversal prekindergarten for all three- andfour-year-olds in the United States. The Committeefor Economic Development, a coalition of businessleaders, has also called for prekindergarten educationfor all U.S. children, and for an investmentof federal funds to make this goal a reality(Committee for Economic Development, 2002).The large-scale development of prekindergartenprograms, however, is still in its beginning stages.Even in states that call their Pre-K efforts “universal,”relatively small numbers of targeted children areactually being served, most likely due to inadequatelevels of funding or uncertain continuity offunding from year to year. (See Table 1 and 2.)Although many prekindergarten programs beganwith the single goal of providing educationalenrichment for four-year-olds, they are now facinga broader range of social and economic issuesthat are linked to the care of young children.While most Pre-K programs operate on a half-daybasis, there is a growing need among families forfull-day child care as former welfare recipientsand increasing numbers of women with youngchildren enter the workforce. Prekindergarten programsare being increasingly challenged to offernot only a high-quality learning environment forchildren, but also to care for children during parents’work hours and to provide a sustainableincome for teachers, many of whom are also theworking parents of young children.States have defined prekindergarten education ina variety of ways, reflecting the varied histories ofhow such programs have been developed, targeted,housed and staffed in different parts of thecountry. Some states define their Pre-K programsas “universal” — available to all children of a certainage, regardless of family income — while otherstarget their efforts to a low-income or otherwiseat-risk population. Some have housed theirprekindergarten programs entirely in the publicschools, while others use a combination of publicschools, community agencies, and in some cases,for-profit child care businesses. All define their Pre-K efforts in terms of an educational focus, andmost offer half-day sessions that coincide with theK-12 school year; relatively few offer full-day or fullyearprograms.Unfortunately, the increased demand forprekindergarten education coincides with astaffing crisis in the field of early care and education,as well as widespread teacher shortages ingrades K-12, prompting concerns about howprekindergarten systems will be able to expandand secure a stable, well-qualified workforce.Research has consistently found that the presenceof stable, well-trained and well-compensatedproviders is the key to program quality in earlycare and education. Several studies have conclu-3

sively linked greater staffing stability in this fieldwith higher wages (Cost, Quality & Child OutcomesStudy Team, 1995; Whitebook, Howes & Phillips,1990; Whitebook, Sakai & Howes, 1997; Whitebook,Sakai, Gerber & Howes, 2001; Phillips, Mekos, Scarr,McCartney & Abbott-Shim, 2000). Greater staff s t a-bility, in turn, has been linked to better educationaland developmental outcomes for children, withparticular benefits cited for poor children and thoseat risk for educational underperformance (Peisner-F e i n b e rg, 1999; Cost, Quality & Child Outcomes StudyTeam, 1995; Schweinhart, Barnes & Weikart, 1992).But nationwide, states are experiencing a shortageof early childhood teachers, with annualturnover rates of approximately 30 percent – farhigher than the 6.6 percent annual turnoveramong teachers in grades K-12 (U.S. Departmentof Education, 1997). Class size reduction policies ina number of states are also increasing thedemand for kindergarten and elementary schoolteachers, further drawing many of the most skilledand trained early care and education practitionersaway from working with young children andinto kindergarten or primary grade classrooms. Asthe number of prekindergarten programs continuesto increase, there is rising uncertainty aboutwhether this expansion will help strengthen andstabilize the early care and education workforce,or will add to its current crisis of low wages, decliningqualifications and high staff turnover(Whitebook et al., 2001).About This StudyFor the purposes of this study, we defineprekindergarten programs as publiclyfunded,academically focusedprograms with the explicit goal ofpreparing young children for success inkindergarten and elementary school.We also use the term auspice to referto the legal status and ownership of aprekindergarten program; in this study,two types of program auspice arecompared: “publicly operated”(including school district-based andcommunity college-based programs)and “privately operated” (includingprograms based in nonprofit agenciesand for - p rofit businesses).The present study aims to document the currentstate of staff qualifications, stability, turnover andcompensation in state-funded prekindergartenprograms, and to identify the conditions underwhich Pre-K initiatives promote a more skilled andstable, and better compensated, early care andeducation workforce. We selected a sample ofprograms in five states: California, Georgia, Illinois(Chicago only), New York and Texas. In addition toprofiling Pre-K staffing in each state, we have alsoexplored variations in staffing among Pre-K programshoused in different auspices, including publicly-operatedprograms (based in public schooldistricts or community colleges) and privatelyoperatedprograms (based in community-basednonprofit agencies or for-profit organizations).Most Pre-K research to date has focused ondescribing program content, identifying recipientsof services, or assessing educational outcomes,without addressing how to recruit, train and retainthe workforce necessary to implement such programseffectively. To begin this project, the Centerfor the Child Care Workforce (CCW) conducted apreliminary survey of state Pre-K program administratorsthat found wide variations among thestates in terms of these staffing issues.Given the rapid expansion of prekindergarten programsat the state level, the current nationalstaffing crisis in early childhood care and education,and the heightened interest among politiciansand policy makers in making prekindergarteneducation universally available, CCW conductedthe present study to obtain more in-depthdata that can inform a variety of Pre-K policy,planning and assessment efforts.4

The goals of the study are:1. to describe in greater depth than previouslydocumented the variations among stateprekindergarten programs, as found in fivestates, with respect to program structure and tostaff qualifications, compensation levels andstability;2. to identify the most significant elements of successin recruiting and retaining a skilledprekindergarten workforce;3. to make recommendations, based on studyfindings, for future prekindergarten program policy,particularly as related to the workforce.With these goals in mind, we formulated thefollowing primary research questions for the study:• To what extent are state prekindergartenprograms recruiting and retaining skilled teachingstaff? To answer this question, we investigatedteacher and director qualifications defined byeach program, then looked for the degree ofmatch between required and actual qualificationsof current staff. We also inquired about ratesof staff turnover, and how easy or difficult it is toreplace teachers and assistant teachers wholeave.• To what extent do programs have in place thekey staffing elements associated with quality(stability, high levels of staff education, andadequate compensation), and does this vary byprogram auspices? Most states deliver prekindergartenprograms in a combination of school-districtand community-based settings; in suchstates, what are the challenges faced by eachauspice in recruiting and retaining qualified staff?Does recruitment and retention under each auspiceaffect recruitment and retention under theothers, and if so, how? In states that houseprekindergarten programs primarily in the publicschools, and where Pre-K teachers are paid at ornear parity with elementary school teachers, arestaffing issues more or less difficult than in programswith different auspices and compensationstructures?• What other effects have prekindergartenand staff had on the states’ early care andeducation systems? For example, when statefundedPre-K services are brought under the auspicesof community-based child care programs,has this resulted in better conditions andincreased compensation for other (non-Pre-K)community-based child care teachers andproviders? When Pre-K is housed in the publicschools, to what extent are school districtprekindergarten staff integrated into the district’sK-12 school system, work environment and personnelpolicies?To investigate these questions, we conductedinterviews with Pre-K site administrators betweenspring 2001 and winter 2002. To explore key findingsfrom the survey in greater depth, we also convenedfocus groups and conducted individualinterviews with directors, teaching staff and stateleveladministrators in Chicago and Georgia inwinter 2002.The four states and one city in the study wereselected with the aim of providing a representativecross-section of prekindergarten efforts nationwideaccording to several major variables:• Funding levels and number of children served.All five states had experienced substantialgrowth in Pre-K funding levels and number ofchildren served over the last decade. Two states,Georgia and New York, had implemented new“universal” prekindergarten efforts in 1995 and1997 respectively, aiming to serve all four-yearoldchildren in the state and thus requiring particularlyrapid growth in programs and staffing. NewYork’s Experimental Prekindergarten Program(EPK), an older school district-based programthat has grown only modestly over the lastdecade, was also included to permit comparisonswith the state’s Universal PrekindergartenProgram (UPK). (See Tables 1 and 2.)• State policies regarding staff qualifications andcompensation. We hypothesized that variationsin such policies would influence staff characteristics,salaries and benefits. Texas, for example,requires Pre-K teachers to have completed a5

achelor’s degree and credential, whereasCalifornia requires only the completion of certaincredit-bearing early childhood education courses.(See Table 3.)• Program auspices. Each of the study sitesoffered a unique vantage point on differences instaffing between Pre-K programs offered by publicschool districts and those offered by community-basednonprofit agencies or for-profit organizations.Our sample includes states that contractPre-K services exclusively with public school districts(Texas), those that contract with a combinationof school districts and community-basednonprofit agencies (California and Illinois), andthose that contract with a wider range of programauspices (Georgia). Of New York’s two separateefforts, the Experimental PrekindergartenProgram (EPK) is operated exclusively throughthe public schools, and the newer UniversalPrekindergarten Program (UPK) is operated in avariety of settings.The following chapters present a summary of studyfindings, followed by detailed accounts of findingsin the five states. For further information aboutstudy design and methodology, including samplingand analysis strategies, see the Appendix.Table 1: Recent Growth in State Prekindergarten Programs: Five-State SampleIncrease in StateSpending between1991-92 and 1998-99Number ofChildren Served,1998-1999Number ofChildren Served,2001-2002CaliforniaGeorgiaIllinoisNew YorkUniversal PrekindergartenNew YorkExperimental PrekindergartenTexas52%new program90%new program7%30%65,200*61,00050,00018,90619,458123,859100,000*63,50055,00072,490148,888Sources: Schulman, Blank & Ewen, 1999; Education Week, 2002.* California figures are for available prekindergarten slots, not for children served; due to child turnover, the numbers of childrenserved in these years may be 10-15% higher.6

Table 2: Children Served by Pre-K Programsas Percentage of Preschool PopulationStateCaliforniaGeorgiaIllinoisNew York EPKNew York UPKTexas*Children Served11% of 3- to 4-year-olds53% of 4-year-olds10% of 3- to 5-year-olds2% of 3- to 5-year-olds21% of 4-year-olds46% of 4-year-olds23% of 3- to 4-year-olds*Program designed for 4-year-olds, but school districts mayextend to 3-year-olds after all eligible 4-year-olds have beenservedTable 3: Variation in Study States: Educational RequirementsState Minimum Requirements forPre-Service Education of Pre-KTeachers (as of 2001-2002)Auspices of Programs Providing State-Funded Pre-K ServicesCaliforniaGeorgiaIllinoisNew YorkTexas24 college credits in Early ChildhoodEducation, plus 16 college creditsin General EducationChild Development Associate(CDA) certificateBachelor’s degree andEarly Childhood Education certificateBachelor’s degree andNew York state teaching certificateBachelor’s degree, teachingcertificate, and Early Childhoodor Kindergarten EndorsementSchool districts, community-based nonprofitsSchool districts, community- basednonprofits, for-profitsSchool districts, community-based nonprofitsSchool districts, community-based nonprofitsSchool districts7

Overview ofStudy FindingsStudy data revealed that program auspice— that is, whether a prekindergarten programwas publicly- or privately-operated— was strongly associated with differencesin the qualifications, compensation and stability ofprekindergarten teachers. Specifically, our resultsshowed that teachers employed in public schooloperatedor other publicly-operated Pre-K programsin the five study sites—California, Chicago,Georgia, New York and Texas—generally hadattained more formal education, received higherwages and benefits, and experienced greater jobstability than did their counterparts in privatelyoperated,nonprofit or for-profit programs.In general, educational qualifications, compensationand stability of teachers in publicly-operatedprekindergartens more closely resembled those ofteachers in grades K-12, while community-based,privately-operated prekindergarten programstended to reflect the lower qualifications, lowercompensation and higher staff turnover associatedwith the child care teaching workforce.Teachers in public school-operated Californiaprekindergartens (State Preschools) were thenotable exception, having attained significantlylower qualifications than those of their K-12 colleagues—largely because of lower requirements—and earning correspondingly lower averagesalaries.In all five states in our study, at least someprekindergarten programs were publicly operated,most often through school districts. The proportionof prekindergarten programs operated under publicauspices varied by state, with Texas and Illinoisoperating public school-based programs almostexclusively, and California, Georgia and New Yorkadministering a mixture of publicly and privatelyoperatedprograms. States in our study re p re s e n t e ddiverse regions of the country; encompassed urban,suburban and rural areas; and represented arange of per-pupil funding. Across these variations,however, public program auspices were generallyassociated with better teacher qualifications,wages, benefits and job stability. This relationshipwas not as strong for assistant teachers or dire c t o r s .As a result of these substantial differences in qualificationsand compensation of prekindergartenteaching staff across auspices, evidence wasclear that a two-tier system of prekindergarteneducation was developing in the four states thathoused both publicly- and privately-operated programs.Privately-operated programs, in effect,often appeared to serve as training and apprenticeshipprograms to prepare teachers for eventualemployment in the higher-paying publicly-operatedprograms.This study uses the following definitionsfor staff: Teachers are persons in chargeof a group or classroom of children,often with staff supervisory responsibilities.This category includes “head” or“lead” teachers. Assistant teachers arepersons working with children in aclassroom under the supervision of ateacher. Teaching staff includes all staffpersons who provide direct care tochildren, including teacher-directors,teachers and assistant teachers. D i re c t o r sare the administrative heads of Pre-Ksites who oversee center operations,including center finances, staff salaries,turnover and related matters. In somecases, directors (or “teacher-directors”)may have classroom responsibilitiesalong with administrative tasks.9

Whether early childhood educators were workingin publicly- or privately-operated programs, inte -gration of prekindergarten teachers with other sitestaff also presented particular challenges. This hadimplications not only for teachers’ sense of professionalself-esteem, but for how fully they couldtake advantage of opportunities for professionaldevelopment and career advancement. In publicschools, substantial attention and initiative on thepart of principals was required to ensure thatprekindergarten teachers were viewed as professionalequals by their K-12 colleagues. In privatelyrun,community-based programs, on the otherhand, prekindergarten teachers whose programsreceived state funding were often better-paid andhad access to more resources than their on-sitecolleagues who worked with children from birth toage five, or with school-age children in beforeandafter-school programs. In these settings, siteadministrators had to make conscious efforts tocounteract potential feelings of competitivenessand resentment between colleagues who hadsimilar levels of responsibility but different wagesand working conditions.Overall, prekindergarten teachers in our samplewho were employed in publicly-operated programsmet or exceeded their state’s minimum preserviceeducational requirements. Among privately-operatedprograms, however, only in Chicagodid a majority of teachers in our sample exceedthe minimum requirements. It is notable that in nostudy site did 100 percent of the prekindergartenteachers in our sample – in either privately- or publicly-operatedprograms – meet the minimum preservicerequirements. As pre-service educationrequirements for Pre-K staff rose – for example, inChicago, Georgia and New York – there was con -cern that fewer and fewer prospective teacherswould meet those requirements unless there was aconcerted effort to provide more training (andfunding) than was currently available.In some geographic areas, access to training hadparticular challenges, as one prekindergartendirector in a rural California county pointed out:“Salaries are too low in this very rural and isolatedcounty to provide an incentive to commute 50-60miles to the nearest college to earn minimum earlychildhood education requirements, or even tocommute to work. We arranged one class peryear at the local high school, but it is not enough.The district doesn’t kick in funding.”The five major study findings are presented below,and are also analyzed in greater detail in the fivestate reports that follow.Finding 1Teaching staff in publicly-operatedprekindergarten programs had highereducational qualifications than staff inprivately-operated programs.All five states in which this study was conductedhave set educational requirements for prekindergartenstaff that are identical whether staff areemployed in publicly- or privately-operated programs.1 Nevertheless, we found that the actualeducational attainment of teachers varies significantlyby auspice, with dramatically higher levelsof education among teachers in publicly-operatedprograms.TeachersLowest among the five states in pre-service educationrequirements were Georgia, which requiredprekindergarten teachers to have completed onlya one-year certificate program, and California,where teachers were required to have 24 units ofcollege-level early childhood education coursesand 16 general education units – 20 credits fewerthan the 60 required for a two-year associatedegree.In spite of the low requirements, 82% of teachers inCalifornia’s publicly-operated prekindergartenprograms had earned at least an associatedegree, and 30 percent had earned at least abachelor’s. In California’s privately-operated programs,however, just eight percent of teachershad attained at least an associate degree. InGeorgia, where state per-child reimbursement forprekindergarten programs is indexed to staff educationalattainment, and where school districtscan require higher qualifications than those set by10

the state, fully 93% of teachers in publicly-operatedprograms in our sample had earned at least abachelor’s degree. By contrast, only about onehalfof their counterparts in privately-operatedprograms had attained at least a bachelor’sdegree.In Chicago, New York (except for privately-operatedUPK programs) and Texas, prekindergartenteachers were required to have attained at leasta bachelor’s degree and prekindergarten credential,and in New York, teachers were also requiredto have earned a master’s degree by the timethey completed five years of teaching. In publiclyoperatedprograms in Chicago, 99 percent ofteachers had attained at least a bachelor’s, and70 percent had attained a credential, whereas inprivately-operated programs, only 66 percent ofteachers had earned the required bachelor’sdegree. In Texas, where our sample consistedexclusively of public school-operated programs, 97percent of teachers had earned at least a bachelor’sdegree, and 89 percent had earned aprekindergarten or other teaching credential. InNew York, some 89 percent of teachers in publiclyoperatedprograms had earned at least a bachelor’sand a prekindergarten or other teaching credential;77 percent of teachers in publicly-operatedprekindergarten programs had also attained amaster’s. By contrast, only 38 percent of privatesectorprekindergarten teachers in New York hadearned a bachelor’s degree. This low percentageof teachers who met the minimum educationrequirements is especially problematic, since,beginning with the 2002-03 school year, teachersin New York’s privately-operated UniversalPrekindergarten (UPK) programs will be required tohave not only a bachelor’s degree but a credential.The five states we studied did not appear to haveconsistent policies toward Pre-K staff who had notattained the minimum educational requirements.California, for one, offers temporary waivers whilestaff complete their education, but others have nodefinite policy in place for situations in whichteachers are working without the minimallyrequired course work, credentials or diplomas.11

Table 1: Educational Attainment of Pre-K Teachers, by Program AuspiceSTATEPre-Service Requirements forPublicly-FundedPrekindergarten ProgramsTeachers inPUBLICLY- OPERATEDProgramsTeachers inPRIVATELY- OPERATEDProgramsCaliforniaGeorgiaIllinois (Chicago)New York (EPK)New York (UPK)Texas24 college-level units ofearly childhood educationcourses, plus 16 generaleducation units* (less thanan AA)One-year certificationcourse**BA and Pre-K credentialBA and credential; MA after5 yearsPublicly-Operated Programs:BA and credential; MA after5 yearsPrivately-OperatedPrograms:BA; MA after 5 yearsBA and Pre-K credentialAt least an AA: 82%At least a BA: 30%At least a BA: 93%Certification: 70%At least a BA: 99%ECE/Pre-K or OtherCredential: 70%At least a BA: 100%At least a BA andCredential: 89%At least an MA: 77%At least a BA: 100%ECE/Pre-K or OtherCredential: 94%At least an MA: 72%At least a BA: 97%ECE/Pre-K or OtherCredential: 89%At least an AA: 8%NonprofitAt least a BA: 48%Certification: 41%For-ProfitAt least a BA: 56%Certification: 41%At least a BA: 66%ECE/Pre-K or OtherCredential: 57%NANonprofit***At least a BA: 89%At least an MA: 38%For-Profit***At least a BA: 100%At least an MA: 38%NA* In California, "associate teachers" who have only 12 units are eligible to teach in State Preschool Programs in an emergency capacity.** Minimum requirements will increase to an associate degree in 2002-2003. Teachers with Montessori Diplomas are exempted from theAA degree requirement.*** Beginning in the 2002-2003 school year, UPK teachers in privately-operated programs will be required to hold a BA and a credential,and an MA after 5 years.12

Table 2: Educational Attainment of Pre-K Assistant Teachers, by Program AuspiceSTATEPre-Service Requirements forPublicly-FundedPrekindergarten ProgramsAssistant Teachers inPUBLICLY-OPERATEDProgramsAssistant Teachers inPRIVATELY-OPERATEDProgramsCaliforniaGeorgiaIllinois (Chicago)New York (EPK)New York (UPK)TexasNoneHigh School GraduationHigh School GraduationHigh School Graduation;6 college-level early childhoodeducation unitsSame as EPKHigh School GraduationAt least an AA: 18%At least an AA: 47%At least an AA: 32%At least an AA: 21%(No data availableon those attaining atleast 6 units)At least an AA: 34%(No data availableon those attaining atleast 6 units)At least an AA: 0%At least a BA: 0%At least an MA: 3%At least an AA: 0%At least an AA: 9%At least an AA: 51%NANonprofitAt least an AA: 28%For-ProfitAt least an AA: 44%NAAssistant teachersDirectorsThe level of formal education among assistantteachers in Pre-K programs in all five study siteswas notably low. In all sites except Chicago andGeorgia, fewer than one-third of prekindergartenassistant teachers in either publicly- or privatelyoperatedprograms had earned at least an associate(AA) degree. In most states, public-sectorPre-K staff were better-educated than their private-sectorcounterparts. (By contrast, however,assistant teachers in publicly-operated programs inChicago and New York were less likely than theircounterparts in privately-operated programs tohave attained an AA. This may signal an emergingpattern in which some publicly-operated Pre-Kprograms have one highly-educated teacher andone less-trained assistant teacher, while othersexpect more training for assistant teachers but lessfor teachers.)Previous research has shown the relationshipbetween director qualifications and staffing stabilityin early care and education programs (Cost,Quality and Child Outcomes Study Team, 1995).Although pre-service education requirements forprekindergarten directors were low in relation tothe requirements for the teachers they supervised,a large majority of directors of publicly-operatedprograms met or substantially exceeded thoserequirements. Further, in three of the four studysites that employ directors (California, Georgiaand New York, but not Chicago), directors in publicly-operatedprograms had significantly higherlevels of formal education than did their privatesectorcounterparts. Texas, which operates its programalmost exclusively through the publicschools, does not employ Pre-K directors as such;public school principals serve as site administrators.13

Pre-K directors in New York, who are required tohave an AA degree, two years of teaching experienceand two years of supervisory experience,had the highest levels of educational attainmentamong the four states employing directors: 92 to100 percent in publicly-operated programs, 57percent in privately-operated nonprofit programs,and 67 percent in privately-operated for-profit programshad attained a master’s degree.In Georgia, where there were no state-specifiedrequirements for prekindergarten directors, butwhere school districts had the option to set higherpre-service staff education requirements, some 86percent of directors in publicly-operated programshad at least a BA, while just 64 percent of directorsin private nonprofit programs, and 50 percent ofthose in private for-profit programs, had earned atleast a BA. In California, where an AA degree isrequired of directors, some 76 percent of directorsin publicly-operated Pre-K programs, and 28 percentof directors in privately-operated programs,had earned at least a BA.Table 3: Educational Attainment of Pre-K Directors, by Program AuspiceSTATEPre-service Requirementsin Publicly-Funded Pre-KProgramsDirectors ofPUBLICLY-OPERATEDProgramsDirectors ofPRIVATELY-OPERATEDProgramsCaliforniaGeorgiaIllinois (Chicago)New York (EPK)New York (UPK)TexasRequirements depend onscope of duties:Single site: Site SupervisorsAA or 60 units, including 24ECE/CD units, 6 Admin. Units& 2 Adult Supervision unitsMultiple sites: Program DirectorsBA, including units noted aboveNoneNoneAA in early childhood educa -tion, 2 years teaching; 2 yearssupervisionSame as EPKNAAt least a BA: 76%(All directors in oursample oversawsingle sites.)At least a BA: 86%At least a BA: 81%At least an MA: 92%At least an MA: 100%NAAt least a BA: 28%(All directors in oursample oversawsingle sites.)NonprofitAt least a BA: 64%For-ProfitAt least a BA: 50%At least a BA: 91%NANonprofitAt least an MA: 57%For-ProfitAt least an MA: 67%NA14

Finding 2Teaching staff in publicly-operatedprekindergarten programs received higherpay and benefits than teaching staff inprivately-operated pro g r a m s .Hourly Wages: TeachersIn our study sites, prekindergarten teachersemployed by school districts received higher payand benefits than did prekindergarten teachers inprivately-operated, community-based prekindergartenprograms. In fact, hourly wages for teachersin privately-operated programs were comparableto hourly wages for assistant teachers in thepublicly-operated programs. Public school Pre-Kteacher salary levels approached those of kindergartenteachers in all the states we studied exceptCalifornia, where hourly wages of Pre-K teachers inpublicly-operated programs averaged from a lowof $14.99 to a high of $18.83, and the averagepublic school kindergarten teacher’s hourly wagewas $27.41. In part, this lower hourly Pre-K teacherwage in California reflected the lower pre-serviceeducational requirements in that state.For all five study sites, higher levels of teacher educationalattainment were associated with higherwages. But often, the highest wages a programcould afford to offer were not sufficient to recruitand retain highly qualified staff. Especially in highcost-of-livingareas such as California’s SiliconValley, many programs could not offer adequatesalaries without seeking augmented funding fromvarious sources. As one director remarked, “Tomeet recruiting/retaining challenges, we areactively working to increase benefits, training andprivate donations through a private fund developmentplan. Also, we’re involved in advocating forlegislation that will boost reimbursement from thestate.”In Figure 1, hourly wages for Pre-K teachers arecompared with those for teachers in privatelyoperatedchild care programs and kindergartenteachers in public schools, both of which groupsoften have similar responsibilities to Pre-K teaching,and, in some cases, similar educational qualifications.15

Figure 1: Hourly Wages of Pre-K Teachers, By AuspiceCalifornia$0.00 $28.00Hourly Range*Privately-Operated Child Care $9.06 - $11.19(Typically 12 mos.)Privately-Operated Pre-K (State Preschool) $10.84 - $13.97Publicly-Operated Pre-K (State Preschool) $14.16 - $18.98(Typically half-day, 10 mos.)Hourly Mean**Publicly-Operated Kindergarten $27.41(Typically 10 mos.)Georgia$0.00 $27.00Hourly Range*Privately-Operated Child Care $6.69 - $8.42(Typically 12 mos.)Privately-Operated For-Profit Pre-K $10.28 - $13.22Privately-Operated Nonprofit Pre-K $10.09 - $12.39Publicly-Operated Pre-K $14.56 - $21.66Publicly-Operated Kindergarten $26.71(Typically 10 mos.)Hourly Mean**Illinois (Chicago)$0.00 $27.00Hourly Range*Privately-Operated Child Care $8.19 - $9.69(Typically 12 mos.)Privately-Operated Pre-K $12.44 - $14.86Publicly-Operated Pre-K $21.14 - $32.22Publicly-Operated Kindergarten $26.39(Typically 10 mos.)Hourly Mean**16

New York$0.00 $37.00Hourly Range*Privately-Operated Child Care $8.99 - $11.30(Typically 12 mos.)Privately-Operated For-Profit UPK $10.28 - $12.39Privately-Operated Nonprofit UPK $10.09 - $13.22Publicly-Operated UPK $19.13 - $29.87Publicly-Operated EPK $19.46 - $32.98Publicly-Operated Kindergarten $36.56(Typically 10 mos.)Hourly Mean**Texas$0.00 $27.00Hourly Range*Privately-Operated Child Care $6.89 - $9.25(Typically 12 mos.)Publicly-Operated Pre-K $15.74 - $21.08Publicly-Operated Kindergarten $23.27(Typically 10 mos.)Hourly Mean*** From the mean hourly wages for “child care workers” to the mean hourly wages for “preschool teachers,” as reported by the Bureauof Labor Statistics (U.S. Department of Labor, 2000).** Calculated by dividing mean annual salary by 1,600 hours (40 weeks at 40 hours per week).17

Hourly Wages:Assistant Teachers and DirectorsThere was no consistent relationship betweeneducational attainment and compensation forassistant teachers or for directors.Figure 2: Hourly Wages of Pre-K Assistant Teachers, By AuspiceStateCaliforniaHourly Range*$0.00 $16.00Privately-Operated Pre-K $9.33 - $12.28Privately-Operated Nonprofit Pre-K $13.97 - $15.14GeorgiaPrivately-Operated For-Profit Pre-K $7.56 - $8.56(Typically 12 mos.)Privately-Operated Nonprofit Pre-K $7.00 - $8.08(Typically 12 mos.)Publicly-Operated Pre-K $7.69 - $10.31(Typically 10 mos.)Illinois (Chicago)Privately-Operated Nonprofit Pre-K $7.46 - $9.86Publicly-Operated Pre-K $9.80 - $12.51New YorkPrivately-Operated For-Profit UPK $7.31 - $8.43Privately-Operated Nonprofit UPK $8.31 - $10.44Publicly-Operated UPK $8.83 - $9.96EPK $8.52 - $11.20TexasPublicly-Operated Pre-K $8.16 - $9.40* Figures indicate ranges from mean starting (or lowest) to mean highest hourly wage.18

Figure 3: Hourly Wages of Pre-K Directors, By AuspiceStateCaliforniaHourly Range*$0.00 $34.00Privately-Operated Nonprofit Pre-K $8.59 - $19.55Publicly-Operated Pre-K $22.45 - $30.21GeorgiaPrivately-Operated For-Profit Pre-K $11.45 - $14.18(Typically 12 mos.)Privately-Operated Nonprofit Pre-K $11.50 - $16.53(Typically 12 mos.)Publicly-Operated Pre-K $14.48 - $23.87(Typically 10 mos.)Illinois (Chicago)Privately-Operated Nonprofit Pre-K $15.08 - $19.26Publicly-Operated Pre-K $20.16 - $26.58New YorkPrivately-Operated For-Profit UPK $17.75 - $19.00Privately-Operated Nonprofit UPK $19.71 - $22.97Publicly-Operated UPK $22.41 - $28.54EPK $29.70 - $33.32TexasPublicly-Operated Pre-KNANA* Figures indicate ranges from mean starting (or lowest) to mean highest hourly wage.19

BenefitsThe proportion of publicly-operated prekindergartenprograms that offered teachers fully-paidhealth care coverage as a job benefit ranged fro ma low of 29 percent in Georgia to a high of 91 percentin California. Among privately-operated programs,the percentage offering fully-paid healthc a re coverage ranged from 0 percent in New Yo r k ’ sfor-profit UPK programs, to 60 percent in California.Publicly-operated prekindergarten programs weregenerally much more likely to offer a contributionto teacher retirement plans and pensions thanwere privately-operated programs. In all states surveyed,86 to 98 percent of publicly-operated programsoffered an employer contribution to aretirement plan or pension. Among privately-oper -ated programs, the range in percentage of programsoffering to contribute to a retirement planor pension was much wider, from a low of 11 percentamong for-profit UPK programs in New York,to 71 percent among privately-operated programsin Chicago and nonprofit UPK programs in New Yo r k .Table 4: Teacher Benefits, By AuspiceCALIFORNIAPublicly-Operated Pre-KPrivately-Operated Pre-KGEORGIAPublicly-OperatedPre-KPrivately-OperatedNonprofit Pre-KPrivately-OperatedFor-Profit Pre-KILLINOISPublicly-Operated Pre-KPrivately-Operated Pre-KNEW YORKEPKPublicly-Operated UPKPrivately-OperatedNonprofit UPKPrivately-OperatedFor-Profit UPKTEXASPublicly-Operated Pre-KPrograms OfferingFully-Paid Health CareCoverage*91%60%29%32%11%44%41%68%50%11%0%49%Programs Offering anEmployer Contribution to aTeacher Retirement Plan orPension96%50%86%45%38%98%71%91%90%71%11%92%20* "Fully-paid" is defined here as covering the health care insurance costs of the employed teacher. No information about teachers’use of such benefits was collected. Directors were asked about health benefits offered to full-time teachers.

UnionizationIn publicly-operated prekindergarten programs inCalifornia, Chicago and New York, some 96 to 98percent of teachers were represented by a collectivebargaining unit; although Texas operates itsPre-K program almost exclusively through the publicschools, however, none of its Pre-K teacherswere unionized. In privately-operated prekindergartenprograms, the rate of union representationof teachers ranged from two percent in Georgiaand five percent in Chicago to 33 percent inCalifornia. Teachers whose programs were representedby a collective bargaining unit tended tohave higher wages.Table 5: Teacher Unionization, By AuspiceCALIFORNIAPublicly-Operated Pre-KPrivately-Operated Pre-KGEORGIAPublicly-Operated Pre-KPrivately-OperatedNonprofit Pre-KPrivately-OperatedFor-Profit Pre-KILLINOIS (Chicago)Publicly-Operated Pre-KPrivately-Operated Pre-KNEW YORKEPKPublicly-Operated UPKPrivately-OperatedNonprofit UPKPrivately-OperatedFor-Profit UPKTEXASPublicly-Operated Pre-KUnionized Pro g r a m s *96%33%0%2%0%98%5%97%70%11%10%0%Finding 3There was greater teaching staff stability inpublicly-operated prekindergarten programsthan in privately-operated programs.The previously established relationship betweenhigher wages and greater staffing stability amongearly care and education staff (Whitebook, et al.,2001; Whitebook & Bellm, 1999; Cost, Quality andChild Outcomes Study Team, 1995; Whitebook, etal., 1990) was reconfirmed by our study findings,with better-compensated staff in publicly-operatedprograms generally experiencing substantiallygreater job stability than their counterparts in theprivate sector. Staffing stability among publicschool prekindergarten teachers in California,Georgia and New York was comparable to thestability of the national K-12 teacher workforce,which experiences an average annual turnoverrate of about six percent. In Texas and Chicago,annual turnover rates among public schoolp re k i n d e rgarten teachers were higher — 20 perc e n tand 24 percent, respectively — but still somewhatlower than those for staff in privately-operated,community-based programs in the study, andlower than the 30% national annual turnover rateamong all early childhood educators.In all states except Texas, rates of teacher turnoverwere much higher when wages fell below thestate median starting wage. In Georgia, for example,where the median hourly Pre-K starting wagewas $10.12, programs that paid above-medianwages had a turnover rate of 29 percent, whilethose paying below-median wages experienced42-percent turnover. A New York directordescribed the dramatic difference in staffing stabilityin her area, based on wages: “Our EPK program,all in school district classrooms, has no problemsrecruiting and retaining staff. Our UPK program,which contracts out to Head Start, has lowwages and problems in these areas. Althoughschools help out, the low wages largely contributeto 85-percent turnover rates for UPK sites.”* Refers to percentage of programs sampled whose teachersand/or assistants were covered by a collective bargainingagreement.21

Figure 4: Teacher and Assistant Teacher Turnover, by AuspiceStateTurnoverCalifornia 0%————————————————100%Publicly-Operated Pre-KTeachers: 4%Assistant Teachers: 18%Privately-Operated Nonprofit & For-Profit Pre-KTeachers: 28%Assistant Teachers: 63%GeorgiaPublicly-Operated Pre-KTeachers: 8%Assistant Teachers: 14%Privately-Operated Nonprofit Pre-KTeachers: 25%Assistant Teachers: 40%Privately-Operated For-Profit Pre-KTeachers: 39%Assistant Teachers: 36%Illinois (Chicago)Publicly-Operated Pre-KTeachers: 20%Assistant Teachers: 14%Privately-Operated Nonprofit & For-Profit Pre-KTeachers: 52%Assistant Teachers: 36%New YorkPublicly-Operated EPKTeachers: 10%Assistant Teachers: 18%Publicly-Operated UPKTeachers: 7%Assistant Teachers: 13%Privately-Operated Nonprofit UPKTeachers: 19%Assistant Teachers: 6%Privately-Operated For-Profit UPKTeachers: 13%Assistant Teachers: 46%TexasPublicly-Operated Pre-KTeachers: 24%Assistant Teachers: 6%22

Finding 4Publicly-operated and privately-operatedprograms appeared to be evolvinginto separate segments of a two-tierprekindergarten system.To the extent that states establish a Pre-K systemusing multiple program auspices, the above-noteddifferences between publicly- and privately-operatedprograms can have the effect over time ofcreating a two-tier prekindergarten system. Wefound that the privately-operated, communitybasedprograms tended to serve as a trainingground or apprenticeship opportunity for newteachers who, once they had acquired more skillsand experience, and/or perhaps a required credential,moved to better-compensated jobs inpublicly-operated programs. (Alone among thefive study sites in our sample, Texas operates itsprekindergarten program almost exclusivelythrough the public schools.)In states with both publicly and privately-operatedprekindergarten programs, the wage differentialbetween the two program types created a flow ofmore skilled, experienced teachers from privatelyoperatedto publicly-operated programs. Classsize reduction in kindergarten and primary gradesin many states has further increased the opportunitiesfor the best educated, most experiencedteachers in the early childhood workforce to moveinto public elementary education.As the director of a privately-operated Pre-K programin Georgia commented, “There is highturnover in the private sector. As soon as teachingstaff can obtain the qualifications, they are off tothe public schools. We can always (recruit) teachingstaff, but we cannot keep them.” AnotherGeorgia director noted: “There is fierce competition[for teaching staff]. Schools come and recruitfrom our center…The state minimum salaries areway too low. I pay more because I couldn’t askanyone to work for that. You go into a hole if yourun a quality program.”Similarly, the director of a privately-operatedUniversal Prekindergarten program in New Yorkobserved, “It’s always a problem keeping up withthe Board of Education’s salaries and benefits.Teachers without licensing come here to get training,and once they have a license, they dump usfor the school district.”Well-intended state policy to upgrade theprekindergarten teaching profession may inadvertentlyaccelerate the development of a two-tiersystem of prekindergarten programs. For example,when states raise prekindergarten teacher qualifi -cation standards for privately-operated, community-basedchild care programs, but do not increaseprogram funding to improve teacher wages, theyincrease the probability that teachers will leavecommunity-based, privately-operated programsfor better-paying jobs in school districts.In all five states in our sample, directors of privatelyrunpre k i n d e rgarten programs cited inadequatestate funding as the primary cause of low teachersalaries and high turnover in their programs. Theresult was that the teaching skill level and stabilityof the publicly-operated programs increased, butat the expense of teachers and children in the privately-operatedpro g r a m s .Finding 5Prekindergarten programs, both publicly- andprivately-operated, have had mixed successin integrating their teaching staff into existingservice delivery systems.For teachers in publicly- and privately-operatedprekindergarten programs alike, there were certainchallenges, and sometimes opportunities,related to becoming integrated into the overallteaching staff structure of a school, child carecenter, community agency, business or otherorganization. Whether or not such integrationoccurred had significant implications for howeffectively teachers could do their jobs, and whatopportunities they had for professional developmentand career advancement.Within the administrative structure of publicschools, Pre-K directors and teachers faced the23

set it up…. (Other teachers) know they don’tmake as much money as the certified teachers,but as far as the way the classes look, it is comparable.”Representatives of the state Office of SchoolReadiness (OSR), which oversees Georgia’s Pre-Keffort, noted that they have aimed to providetraining for all teaching staff in centers housing privately-operatedPre-K programs, in an attempt to“raise the bar” of educational attainment and tosupport the overall quality of the centers. Theyhave collaborated with the state Department ofHuman Resources, which administers federal blockgrant funds to subsidized child care, to providejoint training, and with Head Start to supportinfant/toddler training.All private center directors in the focus groupagreed that having a Pre-K program in their centersaffected the rest of the program positively.One observed that “Having certified teachers in aday care center definitely raises the bar.” Allnoted that they send all of their teaching staff toOSR training.positive effect of their educational requirementsbeing the same as those for teachers in the uppergrades. In order to teach in the public schools,teachers were generally required to be certified,but could be hired with provisional certification.Different counties in Georgia varied in how longthe provisional period could last, and in somecounties, it appeared that if a certified teacherwas not available, a non-certified teacher couldbe hired. All teachers agreed that Pre-K teachersshould be certified and degreed, which would putthem on par with their colleagues in upper gradesand affect the level of respect they received fromcoworkers.The presence of a supportive principal was alsocritical to teachers’ sense of being supported withinthe school, but this support did not necessarilytranslate to Pre-K teachers feeling connected withteachers in the upper grades. The Georgia schoolprincipal interviewed for this study also felt that thePre-K curriculum did not flow well into the kindergartencurriculum, making it harder for Pre-K andkindergarten teachers to coordinate their efforts.In Georgia’s publicly-operated (public schoolbased)Pre-K sites, an overall pressing issue was theshortage of classroom space, restricting the abilityof programs to expand to scale and serve all eligiblechildren; this created competition within manyschools concerning which classroom spaces wereavailable for which purposes.Teachers in publicly-operated Pre-K programs variedin the extent to which they felt a part of theirschools. Some were frustrated that teachers ofupper grades did not understand the developmentalneeds and behaviors of four-year-olds, andeither treated them as babies or had excessivelyhigh expectations of them. When teachers wereinvited or were able to take on other, nonprekindergarten-classroomroles within the school,and/or acted in some way as a part of thegreater school community, tensions or disconnectionsbetween them and the rest of the schooltended to dissipate.Pre-K teachers in the focus group also noted theChicagoOverall, the state-funded Pre-K program inChicago was highly regarded and valued. It wasviewed as beneficial to children, and as a goodprofessional environment for teaching staff, both inschools and in subcontracted private agencies. Asone interviewee said, “Chicago has the bestmodel.” The advent of universal preschool in Illinoiswas also viewed mainly as a positive development.Most saw it as an opportunity to obtainmore public resources to improve early childhoodprograms.Privately-operated, community-based Pre-K programsappeared to be well integrated into thecommunity agencies. As a Chicago Public Schoolsadministrator said, “Our goal with subcontractingis integration of Pre-K into child care. Integration isencouraged, supported, expected.” The subcontractingagencies appeared to blend Pre-K withtheir other funding resources to provide children25

with a full day of quality early care and education.Administrators appeared to use Pre-K fundingto address the quality of work life for all child carestaff, sharing state-funded Pre-K resources amongall classrooms and improving benefits for all staff.Rather than competition or divisiveness, even inprograms where state-funded Pre-K staff werepaid better than other child care staff, there wasa sense of mutual benefit. In some instances, community-basedadministrators allocated theirresources to create one salary scale for all leadteachers so that teachers with equivalent qualificationsto Pre-K teachers were paid the samesalary, regardless of which age group of childrenthey worked with.On the other hand, publicly-operated, schoolbasedPre-K programs seemed not to be well integratedinto the elementary schools. One factorwas isolation: the Pre-K classrooms were oftenhoused in separate buildings, and typically therewas only one Pre-K classroom in a school. Anotherwas the reportedly poor image that other teachershad of Pre-K teachers. The differences inschedule, reporting requirements and teachercontrolledresources between Pre-K and the rest ofthe school (K-primary) also reinforced this separateness.Endnotes1 One small exception to this rule is New York’s UniversalPrekindergarten [UPK] program, in which UPK teachers in publicly-runprograms must have a bachelor’s degree and an earlychildhood education credential, whereas teachers in privatelyrunUPKs, at the time of our study, needed only a bachelor’sdegree. As of the 2002-03 school year, however, requirementsare the same for all UPK teachers.26

California StatePreschool ProgramCalifornia developed its State- Preschoolprogram in 1963 to provide part-dayeducation for three- to five-year-oldchildren of low-income families. 1 Whileat least 75 percent of State Preschools are operatedby and located in public school districts,according to the California Department ofEducation, which administers the program community-basednonprofit agencies, public universitiesand community colleges can also receivestate funds to offer preschool services to eligiblechildren. 2Eighty-five percent of the programs in this surveysample were operated by school districts, four percentby public universities and colleges, and 11percent by community-based nonprofit agencies.The programs surveyed were located in Kern, SanDiego, Santa Clara and Shasta Counties.Public university and college programs bear acloser resemblance to school district programsthan to community-based organizations becausethey are also publicly owned and operated. 3Since there were relatively few university and collegeprograms in the sample, and because oftheir structural similarities with school district programs,we have combined them with school districtprograms in our analyses. The final samplereflects the predominance of publicly-operatedprograms in these four counties.27

Program CharacteristicsFamilies with preschool children (ages three tofive) are eligible for California State Preschool programsif their incomes fall below 62 to 72 percentof the state median income. State General Fundsare the primary funding source for State Preschoolprograms, wherever they are housed; although pri -vately-operated community agency programs inour sample were more likely than school districts toaugment their budgets with donations, these comprisedonly a small percentage of their total preschoolbudgets. In addition to serving childrenages three and four in classes funded by StatePreschool dollars, community agencies relied onother public funds to serve other groups of childrenin their programs. Community agenciesreported that 98 percent of their overall budgetscame from a variety of public sources.California State Preschool programs typicallyoffered two half-day sessions for children agesthree to five, five days a week, and were closedduring the summer months; programs were generallylimited to 175 days of operation. Privatelyoperatedprograms were more likely than publiclyoperatedprograms to operate year-round, usingother funding sources, but this was still uncommon.(See Table 1.) Most teachers worked an averageof 34 hours per week, but assistant teachers weremore likely to be employed part-time, for an averageof 24 hours per week. Directors worked anaverage of 41 hours per week, for an 11-monthyear.Table 1: Characteristics of Surveyed ProgramsAuspiceAges of Children ServedDaily ScheduleAnnual ScheduleSources of FundingMost preschool programs were operated under the auspices of publicschool districts (85 percent). The remainder were operated under the auspicesof community-based nonprofits and public colleges and universities.3-5 years oldTwo half-day sessions per day serving two distinct groups of children9-10 month school district calendar; privately-operated programs weremore likely to offer full-year services. 5More than 90 percent of funding was from public sources for publiclyoperatedand privately-operated preschool programs.Number of Teachingand AdministrativeStaff Employed PerProgram**4 Teachers; 6 Assistant Teachers; 1 On-site Director** Others not involved in direct caregiving for preschool children, such as clerical or administrative staff, were not included here.Teaching staff who cared for infants, toddlers or school-age children in programs that house State Preschool programs were also notincluded.28

Demographic Characteristicsof Teaching StaffCalifornia State Preschool teaching staff, like othermembers of the U.S. child care workforce, werepredominantly female. Most teachers werebetween the ages of 30 and 49, whereas assistantteachers were somewhat younger, with mostfalling between 20 and 39 years of age. Teachersand assistant teachers were ethnically diverse,reflecting broader demographic trends inCalifornia; the majority of staff were women ofcolor.Table 2: Demographic Characteristics of Teaching StaffTeachersAssistant TeachersGenderAgeEthnicity98% female61% between 30 and 49 years47% Latino42% Caucasian7% African American3% Asian American1% Other95% female56% between 20 and 39 years55% Latino34% Caucasian5% African American3% Asian American3% OtherEducational Backgroundof Prekindergarten StaffThe State of California has two separate sets ofregulations governing educational requirementsfor teaching and administrative staff in centerbasedprograms serving preschool-age children.Requirements are higher for staff of StatePreschools and subsidized child care centers thanfor staff of other licensed, non-subsidized centers.To be a fully qualified teacher in a State Preschoolor subsidized child care program, an applicantmust have completed 24 college-level units(equivalent to credits) in Early ChildhoodEducation, and 16 units of General Education,prior to employment. Teachers in other licensed,non-subsidized child care centers are required tocomplete only 12 units. Adopted in 1997, theseState Preschool educational requirements representa change in standards for teachers first institutedin 1979. 6 To qualify for State Preschool funds,community-based programs must meet the sameeducational requirements for teaching andadministrative staff as do publicly-operated programs.The State recommends but does notrequire that assistant teachers complete six college-levelunits of Early Childhood Education. 7(See Table 3.)29

Table 3: Minimum Educational Requirements for California State Preschool StaffAssistantTeachersTeachers*On-site Directors(Called SiteSupervisors)Program DirectorsNo pre-servicerequirements;6 units recommended24 units of Early ChildhoodEducation/ChildDevelopment (ECE/CD), 16General Education units,and 4 Supervision andSpecialization unitsAA Degree (or 60units) with 24 ECE/CDunits, 6Administration units,and 2 AdultSupervision unitsBA Degree with 24ECE/CD Units, 6Administration Units,and AdultSupervision unitsSource: State of California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.* Associate teachers, who must complete 12 units of ECE/CD, are permitted to serve as teachers in State Preschool programs on anemergency basis.More than one-half (56 percent) of StatePreschool teachers in our sample had c o m p l e t e dan associate degree in Early Childhood Educationas their highest level of education. One-quarter ofteachers (26 percent) had completed a bachelor’sdegree or above. One third (36 percent) ofassistant teachers had not completed any EarlyChildhood Education courses at the college level.(See Figure 5.)M o re than one-half (59 percent) of on-site dire c t o r shad completed a bachelor’s degree or higher.Depending on program structure, particularlywhen multiple sites were involved, directors wererequired to meet the qualifications of a ProgramDirector. Directors employed by publicly-operatedprograms were more likely to have completed abachelor’s degree or higher than their counterpartsin privately-operated community agencyp ro g r a m s .30

Table 4: Educational Attainments of State Preschool Staff in Early Childhood EducationAssistant TeachersTeachersDirectorsMaster’s degree and aboveBachelor’s degree (BA) plus credential*BA in Early Childhood Education (ECE)BA (not in ECE)Associate degre e (AA) in ECESome College-Level Work in ECE, lessthan AANo College-Level ECE0%0%0%1%19%46%34%3%18%3%2%56%18%0%27%26%3%3%26%15%0%* Credential certifies that the staff member has completed post-baccalaureate work to qualify to teach in an elementary school. Thecredential may reflect a concentration in elementary or early childhood education or a single subject in home economics.Table 5: Educational Characteristics of Staff, by AuspiceAssistant Teachers withan AA and aboveTeachers with aBA and aboveDirectors with a BAand above 8Publicly-OperatedPrivately-Operated18%30%76%(Community-BasedNonprofit)0%8%29%Total16%28%69%31

CompensationState Preschool teaching staff, particularly assistantteachers, earned modest hourly and annualsalaries as compensation for their work with youngchildren. On average, teachers earned a startinghourly wage of $13.82, and $18.47 as the highesthourly wage level. For teachers who wereemployed more than 20 hours per week, thesehourly wages translated into annual earnings rangingfrom $23,977 to $30,127. 9 Assistant teacherswho were employed full-time earned averageannual salaries ranging from $15,269 to $19,431;most, however, were employed part-time, andpart-time assistant teachers’ annual salariesranged from $6,618 to $8,272. Directors’ averageannual salaries ranged from $40,344 to $51,133.Differences in the level of average highest wagesoffered to directors by publicly-operated pr o-grams ($30.21) and privately-operated, community-basedprograms ($19.55) were notable, butwere not statistically significant, due to the smallsample of privately-operated programs.As shown in Table 7, educational attainment resultedin higher salaries only for teachers who hadachieved the highest level of education; it did notappear to produce such results at the associatedegree (AA) level and below. 10 A closer look atprograms employing teachers with some collegework or AA degrees reveals a regional effect. InKern, San Diego and Shasta Counties, teacherswith AA degrees earned higher salaries, on average,than those who had completed some collegecourses, while in Santa Clara County, thistrend was reversed. Since the salaries offered bySanta Clara County State Preschools were higher,on average, than those offered to State Preschoolteachers in other counties, 11 the Santa ClaraCounty salaries had a strong effect on the meanwages for teachers at the levels of “some collegeunits” or “AA”. 12Table 6: Mean Starting and Highest Wages,by AuspiceTable 7: Mean Starting and Highest Wages ofTeachers, by EducationPublicly-OperatedLowHighPrivately-OperatedLowHighTotalLowHighTeachers$14.16$18.98$10.84$13.97$13.82$18.47AssistantTeachers$9.33$12.29$8.60$11.21$9.27$12.20Directors$22.45$30.21$15.14$19.55$21.15$28.54MA and aboveBA plus credentialBAAA in ECESome college unitsin ECE, less thanAAStartingor LowestHourlyWage$18.40$16.75$14.43$13.70$14.09HighestHourlyWage$25.05$20.39$20.07$16.87$17.1632

Table 8: Mean Starting and Highest Wages ofDirectors, by EducationMA and aboveBA plus credentialBAAA in ECESome college unitsin ECE, less thanAAStartingor LowestHourlyWage$28.28$20.67$22.54$15.59$13.86HighestHourlyWage$32.42$27.62$25.76$17.26$17.44Table 9: BenefitsHealth BenefitsLevel of HealthCoveragePension PlanNinety-six percent offered health insurance to teachers, and about twothirds(67%) to assistant teachers.Ninety-one percent of publicly-operated programs, and 60 percent of privately-operatedprograms, offered teachers fully-paid health coverage. 13Ninety-six percent of publicly-operated programs, and 50% of privatelyoperatedprograms, regularly contributed to a pension plan for teachers. 1 4Employee Benefit PlansAlthough privately-operated programs were aslikely as publicly-operated programs to offer somekind of health benefits to teachers, public programs’health benefits were much more likely tobe fully paid by the employer. Publicly-operatedprograms were also more likely to make employercontributions to pension plans. (See Table 9.)UnionizationPublicly-operated program teaching staff weremuch more likely to be members of unions thatrepresented them in collective bargaining agreements.Ninety-six percent of publicly-operated pr o-grams, and 33% of privately-operated programs,had unions representing teachers and/or assistantteachers. 15TurnoverTurnover among State Preschool teaching staff inthis sample was substantially lower (at 5% forteachers, and 21% for assistant teachers) than the30-percent rate identified in most child care programsin California and nationally. 16 Turnoveramong teachers more closely resembled the ratefound among K-12 teachers. Privately-operated,community-based programs, however, confrontedsubstantially higher turnover among teachers (29percent) and assistant teachers (63 percent) than33

Figure 2: Annual Turnover, by Program Site*Teachers 17Assistant Teachers 18did publicly-operated programs; as a result, theoverall staffing stability of California StatePreschool programs can be attributed largely tovery low rates of turnover in the publicly-operatedprograms. (See Figure 2.)63%18%29%21%4%Publicly-OperatedPrivately-Operated5%Total* Turnover results describe the annual rate ofturnover reported by site.Figure 3: Annual Teacher Turnover, by Wage*Teacher Turnover 0% ———————————100%Earning below median starting wage of $13.07 17%Earning above median starting wage of $13.07 3%Earning below median high wage of $17.49 14%Earning above median high wage of $17.49 4%* Results describe annual turnover reported at the program level.Figure 4: Annual Assistant Teacher Turnover, by Wage*Assistant Teacher Turnover 0% ———————————100%Earning below median starting wage of $9.50 31%Earning above median starting wage of $9.50 15%Earning below median high wage of $12.01 29%Earning above median high wage of $12.01 17%* Results describe annual turnover reported at the program level.34

Programs in this sample that offered teachers startinghourly wages above the median ($13.07) hadone-fifth the level of turnover of programs offeringwages below the median. Assistant teacherturnover was about twice as high in programspaying less than the median starting wage of$9.50 per hour. The trend for better-paying programsto have lower turnover was also evidentamong teachers and assistant teachers earningthe highest-end salaries. (See Figures 3 and 4.)Assistant teacher turnover was significantly higherin State Preschool programs paying lower startingand lower upper-level wages. 19Because of relatively low turnover among teachersin all programs, this study does not providedefinitive answers about what aspects of publiclyoperatedprogram employment influencedteacher stability. The health and pension benefitpackage in the predominantly school districtbasedprograms in this sample, which was substantialwhen compared with that offered by mostprivately-operated child care programs, mayhave augmented school district salaries andproved a strong incentive for teachers to remain inthese positions. Moreover, because publicly-operatedprograms demonstrated a trend toward payinghigher salaries than publicly-operated programs,staff employed by these programs may nothave had opportunities to move into other betterpayingjobs in their communities, and thusremained in publicly-operated programs for manyyears.As one school district director reported whenasked about challenges in recruiting and retainingstaff, “We don’t have any problems, becausewe’re the only game in town. Head Start closed.[We] use competitive wages.” In communitieswithout Head Start programs, which typically payhigher wages than community-based child careprograms, school district programs probablyoffered the best-paying early childhood educa -tion jobs with the best benefits.Directors’ Views on Recruitingand Retaining StaffSurprisingly few differences were found amongdirectors of publicly-operated and privately-operatedprograms in how they perceived the problemsof recruiting and retaining staff. Nearly onehalfof both groups (40% of school district programdirectors and 50% of privately-operated programdirectors) identified low wages as a major impediment.As is often the case in programs servingyoung children, those paying better wages mayhave had lower rates of turnover than programspaying less, but they still faced stiff competitionfrom K-12 schools and other industries because ofthe relatively low wages that pervade the earlycare and education field.Table 10: Barriers to Recruiting and RetainingStaff: Responses from All DirectorsLow wagesInadequate supply ofapplicants who meeteducational qualificationsInadequate benefitsCompetition from kindergartenand elementaryschool employers41%31%22%16%Several directors of publicly-operated programsspoke of the challenges of competing with otherindustries to attract and retain qualified staff, particularlybecause of the relatively high cost of livingin many regions of California:The hardest challenge is salary, based on comparablesalaries in this geographical area. There isgood money in private industry, and the high costof living makes these teaching positions lowincome.In Silicon Valley, low salaries mean the necessity foranother income source, or the area becomes toocostly to live in. We offer staff development and spendan inordinate amount of money on advertising.35

Our salaries and benefits are good, but could bebetter given the high cost of living in our region.One director employed by a rural school districtidentified the lack of additional funding beyondState Preschool funds as a problem in offeringadequate salaries:Salaries are too low in this very rural and isolatedcounty to provide an incentive to commute 50-60miles to the nearest college to earn minimum ECErequirements or even to commute to work. Wearranged one class per year at the local highschool, but it is not enough. The district doesn’tkick in funding.Privately-operated preschool directors, whose programswere more likely to turn to private donationsto augment state subsidies, also reported that thelevel of subsidy they received for their preschoolprogram was insufficient to support adequatesalaries. One such director reported that the programwas working to change this condition byincreasing the resources available to the center:To meet retaining/recruiting challenges, we areactively working to increase benefits, training, andprivate donations through the creation of a privatefund development plan. Also, we’re involvedin advocating for legislation that will boost reimbursementfrom the state.A number of directors reported that assistantteachers, were particularly hard to recruit andretain, because their programs lacked sufficientfunding to employ them as full-time, classified staffwith benefits.SummaryWhile publicly- and privately-operated CaliforniaState Preschool staff and programs differed insome important respects, they shared many of thesame challenges in recruiting and retaining staff,albeit to different degrees. On balance, publiclyoperatedprograms were more likely than privately-operatedprograms to have some of the conditionsin place that are conducive to maintaining askilled and stable staff. The publicly-operated programsoffered substantially better health and pensionbenefits, tended to pay higher salaries, andexperienced less staff turnover.The educational attainment of State Preschoolteachers was low in all auspices, however. Fewerthan one-third of teachers in publicly-operatedprograms, and eight percent of teachers in privately-operatedprograms, had a BA degree orhigher. One-third of assistant teachers had no college-leveltraining related to early childhood education,which was likely to be a detriment to providinghigh-quality care in the classroom, and alsoindicated that programs had a limited ability torecruit teachers from within their ranks.The modest educational attainment of teachersand assistant teachers in both publicly-operatedand privately-operated State Preschool programsmust be attributed, in part, to California’s currentstate professional development standards. Whilethese are more stringent than the state’s staffrequirements for non-subsidized child care pr o-grams, they only require early childhood education-related,college-level coursework short of anassociate degree as the minimum for StatePreschool teachers, and do not require any preservicetraining for assistant teachers. By establishingan educational framework that requires abachelor’s degree only for Program Directors, thestate’s Child Development Permit Matrix sets a relativelylow standard for education, in light of theeducational requirements for teachers in otherstates, detailed elsewhere in this report.Salaries for teachers and assistant teachers in publicly-operatedand privately-operated programswere also very modest, both at the starting andhighest levels, and according to directors, thesesalaries hindered programs’ ability to recruit andretain better-qualified staff. Kindergarten teachers,for example, receive substantially higher meansalaries than preschool teachers for their work withchildren, and this functions as an incentive andreward for educational attainment. StatePreschool directors of both program types shareda frustration about their inability to compete withkindergarten programs and with other industries for36

etter-prepared staff, and both identified the limitednature of state subsidies as a barrier. In theabsence of offering better salaries, communitybasedand school district programs alike will behard pressed to attract and retain teaching staffwith higher levels of qualification.California’s State Preschool program has charteda middle course between the lower requirementsof non-subsidized child care programs and thehigher requirements of the K-12 public schools. Asit now stands, any efforts to expand the capacityof the State Preschool system to serve additionalchildren and to provide better-quality care arelikely to be hampered by the limited salariesoffered by these programs, and the resultingscarcity of well-educated staff.Endnotes1 On the Capitol Doorstep, 1999.2 Personal communication with Sharon Hawley, Consultant,Department of Education, Child Development Division. Theexact proportion of school district, university and college,and community-based State Preschools in California isunknown.3 Publicly-owned and operated centers are a distinct sector ofthe child care industry typically “designed to serve at-risk childrenand provide expanded services,” according to theCost, Quality and Child Outcomes in Child Care CentersStudy (1995). The authors of this study include in this categorycenters owned and operated by municipalities, school districts,or colleges and universities.4 Programs refer to the administrative bodies that oversee onemore likely to have a BA and above than those employed byprivately-operated, community agency-based preschools(p

GeorgiaPrekindergartenProgramThe Georgia Prekindergarten Program isdesigned to be “universal” – i.e., availableto all four-year-old children in the state,regardless of family income. The program isprovided at the community level by a variety oforganizations that mirror the diversity of the state’sbroader child care delivery system, includingschool districts, universities and colleges, community-basednonprofit agencies, faith-based nonprofits,for-profit child care chains and for-profit independentprograms. The Office of SchoolReadiness, the state agency that administers theprogram, reports that there are 1,681 sites in operationthroughout all of the state’s counties, andthat more than one-half of all sites (56 percent)are operated by programs outside of the publicschools. 1Our survey sample was composed of 111 programs,operating at 477 sites, constituting aboutone-quarter of all Georgia PrekindergartenProgram sites. The sample included programsoperated by all six types of organizations notedabove. Because of structural similarities, these sixprogram types were combined in most of ouranalyses into three categories: publicly-operated,community-based nonprofit, and for-profit. (SeeFigure 1.) The counties in the sample – Baldwin,Bibb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinett, Jones, Paulding,Peach and Tift – were selected to represent urban,suburban and rural communities in Georgia.Program CharacteristicsBegun in 1993 to serve at-risk children, the GeorgiaPrekindergarten Program was expanded in 1995 toserve all four-year-olds regardless of familyincome. Solely supported by state lottery funds, itwas the earliest universal state-funded prekindergartenprogram in the United States. In part, thestate of Georgia expanded prekindergarten toserve more children by relying not only on schooldistrict and other publicly-operated programs, buton an array of for-profit and community-basednonprofit programs already in operation thatserved preschoolers and children of other ages. 3In our sample, state funds constituted the primaryfunding source for the prekindergarten programs,regardless of auspice. Publicly-operated programswere more likely than for-profits or communitybasednonprofits to receive additional funds fromtheir local school districts to operate prekindergartenprograms.39

Several other characteristics of prekindergartenprograms differed, depending on auspice. Forprofitprograms were more likely than publiclyoperatedprograms to serve infants, toddlers andschool-age children 4 in addition to preschoolers. 5Parent fees comprised a higher percentage of forprofitprograms’ total budgets for all ages served(58 percent) than of community-based nonprofitprograms’ budgets (35 percent). 6 Among for-profitprograms, parent fees made up a significantlyhigher portion of budgets (66 percent) at chainsthan at independent centers (53 percent). 7Independent nonprofits, faith-based nonprofitsand independent for-profits received a higher percentageof their budgets from public subsidies,supporting the full range of services to all agesserved, than did the for-profit chains. 8The Georgia Prekindergarten Program was offeredby all program types primarily as a full-day (6.5-hour) program to four-year olds during a 10-monthyear. Lead teachers 9 and assistant teachers wereemployed 40 hours per week and 10 months peryear, on average. Directors were employed 44hours per week and 11 months per year, on average.10 Lead teachers and assistant teachersemployed by publicly-operated and for-profit programswere more likely to be employed for thetypical 10-month prekindergarten schedule,whereas those employed by community-basednonprofits were more likely to be employedbetween 10 and 11 months, on average. 11The majority of programs (95 percent) offered aseparate – and separately-funded – summer sessionfor preschoolers or other age groups of children,with for-profits more likely to do so than publicly-operatedprograms. 12 Among those programsoffering a summer session, approximately twothirds(67 percent) reported that they employedprekindergarten teachers or assistant teachers toteach in a summer program separate from theprekindergarten program, a practice that did notdiffer by auspice.Table 1: Characteristics of Surveyed ProgramsAuspiceAges of Children Served by Pre-KDaily ScheduleAnnual ScheduleSources of FundingNumber of Pre-K Staff* EmployedPer SiteDiverse prekindergarten delivery system including for-profits,nonprofits, and publicly-owned and operated programs4 yearsFull-day schedule serving one group of children10-month school district calendar. A separate summer programwas offered by 95 percent of all programs.91 percent of funding was from state lottery dollars for all programs.Publicly-operated programs were more likely to augmentstate funds with school district support (7 percent of theirtotal pre k i n d e rgarten budget) than were other program types. 1 33 Lead Teachers, 3 Assistant Teachers and 1 On-site Director.* Others not involved in direct caregiving for preschool children, such as clerical or administrative staff, were not included in theseresults. Teaching staff who care for infants, toddlers or school-age children in sites that house Georgia Prekindergarten Programs werealso not included in these results.40

Demographic Characteristicsof Teaching StaffPrekindergarten teaching staff in Georgia, likeother members of the U.S. child care workforce,were predominantly female. Most lead teachersand assistant teachers were between 20 and 39years of age, making them younger as a groupthan found in other studies of the child care workforce.14 Lead teachers typically comprised anolder cohort of workers than assistant teachers.Lead teachers and assistant teachers were ethnicallydiverse in our sample, with just over half ofteachers and assistants being women of color.Community-based nonprofits were more likely toemploy African American lead teachers (63 percent)than were publicly-operated programs (47percent), and were less likely to employ EuropeanAmerican teachers (33 percent vs. 53 percent).Overall, assistant teachers were more likely to bewomen of color than were lead teachers, with thedisparity in ethnicity between lead teachers andassistant teachers being most evident in publiclyoperatedprograms, where 30 percent of teachersand 52 percent of assistants were women ofcolor. 15Table 2: Demographic Characteristics ofTeaching StaffGenderAgeEthnicityTeachers98% female70% between20 and 39 years49% EuropeanAmerican47% AfricanAmerican2% Latino1% AsianAmerican1% OtherAssistantTeachers98% female71% between20 and 39 years38% EuropeanAmerican55% AfricanAmerican3% Latino1% AsianAmerican3% OtherEducational Backgroundof Prekindergarten StaffState of Georgia minimum requirements forprekindergarten teachers, which do not require acollege-level degree, have been lower than thoserequired by many other states; starting in fall 2002,however, these standards will rise. Thus far, thestate has required that prekindergarten programsemploy lead teachers and assistant teachers whomeet educational standards just above thoserequired for other state-licensed child care programs.16 Prekindergarten lead teachers havebeen required, at a minimum, to have completeda Child Development Associate (CDA) or ChildDevelopment Professional (CDP) credential; theseare nationally-recognized certificate programs,taking approximately one year to complete, thatconsist of classroom and on-the-job training.Starting in the 2002-2003 school year, prekindergartenlead teachers will be required to haveobtained an associate degree in child developmentor early childhood education, or aMontessori diploma, as minimum qualifications.Programs receiving prekindergarten funds mustemploy assistant teachers who are high schoolgraduates or the equivalent. There are no educationalrequirements for on-site directors, but if thedirector also acts as a lead teacher in a program,she or he must meet the educational requirementsfor lead teachers.The state indexes its per-child prekindergartenreimbursement rates to the educational qualificationsof its teachers, with, for example, programsemploying certified teachers with bachelordegrees eligible for higher-level reimbursementsthan those employing teachers at the minimumlevel of a CDA or CDP. 17 Minimum salary levels forprekindergarten teachers are set by the state,based on credentials specified by the Office ofSchool Readiness.41

Table 3: Minimum Educational Requirementsfor Georgia Prekindergarten StaffAssistantTeachersLeadTeachersOn-siteDirectorsHigh schooldiploma orits equivalentChildDevelopmentAssociate(CDA) or ChildDevelopmentProfessional(CDP);as of fall 2002:two-year EarlyChildhoodEducationdegree orMontessoridiplomaNoneSource: Georgia Office of School Readiness (2001).Two-thirds (66 percent) of Georgia prekinder -garten lead teachers had completed a bachelor’sdegree or above as their highest level of education.The large number of Georgia prekindergartenprograms run by school districts, whichhave higher teacher standards than the state minimum,appeared to exert upward pressure on thestate average.Thirteen percent of lead teachers, however, hadcompleted less than an associate degree in ECEat the time the data were collected – a situationthey will be required to rectify by fall 2002. Keyinformants in Georgia for this study indicated thatthere was currently inadequate funding to assistteachers with only a CDA or CDP credential inobtaining additional coursework for the associatedegree, and that the community colleges wereinsufficiently prepared to provide the neededcourses in time. In their view, it would be a significantchallenge to bring the lead teacher workforceinto compliance with these new requirementsby the fall 2002 deadline. 18Approximately three-quarters (60 percent) ofdirectors had completed a bachelor’s degree orabove. In contrast to the educational attainmentof lead teachers and directors, 40 percent of assistantteachers had completed no formal educationabove a high school diploma, and approximatelyone-half (49 percent) had completedsome college credits as their highest level of education.Publicly-operated programs employedlead teachers and assistant teachers with muchhigher levels of education than did other programs.Most lead teachers (93 percent) employedby publicly-operated programs had completed abachelor’s degree or higher, whereas approximatelyone-half of lead teachers employed by privately-operatedprograms had completed abachelor’s degree or higher. (See Table 4.)42

Table 4: Educational Attainments of Prekindergarten StaffLead TeachersAssistant TeachersDirectorsMaster’s degree and aboveBachelor’s degreeplus credentialBachelor’s degree in EarlyChildhood Education (ECE)Bachelor’s degree (not in ECE)Associate degree in ECESome college-level work in ECE,less than associate degre eNo college-level ECE10%36%9%11%21%12%1%0%2%1%4%5%49%39%28%7%6%19%14%22%4%Table 5: Educational Characteristics of Staff, by AuspiceLead teacherswith a bachelor’sdegree or above 19Assistant teachers withan associate degreeor above 20 47%Directors with abachelor’s degreeor abovePublicly-OperatedCommunity-Based NonprofitFor-profitTotal93%48%56%59%9%14%17%86%64%50%56%CompensationAlthough prekindergarten lead teachers’ meanannual salaries (across all program types) wereapproximately $10,000 higher than those offeredto teachers in community-based child care programsin Georgia, they remained approximately$10,000 lower than those offered to kindergartenteachers. (See Figure 2.)Prekindergarten lead teachers’ salaries reflectedthe disparities in compensation offered by thepublicly-operated programs (largely in school dis -tricts) and the for-profit and community-basednonprofit programs. While teachers employed bypublicly-operated prekindergarten programsearned salaries in the range of those offered topublic school kindergarten teachers, teachers inprivately-operated programs earned much less.Teachers employed full-time by publicly-operatedprograms earned average annual starting salariesof $29,042, compared with $19,421 in communitybasednonprofits and $18,080 in for-profits. 21 Thesedisparities grew at the higher salary level, withteachers in publicly-operated programs earning$43,208 on average, compared with $23,679 incommunity-based nonprofits and $23,668 in forprofits.22 (See Figure 3.)Assistant teachers’ wages were considerablylower, ranging from $7.47 to $8.69 per hour, or$13,122 to $15,143 annually. Assistant teachers43

employed by publicly-operated programs earnedhigher entry-level wages than those employed byother programs. 23 On-site directors’ annual salariesranged, on average, between $27,462 and$33,945. Directors employed by publicly-operatedprograms earned higher upper-tier salaries thandid those employed by privately-operated programs.24Figure 2: Comparison of Mean Annual Salaries for Teachers in Georgia Child Care Centers,State Prekindergarten Programs, and KindergartensProgramMean Annual Salary$0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000Community Child Care Centers $11,708 $14,735*Prekindergarten Programs $19,794 $26,211**Kindergartens $38,990**** Source: U.S. Department of Labor, 2000.**Mean lowest and highest annual salary.***Source: U.S. Department of Labor, 2000.Figure 3: Mean Starting and Highest Wages in Georgia Prekindergarten Programs (Hourly and Annual)ProgramMean Starting and Highest WagesHourlyAnnualLow $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 High Low $0 $25,000 $50,000 HighPublicly-OperatedLead Teachers $14.56 $21.66 $29,042 $43,208Assistant Teachers $7.69 $10.31 $14,475 $19,512Directors $14.48 $23.87 $30,485 $49,470Community-Based NonprofitLead Teachers $10.09 $12.39 $19,421 $23,679Assistant Teachers $7.00 $8.08 $12,876 $15,015Directors $11.50 $16.53 $23,809 $33,715For-ProfitLead Teachers $10.28 $13.22 $18,080 $23,668Assistant Teachers $7.56 $8.56 $12,446 $14,238Directors $11.45 $14.18 $26,069 $31,729TotalLead Teachers $10.81 $14.15 $19,794 $26,211Assistant Teachers $7.47 $8.69 $12,784 $15,051Directors $11.79 $15.92 $26,017 $34,35044

To qualify for state funding to operate a prekindergartenclass, programs must agree to compensateteachers at the minimum levels established by theOffice of School Readiness. A program employingbetter-educated teachers receives a higher reimbursementrate, and therefore has the means tocompensate staff at or above the minimumrequirements. (See Tables 6 and 7.) Teachers’compensation in Georgia reached or slightlyexceeded the minimum required salaries. Forexample, teachers with a bachelor’s degree andcertification (36 percent of sample), who must bepaid at least $24,287 per year according to stateregulations, earned $25,674 at the average lowestsalary level, and $30,377 at the average highestsalary level. Teachers’ salaries increased at eachlevel of additional educational attainment. (SeeFigure 11.) Teachers with bachelor’s degrees andcertification earned five to 20 percent more thanthe state required minimums, although it was notpossible to know from these data the distributionof teachers’ salaries within this range.Directors’ wages increased with additional educationalattainment. (See Table 9.) Assistant teachers’wages increased, on average, with gains ineducation, although within a very limited range.Assistant teachers with no background in earlychildhood education beyond high school (40 percentof the sample) earned between $12,218 and$13,869 per year on average, while those withsome college (49 percent of the sample) earnedan average of $12,998 to $14,683. 25 Unlike teachers,assistant teachers did not receive higher compensationin publicly-operated programs for theireducational investments.Two-thirds of all programs (67 percent) employedat least one prekindergarten teacher or assistantteacher in a summer program 26 operated separatelyfrom the 10-month prekindergarten program.Community-based nonprofits and schooldistrict programs did not differ in the practice ofemploying prekindergarten teaching staff in summerprograms. Teachers’ wages in these summerprograms ranged from $8.64 to $10.18 per hour onaverage – significantly lower than those offered bythe same programs during the 10-monthprekindergarten year 27 – but when these summerwages were broken down by auspice, the discrepancybetween prekindergarten and summerteachers’ wages disappeared in the publicly-operatedprograms and was strongest in for-profit programs.28 Assistant teachers’ wages did not differbetween prekindergarten and summer programs.Teachers employed by publicly-operated programsreceived much higher returns for their educationalinvestments in early childhood educationthan did their counterparts in privately-operatedprograms. A teacher with a bachelor’s degreeand credential earned $16.31 to $21.63 per hour ina publicly-operated program, for example, but ateacher with the same credentials earned $13.11to $14.14 in a community-based nonprofit or$12.57 to $14.65 in a for-profit program. This gapwidened at the higher levels of education; teacherswith a master’s degree earned an average of$18.58 to $22.98 in publicly-operated programs,$11.36 to $11.83 in community-based nonprofits,and $10.84 to $11.01 in for-profit programs.Table 6: Required Minimum Annual Salaries forGeorgia Prekindergarten TeachersBachelor’s degree plusCertification in Early Childhoodor Elementary EducationBachelor’s degree in EarlyChildhood Education or related fieldAssociate degree in Early ChildhoodEducation or Montessori diplomaChild Development Associate(CDA) or Child DevelopmentProfessional (CDP)$24,287$18,506$15,422$12,337Source: Georgia Office of School Readiness (2001).45

Table 7: Georgia Prekindergarten Program Per-Child Reimbursement Rates,by Teacher Educational Level, 2001-2002Private SectorMetro AtlantaPublic SchoolMetro AtlantaWeekly RateAnnual RateWeekly RateAnnual RateBachelor’s degreeplus Certification$96.52$3,474.87$86.43$3,111.60Four-YearCollege Degree$86.05$3,097.78$73.26$2,637.27AA, AAS, AS orTechnical twoyeardegree,or Montessoridiploma$80.24$2,888.73$67.45$2,428.23CDA/CCP$74.44$2,679.68$61.64$2,219.18Source: Georgia Office of School Readiness (2001).Table 8: Mean Starting and Highest Wages of Lead Teachers, by EducationStarting or Lowest Wage/Annual Salary*Highest Hourly Wage/Annual Salary*Master’s degree and aboveBachelor’s degree plus credentialBachelor’s degree in Early ChildhoodEducation (ECE)Bachelor’s degree (not in ECE)Associate degree in ECESome college-level work in ECE, lessthan associate degree$14.97 / $29,608$13.40 / $25,674$12.42 / $22,287$11.27 / $20,804$9.53 / $17,456$8.61 / $15,091$17.40 / $34,477$15.95 / $30,377$14.25 / $25,494$12.38 / $22,737$10.79 / $19,682$10.15 / $18,278* Includes only those teachers employed more than 20 hours per week.Table 9: Mean Starting and Highest Wages of Directors, by EducationStarting or Lowest WageHighest Hourly WageMaster’s degree and aboveBachelor’s degree plus credentialBachelor’s degree in Early ChildhoodEducation (ECE)Bachelor’s degree (not in ECE)Associate degree in ECESome college-level work in ECE, lessthan associate degreeNo college-level ECE$16.15$12.78$15.47$12.93$11.38$10.38$ 7.79$21.03$17.36$19.36$15.75$13.54$11.95$13.2946

Employee Benefit PlansPublicly-operated programs were most likely tooffer health benefits to lead teachers and assistantteachers, followed in descending order by community-basednonprofits and for-profits. 29 One-halfof for-profit programs offered no coverage to leadteachers and assistant teachers, compared witheight percent of publicly-operated programs andone-quarter of community-based nonprofits. 30Relatively few programs of any type offered fullypaidhealth insurance; approximately one-third ofcommunity-based nonprofits (32 percent) andpublicly-operated programs (29 percent), and 11percent of for-profits, offered such coverage toteachers. Publicly-operated programs were morelikely than others to contribute to teacher retirementplans. (See Table 10.)Table 10: BenefitsHealth BenefitsLevel of Health CoveragePension Plan61 percent offered health insurance to lead teachers, and 59percent offered it to assistant teachers. Publicly-operated programswere more likely than for-profits to offer health insuranceto lead teachers and assistant teachers. 3117 percent of programs offered fully-paid health coverage.Publicly-operated programs and community-based nonprofitswere almost twice as likely to offer lead teachers, assistantteachers and directors fully-paid coverage as were for-profitprograms. 3286 percent of publicly-operated programs regularly contributedto a pension plan for teachers, compared with 45 percentof community-based nonprofits and 38 percent of forprofits.33UnionizationTurnoverPublicly-operated prekindergarten programs werenot unionized in Georgia, whereas unions are afeature of school district Pre-K employment in mostother states. From the total sample, only two programs(2 percent), both of them communitybasednonprofits, reported employing unionizedteaching staff.Teaching staff turnover in prekindergarten programsin this sample was substantially higher (26percent) than among K-12 teachers, which isapproximately five percent annually. 34 Publiclyoperatedprograms experienced less lead teacherand assistant teacher turnover than other programtypes. Lead teacher turnover was higher in forprofitthan in publicly-operated programs, and47

assistant teacher turnover was higher both in forprofitprograms and in community-based nonprofitsthan in publicly-operated programs. For-profitchains had the highest turnover among leadteachers (41 percent) and assistant teachers (44percent) of any of the program types. Directorturnover, which averaged 10 percent annually, didnot differ by program type. (See Figure 4.)Lead teacher turnover was significantly higher inprekindergarten programs paying lower startingand upper-tier teacher wages. Programs paying8%* Results describe annual turnover reported at the sitelevel.Figure 4: Annual Turnover, by Auspice*Lead Teachers 36Assistant Teachers 3714%Publicly-Operated25%Community-basedNonprofit40% 39% 36%26% 29%For-profitTotallead teachers above the median starting wage of$10.12 per hour, for example, reported teacherturnover of 29 percent, compared to 42 percentfor those programs paying less than the median. 35(See Figure 5.) The pension package offered toassistant teachers and directors in publicly-operatedprograms, which surpassed that offered by forprofitsand community-based nonprofits, mayhave encouraged assistant teachers and directorsto remain in their positions, and may account inpart for lower turnover there.Directors’ Views on Recruitingand Retaining StaffDirectors were more likely in privately-operatedprograms than in publicly-operated programs toidentify teaching staff recruitment and retention asa growing problem. Only 15 percent of directors ofpublicly-operated programs reported that it hadbecome more difficult to employ and retain qualifiedstaff in the last three years, compared with 50percent of community-based nonprofits and 46percent of for-profits. 38 Asked about the barriersthey encountered in recruiting new staff orrewarding valued staff, directors of privately-operatedprograms were more likely to cite low wages,inadequate benefits, and competition from kindergartenand other elementary school employersthan were publicly-operated program directors.Figure 15: Annual Lead Teacher Turnover,* by Hourly WageLead Teacher Turnover 0% ———————————100%Earning below median starting wage of $10.12 42%Earning above median starting wage of $10.12 29%Earning below median high wage of $12.98 47%Earning above median high wage of $12.98 23%* Results describe annual turnover reported at the program level.48

(See Table 11). Comments by directors of privatelyoperatedprograms about the difficulties ofattracting and retaining qualified staff includedthe following:There is high turnover in the private sector. As soonas teaching staff can obtain the qualifications,they are off to the public schools. We can always[recruit] teaching staff, but we cannot keep them.We encourage teachers to increase education.The state funding doesn’t allow us to pay degreedteachers, with a bachelor’s or associate, for example,adequate salaries. The state needs toincrease funding levels. Recruiting and retention ischallenging due to our location, low salaries andinadequate benefits.There is fierce competition [for teaching staff].Schools come and recruit from our center…thestate minimum salaries are way too low. I paymore because I couldn’t ask anyone to work forthat. You go into a hole if you run a quality program.Directors of community-based nonprofits and forprofitsindicated that their programs lacked sufficientfunding from the state to support adequatesalaries and to attract better-qualified staff.Directors of community-based nonprofits and forprofitsdescribed a constellation of factors as particularlychallenging to their programs. A statemandatedclass-size reduction policy has led to ashortage of qualified prekindergarten (as well as K-12) teachers in Georgia. The consequences of amore limited pool of applicants overall, and higherwages and benefits offered by publicly-operatedprekindergartens and K-12 schools, have led towhat privately-operated program directors identifiedrepeatedly as a heightened state of competitionfor increasingly scarce teachers. Directors ofprivately-operated programs felt that in theabsence of adequate funding, they couldn’tcompete with the publicly-operated programs,which they viewed as aggressive recruiters.Directors commented:Salaries are very competitive in our area. Teachersdrop you flat for 25 cents more per hour.We go to colleges to try and recruit, but it isn’teasy. There is lots of competition from otherschools.We’re competitive with private centers, but welose out to Head Start which is able to providebenefits. We have lots of applicants with no experienceand a limited number of qualified applicants.Although our hours are good, our salaries are low.We cannot compete with public school salaries.The challenge in recruitment is competition frompublic schools. It’s not easy to recruit....Pre-Kteachers often have skills and experience, but stillreceive lower funding because of the lack of orthe type of degree they hold. After a few years,they begin to burn out, working for so low a salary.Limited state funding was identified by community-basednonprofit and for-profit directors as theprimary cause of low salaries and high turnover intheir programs.In Georgia, funding and wages are too low tokeep qualified teachers.Funding has not increased in the last 5.5 yearswhile costs continue to rise. There is no provision inthe funding to account for our teachers’ years ofexperience with us, leaving no incentive for teachersto stay. We lose teachers to the public schools.We cannot pay decent salaries because our fundingis too low and the ceiling for salaries within thefunding is too low. We lose qualified teachers tothe public schools. We use the TEACH program toraise salaries and education. We need betterquality from the top at the Office of SchoolReadiness on down.It is interesting to note that one director identifiedthe state required salaries as “ceilings” when, infact, they are intended to serve as a minimalsalary floor. In the absence of adequate funding,49

the state salary requirements may function moreas a salary ceiling.Publicly-operated program directors identified K-12 teacher shortages as an issue of concern, butdid not appear to have felt the influence of thetight labor market or low funding on their ability torecruit teachers. Assistant teacher turnoverappeared to be more of a problem. Directors ofpublicly-operated programs commented:We have not had a lot of trouble with recruitmentin the past. However, the current teacher shortagemay make it difficult in the future. Most of ourteachers have been with us for many years. Therate of turnover for assistants is much higher.[Recruitment for teachers] is not a real problem.We pay at the same rate as other grades. Forassistants, it is more of a struggle to keep our staff.Because of the low pay, we offer other advantagesto keep our assistants. These include goodbenefits, hours, working conditions and hiring withinthe community.By being able to draw on more generous fundingfrom school districts and better benefit packagesfor staff, the publicly-operated programs havebeen better able to weather the shortage of qualifiedteaching staff in Georgia.Table 11: Barriers to Recruiting and RetainingStaff: Responses from All DirectorsLow wages 39Inadequate benefits 40Competition fromkindergarten andother elementaryschool employers 4118% publicly-operated58% community-basednonprofit75% for-profit0% publicly-operated32% community-basednonprofit41% for-profit18% publicly-operated68% community-basednonprofit63% for-profitSummaryThe variety of organizations operating prekindergartenprograms in Georgia has allowed the stateto expand this system rapidly in order to serve allfour-year-olds, and has also created a broad constituencyof child care employers in support of Pre-K services. 42 In many ways, however, Georgia’sdiverse prekindergarten delivery system mirrors thechallenges experienced by the broader child carecommunity in adequately compensating andretaining their well-qualified teaching and administrativestaff. Basic inequities in compensation andbenefits between publicly- and privately-operatedprograms have resulted in two “parallel universes”of prekindergarten, in which publicly-operatedprograms enjoy lower turnover and attract betterqualifiedstaff, on a par with K-12 teachers, andprivately-operated program directors competewith one another to retain a dwindling number ofqualified teachers, many of whom move on topublic school employment. Judging from teacherturnover rates of 26 to 43 percent in privately-operatedprograms, staff and the families and childrenthey serve are experiencing substantial instability –a level of disturbance relatively unknown in thepublicly-operated programs.But despite the significant challenges faced bythe Georgia Prekindergarten Program, there aresome encouraging signs. By instituting minimumsalary guidelines linked to teachers’ educationalattainment and indexing reimbursement to thesequalifications, the state of Georgia has establisheda critical funding mechanism to reward programsfor reaching higher educational staff standards.Overall, the percentage of lead teachers with abachelor’s degree or above was relatively high inall program types, ranging from 48 percent incommunity-based programs to 93 percent in publicly-operatedprograms. Programs reached orslightly exceeded the state of Georgia minimumsalary requirements, on average – yet for thelower-paying community nonprofit and for-profitprograms, the minimum requirements appeared tohave functioned more as a wage ceiling than asa floor. Only the publicly-operated programs,whose upper-tier staff earned as much as $20,000a year above the wage minimum, appeared to50

e able to use these wage-floor requirements asthey were intended – as starting points foradvancement up a scale.While some directors indicated an interest inrewarding teachers’ job tenure regardless of educationalattainment, most voiced a strong desireto attract and retain better-educated staff. Byestablishing funding levels that reward programsfor employing better-educated staff, the state providesan important incentive for programs to doso. But unless basic funding levels are increased sothat community-based nonprofits and for-profitscan surpass the state minimum salary levels andoffer improved benefits, privately-operated programswill face substantial barriers in their efforts toimprove teaching staff compensation, recruitmentand retention.Endnotes1 Schulman, Blank & Ewen, 1999.2 The term “programs” refers to the administrative bodies thatoversee one or more individual prekindergarten sites. “Sites”are geographically distinct entities that alone constitute a“single-site program,” or, if affiliated with additional sites andjointly administered, comprise a “multi-site program.”3 In implementing its Universal Pre-K program, New York hasrelied on a similar strategy of expansion through contractingwith privately-operated programs.4 Respondents were asked about the provision of before- andafter-school care for school-age children.5 p

ased programs and for-profit chains ( p

ChicagoPrekindergartenProgramsState-funded prekindergarten programsoperating in the city of Chicago offer aninstructive case study of the differencesbetween programs provided by publicschool districts and those offered by privatelyoperatednonprofit child care centers. While mostprekindergarten programs 1 in Illinois are operatedunder the auspices of public school districts, a sizeableportion of Chicago Pre-K programs are privatelyoperated by community-based child carecenters (22 percent). 2 By state legislative mandate,the Chicago Public Schools receive a substantialshare (38 percent) of state prekinder -garten Early Childhood Block Grant funds to provideservices to the children of eligible families,either through the schools or through subcontractsto privately-operated centers. 3 Out of a total of421 Pre-K programs operating in Illinois, 127 areoffered in Chicago. 4Privately-operated programs were oversampled inthis study in order to permit an adequate samplesize for investigating differences between publicand private auspices in operating prekindergartenservices, in a geographic area where labor marketconditions and cost of living levels would be consistent.This sample is therefore not intended to berepresentative of Pre-K programs throughoutIllinois. Rather, it offers a window into two distinctprogram types offering prekindergarten services inChicago.Program CharacteristicsIllinois’ state-funded prekindergarten effort hasbeen in operation since 1986. In 1999, it was incorporatedinto a broader initiative, including a parenttraining program and other services aimed atteen and first-time parents. 5 Chicago’s prekindergartenprograms, like those throughout the state,are designed to serve children ages three to fivewho are at risk of future academic difficultiesbecause of living in poverty, having teen parents,speaking English as a second language, and/orneeding social services. Children must meet multiplecriteria, and are screened to assess their eligibilityfor Pre-K enrollment and allied services.Although most children served in Illinois Pre-K programscome from low-income families, there areno income eligibility guidelines.While privately-operated and public school districtprekindergarten programs in our Chicago sampleshared these basic guidelines and programmaticgoals, however, they diverged in many respects.Privately-operated programs were more likely thanschool district programs to offer prekindergartenservices as one component of a larger program orcenter that also cared for infants, toddlers and/orschool-age children. They were also more likely53

than school district programs to offer prekindergartenas a full-year program. Further, 27 percentof privately-operated programs, but only four percentof school district programs, offered full-day,“wrap-around” care to children enrolled in Pre-K. 6Teachers and assistant teachers employed byschool district programs worked fewer hours perweek, and had longer periods off in the summer.(See Tables 1 and 2.)Since Illinois Pre-K funding covers only a 2.5- tothree-hour day, and since privately-operated Pre-K sites were far more likely to offer full-day and fullyearservices, the privately-operated programstended to rely on more diverse funding sourcesthan did those based in the school district. Thesesources included parent fees (14 percent of programs)private donations (8 percent) and otherpublic subsidies (78 percent), School district Pre-Kprograms relied exclusively on state prekinder -garten and school district funds. (See Table 1.)Table 1: Characteristics of Surveyed ProgramsAuspiceAges of children servedNumber of childrenserved (2001-2002)Daily scheduleAnnual scheduleSources of funding forPre-K programsAverage number ofteaching and administrativestaff employedper site*78 % of all programs in Chicago were publicly operated, almost exclusivelythrough the Chicago Public Schools; 22% were privately operated.Ages 3-5Publicly-operated programs: 17,000Privately-operated programs: 3,80090% of school district programs provided two half-day sessions eachday, serving two distinct groups of children; no privately-operated programsoffered two half-day sessions. 796% of privately-operated programs offered full-day care to one groupof children; only 10% of school district programs did so. 8Few school district prekindergarten programs were open in the summer(14%), compared with most privately-operated programs (91%), whichtypically operated full-year programs. 9School district prekindergartens received 93% of their funding from theState of Illinois. Privately-operated programs received 63% of their Pre-K funding from the state, and were more likely to rely on other publiccontracts, 10 parent fees 11 and donations 12 to supplement these funds.2 teachers, 2 assistant teachers and 0.5 directors*Directors were asked about the number of staff serving children enrolled in the Pre-K program they administered. Others not involvedin direct caregiving for children, such as clerical or administrative staff, were not included in these results, nor were teaching staffwho cared for infants, toddlers or school-age children in sites that housed Pre-K programs.54

Table 2: Average Work Schedule by PositionSchool District ProgamsPrivately-Operated ProgramsTeachersAssistant TeachersDirectorsHours Per WeekMonths Per YearHours Per WeekMonths Per YearHours Per WeekMonths Per Year31 hours10 months35 hours10 months39 hours11 months39 hours 1312 months 1439 hours 1512 months 1641 hours12 months 17Demographic Characteristicsof Teaching StaffEducational Backgroundof Prekindergarten StaffPrekindergarten teaching staff were predominantlyfemale, and typically were between 30 and 49years of age. Privately-operated programs weremore likely to employ teachers and assistantteachers under the age of 29 than were schooldistrict programs. 18 Teachers and assistant teacherswere ethnically diverse, approximately matchingthe city of Chicago’s overall ethnic composition.(See Table 3.)Table 3: Demographic Characteristicsof Chicago Pre-K Teaching StaffGenderAgeEthnicityTeachers97% femaleMost between30 and 4946% AfricanAmerican33% EuropeanAmerican20% Latino1% AsianAmerican1% OtherAssistantTeachers97% femaleMost between30 and 3949% AfricanAmerican10% EuropeanAmerican37% Latino1% AsianAmerican2% OtherThe Illinois Department of Education has establishedrigorous educational requirements forprekindergarten teaching staff, equivalent tothose for public school teachers of older children.Since the inception of the state’s Pre-K program,teachers have been required to complete abachelor’s degree, as well as an Early ChildhoodEducation credential (initially called a Type 02Certificate) comprised of post-baccalaureatecoursework. As of 1997, all teachers newlyemployed in state-funded Pre-K programs wererequired to have completed a bachelor’s degreein Early Childhood Education along with a newType 04 Certificate, involving additional training inreading instruction. Teachers with a Type 02Certificate were eligible to convert it to Type 04without completing the additional reading instruc -tion training, but were not eligible to teach kindergartenunder that scenario.According to state regulations, teachersemployed either in privately-operated or schooldistrict prekindergarten programs must now hold aType 04 Certificate. Teachers with a bachelor’sdegree and a valid out-of-state Early ChildhoodEducation certificate are eligible for a one-yearprovisional Pre-K teaching credential while theywork toward meeting the Illinois regulations. Figure5 represents the minimum pre-service educationalrequirements that staff must meet to hold teacher,assistant teacher and director positions in Pre-Kprograms.55

Table 4: Minimum EducationalRequirements for Illinois Pre-K StaffAssistantTeachers30 semesterhoursof EarlyChildhoodEducation(ECE)coursework.TeachersBachelor’sdegree in EarlyChildhoodEducation andECE credential(Type 04 certification)On-siteDirectorsNo pre-servicerequirementsSource: Illinois State Board of Education; effective 1998.Three-quarters (75 percent) of all Pre-K teachershad completed a bachelor’s degree and certificationor higher, with the remainder having completeda bachelor’s degree only (12 percent), oran associate degree or less (14 percent). Onethirdof teachers (30 percent) had completed amaster’s degree or above, surpassing the staterequirements. All assistant teachers employed byPre-K programs had completed at least some college-leveltraining in Early Childhood Education,and one-third had completed an associatedegree or above. Directors’ educational profileswere comparable to those of teachers, with 83percent having completed a bachelor’s degreeand certification or higher. (See Table 5.) Teachersemployed by school district programs were morelikely to have completed a bachelor’s degree orabove than their counterparts in privately-operatedprograms. (See Table 6.)Pre-K teachers who had completed less than therequired bachelor’s degree and certification (28percent) were employed primarily by privatelyoperatedprograms. Those teachers with a bachelor’sdegree but no certification (12 percent)could be provisionally employed for one year.Teachers without bachelor’s degrees (16 percent)could be employed in prekindergarten programsthat used the “Home-Based Model,” in which noncertifiedteachers are supervised by certifiedteachers for at least two to three hours each dayin the classroom. 19 As detailed below, directors ofprivately-operated Pre-K programs in Chicagofaced particular difficulties in attracting andretaining staff with Type 04 Certification.Table 5: Educational Attainments of Pre-K StaffMaster’s degree and aboveBachelor’s degree plus Type 04 certification*Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education (ECE)Bachelor’s degree (not in ECE)Associate degree in ECESome college-level work in ECE, less than associate degreeNo college-level work in ECETeachers31%40%8%4%11%5%0%AssistantTeachers1%0%1%2%26%57%15%Directors54%27%5%5%0%8%0%* This credential certifies that the staff member has completed post-baccalaureate work to qualify to teach in an elementary school.It reflects a concentration in elementary or early childhood education.56

Table 6: Educational Characteristics of Staff, by AuspiceTeachers witha bachelor’sdegree andabove 20Assistant Teacherswith an associatedegree and aboveDirectors with abachelor’s degreeand aboveSchool district programsPrivately-operated programsTotal97%66%87%32%51%38%81%91%88%CompensationSalaries for Pre-K teachers and assistant teachersdiffered dramatically according to whether theyworked in publicly-operated or privately-operatedprograms. In school district Pre-K programs, teachers’hourly wages translated to average annualsalaries of $33,116 to $49,068, comparable tothose of public school kindergarten teachers($42,230 on average), 21 and assistant teachersearned $16,871 to $21,673. Teachers and assistantteachers employed by privately-operated programs,however, earned considerably lowersalaries, despite having significantly longer workschedules than their school district counterparts. Inthe private nonprofit sector, teachers earned anannual average of $24,082 to $29,161, 22 and assistantteachers earned $13,793 to $18,832. (SeeTables 2 and 7.)Directors employed by school district programsalso earned higher salaries than those in privatelyoperatedprograms. In the school district Pre-Ksites, directors’ salaries – at an average of $42,083to $45,763 per year – were similar to or slightlylower than those of teachers, a notable trendgiven the additional administrative responsibilitiesof the director position. Directors of privately-operatedprograms, however, earned from $31,891 to$39,711 per year. (See Table 7.)This disparity in compensation between publiclyoperatedand privately-operated programsappeared to be due to several causes. Since statePre-K funding covers only half-day services duringthe academic year, the privately-operated programs– which were far more likely to offer full-day,wrap-around, full-year care to one group of children– had to rely on a lower overall funding base,including child care block grant funds and parentfees. Some privately-operated programs may alsohave felt the need, even with this less generousfunding base, to create wage parity between Pre-K teachers and other teachers working within thecenter or agency. Finally, the school district-basedPre-K teachers were far more likely to be unionized,with a contract that guaranteed them bettercompensation and rewards for seniority.In both types of programs, Pre-K teachers withhigher levels of education earned higher compensation.23 Better-educated teachers employed byprivately-operated programs, however, did notreceive wages on a par with those offered to better-educatedteachers employed by the schooldistrict. Master’s degree-level teachers employedby the school district, for example, earned anaverage hourly wage of $25.55 to $28.71, whereastheir counterparts in privately-operated programsearned roughly $10.00 less per hour, at an averageof $15.76 to $17.16. (See Figure 2.)Like teachers, directors received higher salaries inexchange for higher levels of education, particularlyin school district programs. Directors with amaster’s degree or higher earned an averagelowest hourly wage of $20.44 in school district programs,compared with $17.09 in privately-operated57

programs. Assistant teachers’ salaries were relatedto their education only at the starting salary levels,suggesting that for those earning higher salaries,seniority or some other criterion may have had astronger influence on compensation.Employee Benefit PlansTable 7: Mean Starting and Highest Wages, by AuspiceTeachersAssistant TeachersDirectorsSchool districtprogramsPrivately-operatedprogramsTotalLowHighLowHighLowHigh$21.14$32.22$12.44$14.86$18.54$26.94$ 9.81$12.51$ 7.46$ 9.86$ 9.04$11.61$20.16$26.58$15.08$19.26$16.59$21.09Figure 2: Mean Hourly Wages of Teachers, by EducationEducation Starting or Lowest Wage Highest Hourly Wage$0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30 $35 $40 $45Master’s degree and aboveSchool District Pre-K Teachers $23.55 $32.30Pre-K Teachers in Privately-Operated Programs $15.76 $17.16Bachelor’s degree plus credentialSchool District Pre-K Teachers $21.04 $26.38Pre-K Teachers in Privately-Operated Programs $13.43 $15.24Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education (ECE)School District Pre-K Teachers $22.30 $27.89Pre-K Teachers in Privately-Operated Programs $13.63 $13.25Bachelor’s degree (not in ECE)School District Pre-K Teachers $25.33 $30.76Pre-K Teachers in Privately-Operated Programs * *Associate degree in ECESchool District Pre-K Teachers $15.47 $15.47Pre-K Teachers in Privately-Operated Programs $ 9.32 $11.17Some college-level work in ECE, less than associate degreeSchool District Pre-K Teachers $10.62 $11.60Pre-K Teachers in Privately-Operated Programs $ 8.83 $10.14* No teachers employed by privately-operated programs had completed a bachelor’s degree not in ECE as their highest level of training.58

While all Pre-K teaching staff had access toemployer-sponsored health insurance, fewer thanhalf of programs (42 percent) offered fully-paidinsurance. School district teaching staff were morelikely than privately-operated program staff toreceive pension benefits. (See Table 8.)Table 8: BenefitsHealth BenefitsLevel of HealthInsurance CoveragePension Plan100 percent offered health insurance to teachers and assistant teachers.42 percent of all programs offered fully-paid coverage to teachers andassistant teachers. School district and privately-operated programs didnot differ in the level of coverage that they offered. 2498 percent of school district programs, and 71 percent of privately-operatedprograms, contributed to a pension plan for teachers. 25UnionizationSchool-district Pre-K teaching staff were far morelikely to be represented by a union (98 percent)than were their counterparts in privately-operatedprograms (five percent). 26TurnoverGiven the many differences noted betweenChicago’s school district and privately-operatedPre-K programs, it is not surprising that the programscontended with different levels of staffturnover. Turnover for all staff positions was significantlyhigher in privately-operated programs thanin school district programs. 27 Directors of privatelyoperatedprograms reported that over half of theteachers (52 percent) and 36 percent of the assistantteachers had left in the past year (2001-2002),a level of instability that challenged not only thequality of services that directors and teaching staffcould offer, but the well-being of the at-risk childrenand families that these programs served.Director turnover in these programs, at 40 percent,was higher than typically found for this job classification.28 But school district programs were hardlyimmune from turnover themselves, losing 20 percentof their teachers in the past year – a rate ofattrition significantly higher than the six-percentlevel found among K-12 teachers nationally. Thismay have been somewhat due to the relativelylow status and recognition of Pre-K teachers withinthe K-12 school system, an issue repeatedly raisedin focus groups. (See Figure 3.)The influence of turnover on Pre-K programs wasevident in their staffing arrangements. Appro x i m a t e l yone-fifth of all programs (18 percent) reported thatat least one open teacher position was filled by al o n g - t e rm substitute or “floater.” The likelihood ofu s i n g l o n g - t e rm substitutes or floaters did not diff e rb e t w e e nschool district and privately-operatedprograms. One-quarter of school district Pre-Kteachers (25 percent) and one-half of privatelyoperatedprogram teachers (51 percent) hadbeen employed less than one year at the time ofthe interview, constituting a significant diff e rence ins t a ff tenure . 2 9 59

Programs’ experience with staff turnover was, inpart, a function of the wages they offered to staff.Programs offering higher upper-range salariesenjoyed significantly more stability among teachers,assistant teachers and directors. 30 Programspaying below the median highest hourly wage forteachers experienced turnover rates approximatelythree times higher than those paying above themedian. (See Figures 4 and 5.) Pre-K programsappeared better able to retain staff in all positionswhen they offered salary increases over the lengthof employees’ tenure. Turnover was not significantlycorrelated, however, with whether programsprovided health benefits.Figure 3: Annual Turnover*TeachersAssistant TeachersDirectors20%14%0%School DistrictPrograms52%36% 40% 31% 31%Community-Based Programs22%Total* Figure describes annual turnover reported at the site level.Figure 4: Annual Teacher Turnover*, by Wage 31Teachers Turnover 0% ———————————100%Earning below median starting wage of $18.86 42%Earning above median starting wage of $18.86 16%Earning below median high wage of $30.66 47%Earning above median high wage of $30.66 13%* Figure describes annual turnover reported at the program level.Figure 5: Annual Assistant Teacher Turnover*, by Wage 32Assistant Teachers Turnover 0% ———————————100%Earning below median starting wage of $9.79 27%Earning above median starting wage of $9.79 17%Earning below median high wage of $12.00 35%Earning above median high wage of $12.00 8%* Figure describes annual turnover reported at the program level.60

Directors’ Views on Recruitingand Retaining StaffDirectors’ opinions about the difficulty of recruitingand retaining staff provided further evidence ofstark differences between school district and privately-operatedprograms. Private program directorsmentioned low wages as a barrier to recruitmentand retention (particularly of Type 04Certified staff) much more often than did schooldistrict directors. The following are several commentsfrom privately-operated program directors:[We cannot] find teachers competitively with thepublic schools.To meet this challenge of hiring qualified staff, weadvertise everywhere, but cannot find Type 04staff. We offer $30,000 for Type 04, but we’re locatedin the inner city, which is a problem for some.Finding a master teacher is hard because we cannotfind anyone with Type 04 certification.Low salaries [are our] number-one challenge. Wehave to compete with public schools.I’m concerned about universal Pre-K. There isn’tenough staff as is. Will we give up on quality? Alldayprograms need consistent, quality care.While school district Pre-K directors were generallyable to approach or match K-12 teacher salariesin what they offered, as well as offering a 10-month employment year, privately-operated programdirectors found themselves in tough competitionwith the schools. And although health benefitsdid not appear to vary substantially betweenschool district and privately-operated programs,private program directors were more likely to citeinadequate benefits as a problem, perhapsreflecting disparities in other benefits noted above,such as pension plans and annual leave. PrivatelyoperatedPre-K program directors reported:No one wants to work 12 months out of the year.We adjusted our program to 10 months to competewith the Board of Education for attractingType 04 certified teachers.Staff want their summers off, which we cannotprovide.We’re trying to recruit by offering paid vacationsto full-time staff.While a few school district directors reported difficultiesin recruiting teachers with Type 04Certification, most indicated few or no problemswith recruitment and retention:We have no problems recruiting or retainingteachers because our pay is much higher thannon-school Pre-K programs.We have not had problems—we have great retention.Staffing is not a problem—-it has always beeneasy. [I] thought a position was opening and Ireceived over 100 calls.I have not had to hire a Pre-K staff person foryears.School district Pre-K directors indicated that whenthey had problems recruiting and retaining staff, itwas assistant teachers who proved the most difficultto find and keep. As noted above in the discussionof compensation, the average highestlevelwages for assistant teachers did not differ byauspice or by assistant teachers’ education level,suggesting that there were few economic rewardsfor assistant teachers who remained in this positionor obtained more education. Several noted that itwas difficult to retain assistant teachers becauseassistants continually pursued more education inorder to qualify for better-paying teacher positions.One commented:Even the highest-paid assistants don’t get enoughmoney. Low salaries lead to assistants leaving theposition or completing the education necessary tobecome teachers.61

Others commented that assistant teachers witheducation, such as the associate degree requiredby one program, were more difficult to find thanthose without education.When asked whether any state or local policieshad a particular effect on their programs, privately-operatedprogram directors reiterated their concernsabout the Type 04 Certification, whereasschool district directors identified the new educationalrequirements as a positive trend for their programsand for the early childhood teaching professionin general. Privately-operated programdirectors were more likely to mention as promisinginitiatives the State of Illinois’ Great START stipendprogram, which rewards teachers for their educationalattainment, as well as the TEACH scholarshipprogram.Table 9: Barriers to Recruiting and RetainingStaff: Responses from All DirectorsLow wagesLack of or inadequatebenefitsInadequate supplyof staff who meeteducational qualificationsCompetition fromkindergarten andother elementaryschool employersSummary68% of privately-operatedprogram directors;10% of school districtprogram dire c t o r s 3 323% of privately-operatedprogram baseddirectors; no school districtprogram dire c t o r s 3 436% of privately-operatedprogram directors;10% of school dis -trict program dire c t o r s 3550% of privately-operatedprogram directors;5% of school districtprogram dire c t o r s 3 6This profile of Chicago’s Pre-K programs revealsmajor discrepancies in staff characteristics, com -pensation and turnover between programs operatedin the public schools and those in privatelyoperatedcenters. Privately-operated programswere more likely to offer full-day and full-year careto three-to-five-year-olds, and thus to meet lowincomeworking families’ needs for more hours ofcare. But they appeared to lack the resources tocompensate their staff adequately, in accordancewith the advanced educational and professionallevels required of them. Lower educationalattainment and very high turnover among privately-operatedprogram teaching staff, both ofwhich undermine the quality of early care andeducation programs, were two notable consequencesof low wages and poor benefits.Judging from the diversity of their funding base,privately-operated programs appeared to haveexplored a variety of avenues to support their Pre-K programs, and yet remained unable to competewith better-funded school districts. Held tothe same educational requirements for teachers,yet lacking the resources to reward educationalattainment, community-based directors understandablyvoiced high levels of frustration. Thehigh rate of director turnover within privately-operatedprograms suggests that the difficulties ofmanaging these programs may have fueledadministrator as well as teacher turnover.School district programs enjoyed the many benefitsof adequate compensation for staff: theyattracted highly-educated teachers and directorsand experienced lower rates of turnover. Schooldistrict Pre-K teaching staff, who worked fewerhours and for a shorter year than privately-operatedprogram staff, had more opportunities to pursuethe ongoing educational requirements for Pre-K teachers that were recently instituted in Illinois.Directors’ views about staffing school district Pre-Kprograms reflected a confidence in and high levelof satisfaction with their ability to recruit and retainteachers, which no doubt contributed to their owncommitment to their programs and the programs’stability. We found that some school district programsexperienced challenges in recruiting andretaining well-educated assistant teachersbecause of a limited compensation package.These inequities in the provision of Pre-K services inChicago are troubling in terms of their conse-62

ased programs were more likely to be age 29 or youngerquences for the child care professionals who staff18 Teachers and assistant teachers employed by community- (p

salaries was not significant.33 Privately-operated program directors were more likely to citelow wages as a barrier to their programs than were schooldistrict directors (p

New York StateUniversalPrekindergartenand ExperimentalPrekindergartenProgramsNew York operates two state-fundedprekindergarten programs,Experimental Pre-K (EPK) and UniversalPre-K (UPK), both designed to providepreschool educational services to four-year-olds,but each with its own target population andgoals. EPK began in 1966 as a small program toaddress the educational needs of children living inpoverty, and has grown to serve approximately19,500 children since that time; it is operatedexclusively by public schools throughout New YorkState. UPK, begun in 1998, is a larger “universal”program that aims to provide educational experiencesto all four-year-olds in the state, regardlessof family income. Although it is not yet universallyavailable throughout the state, UPK servedapproximately 53,000 children in participatingschool districts during the 2001-2002 school year.two cases, in universities or colleges; independentnonprofit UPKs; faith-based nonprofit UPKs; andindependent for-profit UPKs. No for-profit chainswere included in the sample. For the purposes ofdata analysis, we combined these into four categories:EPK, public UPK, community-based nonprofitUPK and for-profit UPK. (See Figure 1.)The New York State Education Department’sChildren, Family and Community Services Team,which administers both of these prekindergartenprograms, reports that approximately one-half ofUPK programs are housed in public schools; theremainder are housed in faith-based programs,independent nonprofits, independent for-profits, orfor-profit chains, all of which are eligible to contractwith school districts to provide UPK services. 1All EPK programs are operated by public schooldistricts.Our study sample of 83 programs and 144 sites 2included Experimental Prekindergartens (EPKs);publicly-operated Universal Prekindergartens(UPKs), primarily housed in public schools but, in65

Prekindergarten ProgramCharacteristicsWhile EPKs and UPKs are primarily supported bystate funds, individual school districts must alsoprovide local matching dollars to become eligiblefor state funds to administer these programs. Statedollars constituted the primary funding source forPre-K programs in the sample, regardless of auspice,but EPKs received a higher percentage oftheir funds from school districts (15 percent, onaverage) than UPKs of any type. Communitybasednonprofit UPKs received a larger share oftheir funding from public contracts other thanstate prekindergarten and school district sources(18 percent) than did all other programs.Privately-operated UPK programs were much morelikely than EPKs or public UPKs to serve infants andtoddlers in addition to preschool-age children. Allfor-profits (100 percent) and 86 percent of thecommunity-based nonprofit UPK programs caredfor infants and toddlers, compared with no EPKs orpublic UPKs. 3State-funded prekindergarten services in New York,whether offered by EPKs, public UPKs or privatelyoperatedUPKs, were primarily part-day programs(71 percent). The majority of Pre-K programsoffered half-day sessions each day to two distinctgroups of children. Only one-fifth of programsoffered a full-day Pre-K session, with communitybasednonprofit UPKs most likely and for-profit UPKsleast likely to do so. 4 (See Table 1.) Most programs(85 percent) provided prekindergarten during a 9-to 10- month year.More than one-half of programs (57 percent)offered a separate summer session for preschoolersor other children. Of these, more than half (58percent) reported that they employed prekindergartenteachers or assistant teachers in the summerprogram, separately from the prekindergartenschool year, a practice that did not differ by auspice.Teaching staff were employed, on average, for 31to 32 hours per week and 10 to 11 months peryear. Teachers employed by public UPKs workedan average of 28 hours per week, significantly lessthan those employed by other program types. 5(See Table 2.) Directors, whose schedules did notdiffer by the auspice of their employer, worked anaverage of 38 hours per week and 11 months peryear.Table 1: Characteristics of Surveyed ProgramsAuspiceAges of Children ServedDaily ScheduleAnnual ScheduleSources of FundingNumber of Pre-K Staff*Employed Per SiteExperimental Prekindergarten (EPK) is offered exclusively throughpublic school districts. Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) is offeredthrough community-based nonprofits and for-profits as well aspublic school districts, universities, and colleges.3-5 yearsTwo half-day sessions per day, serving two distinct groups of childre n .9-10 month school district calendar. A separate summer programwas offered by 57% of all programs.84% of funding was from state prekindergarten contracts for allprograms. EPKs were more likely than other programs to augmentstate support with school district funds. 6 Community-based nonprofitUPKs were more likely than other programs to augment state fundswith other public subsidies and with private donations. 74 teachers, 4 assistant teachers and 1 on-site director* Others not involved in direct caregiving for preschool children, such as clerical or administrative staff, were not included in theseresults, nor were teaching staff who care for infants, toddlers or school-age children in programs that house New York UniversalPrekindergarten programs.66

Table 2: Average Work Schedule by Position (Hours per Week)Teachers 8AssistantTeachersEPK3432Public UPK2828Community-BasedNonprofit UPK3431For-profit UPK3333Total3231Demographic Characteristicsof Teaching StaffPre-K teaching staff in New York, like other membersof the U.S. child care workforce, were predominantlyfemale. Most teachers and assistantteachers were 30 to 49 years of age, a departurefrom other studies’ findings that assistant teachersare typically younger as a group than teachers. 9For-profit UPKs were more likely to employ assistantteachers between the ages of 20 and 29 thanwere EPKs, whose assistants tended to be older;approximately one-half (52 percent) of assistantteachers employed by EPKs were between theages of 40 and 59. 10Some ethnic diversity was evident among teachersand assistant teachers, although somewhatless than is found nationally. Assistant teacherswere more likely to be women of color (24 percent)than were teachers overall (12 percent), 11with the disparity most evident in EPKs, where 27percent of assistant teachers and 13 percent ofteachers were women of color. 12 The ethnicity ofteachers and assistant teachers was more similarin community-based nonprofit UPKs and in for-profitUPKs.Educational Backgroundof Prekindergarten StaffTable 3: Demographic Characteristics ofTeaching StaffGenderAgeEthnicityTeachers97% female63% between30-49 years84% EuropeanAmerican9% AfricanAmerican5% Latino1% AsianAmerican1% OtherAssistantTeachers98% female67% between30-49 years68% EuropeanAmerican18% AfricanAmerican11% Latino2% AsianAmerican1% OtherTeaching staff employed by New York prekindergartenprograms of all types must meet pre-serviceeducational requirements that are more stringentthan those in community child care programsthat do not offer state-funded prekindergarten.13 New prekindergarten teachers arerequired, at minimum, to have completed a bachelor’sdegree in Education and to hold a New YorkState Teaching Certificate for nursery schoolthrough sixth grade. To qualify for permanent certification,Pre-K teachers must complete a master’sdegree in Education after five years of teaching, astandard equivalent to that required of teachers ingrades K-12. These requirements, which havebeen in effect for public school EPKs and UPKssince the programs’ inception, were scheduled togo into effect in September 2001 for privatelyoperatedUPKs. At the request of privately-operatedUPKs, however, the New York Legislatureextended the implementation of these guidelines67

until September 2002. As a consequence, anyNew York prekindergarten program employingteachers without a bachelor’s degree and certificationwill soon be out of compliance with thenew educational requirements, which could leadto the loss of its prekindergarten contract and thestate funding that accompanies it.educational requirements for prekindergartenteachers have resulted in a well-educated cohortof teachers overall, they have been more fullyrealized in the publicly-funded programs. 14Assistant teachers’ education did not vary significantlyby the auspice of their programs.In addition to a high school diploma or equivalent,Pre-K assistant teachers must have completed sixsemester hours in Elementary Education, whichmay include Early Childhood Education or a relatedfield, a higher standard than is required forcommunity child care programs. Although thereare no specific requirements for Pre-K program sitedirectors, they must meet the minimum requirementsestablished for New York child care programs,described in Table 4.Teachers and directors employed by New Yorkprekindergarten programs have attained a highlevel of education, comparable to that of K-12teachers. Approximately three-quarters (72 percent)of Pre-K teachers in our sample had completeda master’s degree or more as their highestlevel of education, and only four percent hadcompleted less than a bachelor’s degree andcertification. Directors’ education levels werecomparable to teachers’, with 75 percent havingcompleted a master’s degree or more. Most assistantteachers had completed some college-levelwork in early childhood education, although asubstantial number (29 percent) had not.Differences in educational attainment were dramaticbetween teachers employed by EPKs andpublicly-operated UPKs and those in privatelyoperatedUPKs. Teachers and directors in EPKs andpublic UPKs were more likely to have completed amaster’s degree or above than their counterpartsin community-based nonprofit and for-profit UPKs.Since a master’s degree is required of teachersafter five years of teaching in order to achieve apermanent Pre-K credential, this degree signalsthat its holder has made a substantial investmentin a Pre-K teaching career. As a result, programsemploying master’s-level teachers may achieve ameasure of staff stability, tenure and expertise.Thus far, however, although New York’s ambitiousTable 4: Minimum Educational Requirementsfor New York Prekindergarten StaffAssistantTeachers*High SchoolDiploma orits equivalent,and sixsemesterhours inElementaryEducationor relatedfieldTeachersBachelor’sdegree inEducation andCertificationfor first fiveyears;Master’sdegree inEducationrequired afterfive yearsOn-siteDirectors(Called SiteSupervisor)Associatedegree in EarlyChildhoodEducation, twoyears teachingexperience,and two yearsstaff supervisoryexperienceSource: New York State Education Department, Children, Family,and Community Services Team.* Aides, who are defined by the New York State EducationDepartment as providing custodial care for young childrenand are supervised by assistant teachers and teachers, neednot meet any pre-service educational requirements.68

Table 5: Educational Attainments of Prekindergarten StaffTeachersAssistant TeachersDirectorsMaster’s degree and aboveBachelor’s degreeplus credentialBachelor’s degree in EarlyChildhood Education (ECE)Bachelor’s degree (not in ECE)Associate degree in ECESome college-level work in ECE,less than associate degreeNo college-level ECE72%20%4%2%2%0%0%1%1%3%3%11%52%29%75%13%4%6%0%2%0%Table 6: Educational Characteristics of Staff, by AuspiceEPKPublic UPKCommunity-BasedNonprofit UPKFor-Profit UPKTotalTeachers with abachelor’s degreeand above 15100%100%89%100%98%Teachers with amaster’s degreeand above 1677%72%38%38%64%Assistant teacherswith an associatedegree and above21%34%28%42%28%Directors with amaster’s degreeand above 1792%100%57%67%77%CompensationPrekindergarten teachers’ earnings varied significantly,depending on the auspice of the programin which they worked. Teacher compensation atprivately-operated UPKs was significantly lowerthan that offered by EPKs and public UPKs; teachersat EPKs, for example, earned nearly twice asmuch at the highest level as those employed byfor-profit UPKs. 18 Teachers employed by EPKsearned annual salaries between $33,953 and$59,232, and those employed by public UPKsearned salaries between $30,986 and $52,942.These salaries approached those offered to NewYork kindergarten teachers, which are among thehighest in the U.S., at an average of $58,490 peryear. 19By contrast, teachers at privately-operated UPKswere more likely to receive salaries comparable tothose offered in community-based child care programs,ranging from $15,733 to $19,775. 20 Teachersat for-profit UPKs, which paid the least, earnedaverage salaries between $19,208 and $20,497.(See Table 7.)Even for teachers with equivalent educationalbackgrounds, the differences in wages between69

the publicly- and privately-operated prekindergartenprograms were dramatic. Starting-levelteachers with a bachelor’s degree plus certificationearned $19.91 per hour, on average, in a publicUPK, compared with $12.32 per hour in a forprofitUPK. Upper-tier wages for teachers with abachelor’s degree and certification differed evenmore noticeably by auspice, with EPKs offering amean hourly wage of $39.68, compared with$13.99 at community-based nonprofits. 21 (SeeTable 8.) Starting and upper-level mean wages formaster’s level teachers were also higher in publicly-operatedprekindergartens than in privatelyoperatedprograms. 22By contrast, assistant teachers’ and directors’wages did not vary as sharply by program auspice.As in the other states examined in this study,assistant teachers’ wages were comparableacross all program types, at an average rangefrom $8.38 to $10.30.Approximately one-third (29 percent) of teachersemployed by public UPKs were employed parttime(less than 30 hours per week); for theseteachers, annual salaries fell between $15,426 and$16,964. Although full-time salaries were comparablebetween public UPK teachers and EPK teachers,part-time public UPK salaries were significantlylower, with part-time EPK teachers’ salaries rangingfrom $19,500 to $20,833.For the sample as a whole, most teachers’ salariesincreased as they obtained more education.Teachers who had completed a master’s degreeor above, for example, earned $18.92 as an averagelowest wage, while with those with a bachelor’sdegree and a credential earned an averagelowest wage of $15.78. Assistant teachers’ anddirectors’ compensation, however, was not correlatedwith their educational attainment.Teacher and assistant teacher wages also did notdiffer significantly between the nine- to ten-monthschool year and the summer, for those prekindergartensites that operated year-round.Table 7: Mean Starting and Highest Wages, by AuspiceTeachersAssistant TeachersDirectorsEPKPublic UPKCommunity-BasedNonprofit UPKFor-Profit UPKTotalLowHighLowHighLowHighLowHighLowHigh$19.46$32.98$19.13$29.87$13.76$16.51$12.91$14.02$17.21$25.84$ 8.52$11.20$ 8.83$ 9.96$ 8.31$10.44$ 7.31$ 8.43$ 8.38$10.30$29.71$33.32$22.41$28.54$19.71$22.97$17.75$19.00$22.08$26.1570

Table 8: Mean Starting and Highest Wages of Teachers with Bachelor’s Degrees and Certification,by AuspiceStarting or Lowest WageHighest Hourly WageEPKPublic UPKCommunity-Based Nonprofit UPKFor-Profit UPK$19.68$19.91$12.85$12.32$39.68$26.27$13.99$12.65Table 9: Mean Starting and Highest Wages of Teachers (Hourly and Annual), by EducationStarting or Lowest WageHighest WageMaster’s degree and aboveBachelor’s degree in Early ChildhoodEducation (ECE) plus credentialBachelor’s degree in ECEAssociate degree in ECE$18.92$31,119$15.78$26,800$16.55$31,000$11.67$18,900$28.48$38,334$21.57$39,600$21.39$32,500$11.08$18,900* Hourly figures are mean wages for all teachers in the sample. Annual figures are mean salaries for all teachers employed 35 hours ormore per week.71

Employee Benefit PlansFor-profit UPKs were less likely to offer health insuranceto teachers than were all other programtypes, and less likely than EPKs and communitybasednonprofit UPKs to offer health insurance toassistant teachers. Of those programs that providedhealth insurance, EPKs were most likely to offerfully-paid insurance to full-time teachers (68 percent)and assistant teachers (53 percent), followedin descending order by public UPKs, community-basednonprofit UPKs, and for-profit UPKs.EPKs and public UPKs were much more likely tocontribute to teacher retirement plans than werefor-profit UPKs. (See Table 10.)Table 10: BenefitsHealth BenefitsLevel of Health CoveragePension Plan86% of programs offered health insurance to teachers, and74% offered health insurance to assistant teachers. For-profitUPKs were less likely to offer health insurance to teachers orassistant teachers (44%) than were other programs. 2343% of programs offered fully-paid coverage to teachers, and34% offered fully-paid coverage to assistant teachers. EPKs(68%) and public UPKs (50%) were most likely to offer fully-paidcoverage to teachers. 2491% of EPKs and 90% of public UPKs regularly contributed to apension plan for teachers, compared with 11% of for-profits. 25UnionizationNearly all EPK programs (97 percent) and mostpublic UPK programs (70 percent) employedteachers and/or assistant teachers who were representedin collective bargaining agreements by aunion, compared with 10 percent of for-profit UPKsand 11 percent of community-based nonprofitUPKs. 26TurnoverTeacher turnover in New York’s Pre-K programs, atan annual rate of 11 percent, was considerablylower than the roughly 30-percent turnover foundin national studies of child care programs. 27Teacher and assistant teacher turnover was generallylow in all program types, with the exception of46-percent assistant teacher turnover in for-profitUPKs. (See Figure 2.) Salaries and benefits provideimportant clues to this relatively low turnover inNew York’s prekindergartens. Programs employingassistant teachers at lower starting wages hadhigher turnover than those paying higher startingwages. 28 (See Figure 2.) Although turnover amongteachers was not as strongly related to wage levels,it was higher in programs that offered lesshealth insurance coverage. 29 Director turnover, atan overall average of eight percent, was higher in72

programs that offered lower starting wages. 30Ten percent of all programs reported employing along-term substitute to fill a vacancy for whichthey had been unable to employ a permanentstaff member. While comments by directors of EPKand public UPK programs suggested that turnoverwas not an urgent worry, some of these directorsexpressed concern:We have not had any turnover, but I believe if wedid it would be difficult to recruit now.Money is the biggest issue. Staff and applicantscan make more money working at fast food drivethroughslike Burger King.It’s always a problem keeping up with the Boardof Education’s salaries and benefits. Teachers withoutlicensing come here to get training, and oncethey have a license, they dump us for the schooldistrict. The supply on Staten Island for teachers isworse. We are a learning institution.A director of an EPK program commented:Directors of privately-operated UPKs voiced themost difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachingstaff, which they largely attributed to their lowcompensation packages:School districts have more openings available.With their higher salaries and benefits, we can’tcompete.Our EPK program, all in school district classrooms,has no problems recruiting and retaining staff. OurUPK program, which contracts out to Head Start,has low wages and problems in these areas.Although schools help out, the low wages largelycontribute to 85 percent turnover for UPK sites.Figure 2: Annual Turnover, by Program Site46%10%18%7%13%19%6%13%18%11%EPK Public UPK Community-BasedNonprofit UPKFor-profitUPKTotalTeachersAssistant Teachers 3173

Directors’ Views on Recruitingand Retaining StaffAs expected, directors of for-profit and community-basednonprofit UPKs identified more barriers torecruitment and retention than EPK directors, whowere able to provide better compensation packagesto teaching staff. But surprisingly, public UPKdirectors, whose compensation package and staffqualifications were comparable to EPKs, were aslikely as private UPK directors to identify low staffwages and competition with public schoolemployers as barriers to recruitment and retention.The relatively high percentage of teachers (29 percent)employed part-time by public UPK programsmay, in part, explain directors’ perceptions of lowwages as a problem for their programs. (See Table11.)Although it was not possible to identify conclusivelywhy public UPK programs in this sample perceivedlow wages and competition with otherschools as problems to the same extent as privately-operatedUPKs, the comments of public UPKdirectors offered clues to the challenges facingtheir programs. Public UPK directors, who play arole in supporting contracted private UPK sites,may have been, in part, voicing a concern for privateUPKs, which they view as disadvantaged inefforts to recruit and retain staff. One director of apublic UPK commented in this vein:Finding certified teachers is a challenge. Wehaven’t had high turnover in the public schools,but the community-based sites lose teachers topublic schools, and to better pay on Long Island. 33Another theme that emerged in public UPK directors’comments concerned the negative influenceof unstable state funding on their programs. Onedirector’s comment was representative of several:The late and uncertain budget from the [State]Legislature makes it impossible to know if we aregoing to get funding from year to year. We cannotmake plans until very late.Privately-operated UPKs also commented onunstable funding:Since 9/11, financial issues have caused problems.The funds diverted to deal with the tragedy arehaving a trickle-down effect. We are not sure if thestate will continue to fund UPK in the future. Wehave a wonderful program, and it will be very difficultfor our parents if lack of funding causes ourprogram to end.The state budget process doesn’t let us know fromyear to year if we’ll be funded or how much we’llget. We haven’t gotten increases, even asexpenses increase.With unstable funding, staff recruitment and retentionmay become more challenging for public UPKdirectors even when their programs are able toprovide compensation on a par with EPK.EPK directors did not voice the same concern asUPK directors about the future of their programs,but several did note the negative effect of receivingno cost-of-living increases. Several also reportedthat they would like to expand their programsto a full day in order to better meet families’needs. In addition, one noted some staffing conflictsbetween Pre-K and grades K-6, suggestingthat public school sponsorship can present its ownchallenges to recruitment and retention:Principals will move teachers around from Pre-K toother grades. Principals do not value Pre-K like K-6,so they’ll take a great Pre-K teacher out of thePre-K classroom and replace them with someoneless qualified. Our high certification and educationalrequirements make it more difficult to recruitqualified teaching staff when principals don’t supportPre-K.74

Table 11: Barriers to Recruiting and Retaining Staff: Responses from All DirectorsLow wages 34Inadequate benefits 35Competition from kindergartenand other elementary schoolemployers 3620% EPKs57% public UPKs64% community-based nonprofit UPKs67% for-profit UPKs5% EPKs7% public UPKs27% community-based nonprofit UPKs33% for-profit UPKs0% EPKs64% public UPKs64% community-based nonprofit UPKs33% for-profit UPKsSummaryAlthough it is generally understood that New York’sstate-funded prekindergarten effort is offeredthrough two separate systems, ExperimentalP re k i n d e rgarten (EPK) and Universal Pre k i n d e rg a r t e n(UPK), our findings suggest that there are also substantialdifferences within UPK in program characteristics,staff qualifications and compensation,depending on whether programs are publicly- orprivately-operated. Publicly-operated UPKs closelyresembled the more longstanding, public schoolbasedEPKs, whereas community-based nonprofitand for-profit UPKs shared more in common withthe community-based child care system that is nota ffiliated with New York State Pre k i n d e rgartens. UPKscould be viewed in some ways as operating a twotieredsystem, with private programs serving as akind of lower-paid apprenticeship opportunity forteaching staff who, once qualified, can move onto better-compensated positions in public UPK a n dEPK programs. With fewer educational re q u i re m e n t sin place for the community-based nonprofit and forprofit UPKs, this unequal relationship between privatelyand publicly-operated programs could continue.Because of new teacher requirements going intoeffect in the fall of 2002, teachers who are currentlyemployed in privately-operated UPKs but havenot completed a bachelor’s degree and certification– and after five years’ employment, a master’sdegree – will no longer be able to teach inany state-funded prekindergarten program. Oneconsequence of this policy, which standardizeseducational requirements for all teachers regardlessof program type, will be to place new pressureon private UPK programs that are already strugglingto maintain a stable group of qualifiedteachers and assistant teachers. It seems unlikelythat private programs, which pay as little as onehalfthe salaries offered by their public schoolbasedcounterparts, will be successful in recruitingand retaining master’s-level teachers unless theyreceive additional financial support to improvetheir compensation package.Although they shared many characteristics, publicUPKs and EPKs also diverged in some notablerespects. EPKs drew on a greater percentage ofschool district funding than did public UPKs, andwere more likely to employ unionized staff. UPKstended to hire more part-time teachers, whichinfluenced the level of teachers’ annual compensationand, potentially, their benefits. 37 Directors ofpublicly-operated UPK programs had a somewhatmore negative assessment than EPK directors oftheir prospects for recruitment and retention,which may have been a result of these differencesin their programs as well as future fundingprospects for UPK.75

Endnotes1 Schulman, Blank & Ewen, 1999.2 The term “programs” refers to administrative bodies that overseeone or more individual Pre-K sites. “Sites” are geographicallydistinct entities that alone constitute a “single-site program”or, if affiliated with additional sites and jointly adminis -tered, comprise a “multi-site program.”3 EPKs were less likely than community-based nonprofits andfor-profits to serve infants and toddlers (p

31 For-profit UPKs had significantly more assistant teacherturnover than did community-based nonprofit UPKs (p

Texas Public SchoolPrekindergartenProgramThe Texas Public School PrekindergartenProgram is the second largest state Pre-Keffort in the United States, both in the numberof children served and in annual expenditures.It was developed to serve children whoare educationally disadvantaged because of lowincome, homelessness or limited English proficiency.Every Texas school district must offer a Pre-Kprogram if it has at least 15 four-year-old childrenmeeting one or more of these criteria. Childrenwho do not meet these criteria are eligible toattend Pre-K programs if the school district determinesthat all other educationally disadvantagedchildren are being served. Similarly, school districtsmay extend their programs to serve qualifyingthree-year-old children if they have met their obligationsto four-year-olds. In 2000-2001, the programserved 148,888 children, or 73 percent ofthose eligible, at a yearly cost of $267 million(Education Week, 2002).State-funded prekindergartens in Texas are operatedalmost exclusively by public schools. A smallnumber of programs are reportedly contracted tocommunity-based nonprofit agencies by publicschool districts, 1 but no contracted sites were representedin this study sample. While we wereunable to collect a large, representative sampleof programs in Texas, there is little variation in howthe programs are financed or administered, andas a result, the 37 programs in the sample (operatingat 37 sites) reveal reliable findings about programcharacteristics and staffing. While there arelimits to our ability to generalize from these findingsto the statewide program, the results offer aninformative case study of a program that is administeredalmost entirely through the public schools.Programs from Bexar, Dallas, Jefferson, Lubbockand Tyler Counties were included in the final sample;they were selected to provide an urban, ruraland suburban mix of communities. 2Prekindergarten ProgramCharacteristicsBegun in 1985 as a public school prekindergarteneffort to prepare children for school, the Texas programhas remained largely unchanged in its operationand goals since that time, even while it grewan estimated 30 percent in the 1990s. 3 Stateprekindergarten funds serve as the primary fundingsource, but school districts can augment thesewith local revenues. By adding local revenues tostate funds, school districts can improve the fundingbase for prekindergarten programs in theircommunity, theoretically enhancing their ability toimprove compensation and benefits. Programswere asked about the extent to which theirprekindergarten program funding was supportedby state dollars or by an array of other fundingsources. State funds were the primary source ofrevenue for this sample of programs, with 76 percentof funding from state Pre-K dollars, 11 percentfrom school district funds, 4 percent from a publiccontract not with the state Pre-K program or publicschool district, and 8 percent from other,unspecified sources. Parent fees and corporatefunds (at 1 percent) played a negligible role infunding these programs.Approximately two-thirds (65 percent) of Texasprekindergartens offered two half-day sessions perday for children, with the remainder (35 percent)offering full-day services for one group of children;i.e., half-day prekindergarten supplemented by atleast five hours of “wrap-around” care. No programsin our sample offered only a part-dayprekindergarten class for one group of children.Teachers and assistant teachers worked an averageof 38 hours per week for a nine-month year.Prekindergarten programs operated primarily asnine-month programs in Texas. Not quite half (43percent) of schools offering prekindergarten forthe nine-month school year also offered a separatesummer session for preschool or other chil-79

dren. We investigated whether programsemployed prekindergarten staff in the summer session,in order to learn whether teaching staff combineddifferent jobs with the same employer overthe course of the year. Approximately one-half ofthese summer programs (47 percent) employedprekindergarten teachers and/or assistant teachersregularly employed during the nine-monthyear.We were also interested in the extent to whichteaching staff were employed in positions beforeor after the regular prekindergarten day in theirschools. One-third of programs (32 percent) providedcare in the morning or afternoon, before orafter their regular session to preschoolers enrolledin the Prekindergarten Program. Full-day programswere as likely as those offering two part-day sessionsto offer this “wrap-around” care. Half of theschools in the sample (53 percent) provided wraparoundcare to children other than preschool agechildren; probably, this was largely for school-agechildren enrolled in their elementary school programs.Approximately one-third of programs offeringwrap-around care employed at least oneteacher, and 44 percent employed at least oneassistant teacher to care for preschool-age childrenbefore or after the regular prekindergartenday. A smaller percentage of schools employedprekindergarten teachers or assistant teachers tostaff before- or after-school programs for childrenof other ages.Table 1: Characteristics of Prekindergarten ProgramsAuspiceAges of Children ServedDaily ScheduleAnnual ScheduleSources of FundingNumber of PrekindergartenStaff* Employed Per SiteAll prekindergarten programs were operated under the auspice ofpublic school districts (n=37).100% served children ages 3 to 5.65% offered two half-day sessions per day serving two distinctgroups of children. 35% offered full-day prekindergarten sessions.9-month, school district calendar.76% of funding was from state prekindergarten dollars.3 teachers; 3 assistant teachers.*** Others not involved in direct caregiving for preschool children, such as clerical or administrative staff, were not included in theseresults, nor were teaching staff who cared for infants, toddlers or school-age children in schools that house prekindergartens.** Texas Pre-K programs were administered solely by school principals. No data were collected about their positions.80

Demographic Characteristicsof Teaching StaffPrekindergarten teaching staff in Texas, like othermembers of the U.S. child care workforce, wereoverwhelmingly female. The majority of teachersand assistant teachers were between 30 and 49years in age, which is consistent with the averageage range of teachers and assistant teachersemployed in community-based child care programs.The finding that assistant teachers weresimilar in age to teachers is a departure fromnational findings that assistant teachers are ayounger cohort, on average, than teachers.Teachers and assistant teachers were ethnicallydiverse; half of teachers and 85 percent of assistantteachers were women of color.Table 2: Characteristics of Teaching StaffGenderAgeEthnicityTeachers100% female53% between30 and 49 years50% EuropeanAmerican38% Latino9% AfricanAmerican3% AsianAmerican0% OtherAssistantTeachers99% female53% between30 and 49 years15% EuropeanAmerican73% Latino7% AfricanAmerican3% AsianAmerican2% OtherEducational Backgroundof Prekindergarten StaffThe State of Texas has two sets of teaching staffregulations for center-based programs serving preschool-agechildren. Teachers and assistant teachersemployed in child care centers licensed by thestate of Texas need only complete a high schooldegree or be employed in a recognized earlychildhood careers program, but requirements forstate prekindergarten teaching staff are substantiallyhigher. 4Texas educational requirements for prekindergartenteachers are equivalent to those for teachersin grades K-12. Pre-K teachers must complete abachelor’s degree, a teaching certificate, and anEarly Childhood or Kindergarten Endorsement. Toobtain a teaching certificate, an applicant musthave completed a bachelor’s degree andteacher training in a certified program; aKindergarten Endorsement requires satisfactorycompletion of a test related to working with thisage group and/or early childhood educationcoursework. Teachers responsible for a classroomwith children whose first language is not Englishmust also obtain an English as a SecondLanguage Endorsement. Emergency certificationmay be granted for one year to teachers who areworking toward certification and endorsementand have submitted a written plan of study to theTexas Education Association.The state does not require assistant teachers tomeet any pre-service educational requirements,but individual school districts may establish requirementsof their own. No estimates are available ofthe number of school districts implementing additionalrequirements. Elementary school principalscarry out administrative duties on behalf ofprekindergarten programs, which generally sharefacilities with elementary schools. The State ofTexas does not specify a role for prekindergartenon-site directors or teacher-directors aside fromprincipals, and thus sets no requirements for suchpositions. 5 Few programs are reported to employsite directors or teacher-directors, and none werefound in this sample.81

Eighty-nine percent of prekindergarten teachers inour sample had completed a bachelor’s degreeand certification or more, and all of the remainderhad completed a bachelor’s degree; theseteachers may have obtained EmergencyCertificates. In contrast to the educational attainmentof teachers, most assistant teachers (74 percent)had completed no college-level educationin child development or a related field.Table 3: Minimum Educational Requirementsfor Texas Prekindergarten StaffAssistant TeacherNoneTeacherBachelor’s degree,Certification, andEarly Childhood orKindergartenEndorsementSource: Texas Education Agency, 2001.Table 4: Educational Attainment of Texas Prekindergarten StaffTeachersAssistant TeachersMaster’s degree and aboveBachelor’s degree pluscredentialBachelor’s degree in EarlyChildhood Education (ECE)Bachelor’s degree (not in ECE)Associate degree in ECESome college-level work inECE, less than associate degre eNo college-level ECE19%70%0%10%0%1%0%3%0%0%0%0%23%74%82

CompensationOur investigation sought to gauge the extent towhich salaries for prekindergarten teachers resembledthose of public school kindergarten teachersor of teachers in community-based child care programs.Prekindergarten teachers’ mean annualsalaries in this sample, ranging from $30,564 to$40,471, were comparable to Texas kindergartenteachers’ average annual salary, $37,240. 6Teaching staff in community-based child care programsearned much lower salaries, ranging from$12,058 to $16,188. 7Teachers who had completed a master’s degreeor higher were likely to earn more than those withless education. A high percentage of teachers inour sample, however, came from the large, higher-payingurban areas of Dallas and BexarCounties, and had a bachelor’s degree and nocertification; this led to an anomalous findingacross the entire sample that B.A.-level teacherswithout certification earned higher salaries onaverage than those w i t hc e r t i f i c a t i o n 8 . (See Table 6.)Assistant teachers’ earnings were modest, rangingfrom $8.16 to $9.40 per hour, or $12,348 to $16,309per year; these were not found to improve significantlywith increases in education.We investigated the extent to which compensationdiffered for teaching staff employed in wraparoundprograms before or after the prekindergartenday or in summer sessions. Most such programspaid teachers (75 percent) and assistantteachers (80 percent) a lower salary for working inwrap-around programs than for working in theprekindergarten classroom. Entry-level wages forteachers and assistant teachers in summer sessionswere comparable to those they earned in ninemonthprekindergarten programs, but upper-levelwages in summer programs did not keep pace.These findings are somewhat tentative because ofour limited sample size, but they point to the possibilitythat some prekindergarten staff receive differentlevels of compensation at different timeswithin the same school.Table 5: Mean Starting and HighestHourly WagesTeachersAssistantTeachersLow$15.74$ 8.16High$21.08$ 9.40Table 6: Mean Starting and Highest Hourly and Annual Earnings* of Teachers by EducationStarting or Lowest WageHighest Hourly WageMaster’s degree and aboveBachelor’s degree in Early ChildhoodEducation (ECE) plus credentialBachelor’s degree (not in ECE)Some college-level work in ECE,less than associate degree$16.27$30,976$15.77$30,804$17.04$33,000$12.00$18,144$21.70$42,047$19.93$39,356$27.25$52,905$12.00$18,144*Annual earnings include only those teachers who were employed 35 hours a week or more.83

Employee Benefit PlansVirtually all Pre-K programs in this sample providedhealth insurance and a paid pension plan toteaching staff. Approximately half of the programsoffered fully-paid health insurance, with theremainder offering partially-paid insurance. 9 Weinvestigated whether teaching staff benefits werehigher in prekindergarten programs that paid higherwages, a trend observed in community-basedchild care programs, but found no relationshipbetween wage levels and benefits. (See Figure 7.)Table 7: BenefitsHealth BenefitsLevel of Health CoveragePension Plan100% of programs offered health insurance to teachers andassistant teachers.49% of programs offered teachers fully-paid coverage.47% of programs offered assistant teachers fully-paid coverage.92% of programs regularly contributed to a pension plan forteachers.UnionizationUnlike their counterparts in many states, Texasschool district employees are not unionized at theprekindergarten or K-12 level.TurnoverWe found a teacher turnover rate of 24 percent inTexas prekindergarten programs, slightly below thelevel identified in most child care programs nationally(approximately 30 percent). Assistant teacherturnover, at six percent, was lower than that identifiednationally. These average numbers are somewhatmisleading, however, since turnover wasconcentrated in less than half of the programs inthe study sample. Sixty-three percent of programsin the sample reported no teacher turnover at allin the last year, with the remaining 37 percentreporting rates of turnover from nine to 200 percent.Due to the small sample size, we were unable todetermine with any certainty why some Texas Pre-K programs had so much turnover, while othershad little or none. While there were suggestive differencesin levels of teacher turnover betweenprograms whose highest wage was above themedian (11% turnover) and those whose highestwage was below the median (40% turnover),these differences did not achieve statistical significance.We also examined whether turnover differedamong counties in the sample, but while itappeared to vary widely by region, it was not possibleto detect a pattern with a sample of this size.Lubbock and Jefferson Counties appeared tohave the highest teacher turnover (56 and 40 percentrespectively), followed by 29 percent inDallas County and 16 percent in Bexar County,but again, the difference was not statistically significant.Lubbock and Jefferson Counties are both84

smaller and more rural than Bexar County, whichincludes the city of San Antonio, and DallasCounty, which includes Dallas. But programs inrural Tyler County, by contrast, reported noturnover all (0 percent).Figure 1: Annual Turnover of Teachers and Assistant TeachersTurnover 0% ———————————100%Teachers 24%Assistant Teachers 6%Principals’ Views on Recruitingand Retaining StaffMany principals, including those quoted below,noted very low turnover and identified no realchallenges in this area, a view that is consistentwith the finding that 63 percent of the programshad experienced no turnover in the last year.I never have a problem; we have lots of applicants,and there are always teachers available.We’ve been real fortunate and have a reallygood district. The district is starting to feel thenational teacher shortage, but it has not affectedPre-K yet.We haven’t replaced anybody in 10 years. Whenone teacher passed away, we had 6-8 applicants.Teachers transfer in from other positions in the district.It’s easier to attract staff to teach at the Pre-K andkindergarten levels than it is to find teachers forolder grades.While staff turnover did not appear to be a problemfor many principals, most (57 percent) reporteddifficulties in recruiting staff who were able tomeet the state prekindergarten educationalrequirements, specifically the Teaching Credentialand the Early Childhood or Bilingual Endorsements.(See Figure 9.) Principals reported that they had tocompete with other districts or develop newrecruitment strategies to meet this need:The toughest [challenge] is making sure that atleast one of the teachers is bilingual. Our schooldistrict does “cluster Pre-K”; we have kids fromthree elementary schools, so this is needed here.It’s hard to get certified teachers, especially inbilingual programs. That’s the real challenge. Wemay have competition from neighboring citiesbecause they pay higher salaries.Finding bilingual teachers is a challenge. We meetthis challenge and other recruiting challengesthrough networking with both the TexasAssociation of Principals and the Texas Associationof Bilingual Teachers.Sixty-five percent of principals identified bilingualteachers as the most difficult group of candidatesfor Pre-K positions to recruit. When asked aboutstate or other policies that could boost recruitmentand retention, they identified bonuses for bilingualteachers as a helpful tool.While most principals viewed the challenges ofrecruitment and retention as unchanged over thelast three years, one third (30 percent) said that ithad become a growing problem. 10 These principalsidentified class-size reductions in the elementarygrades, and teaching shortages for all grades,as either affecting or having the potential to85

affect the supply of Pre-K teachers. Their commentsincluded the following:The teacher shortage is growing at all grade levels.I spend more time on recruitment efforts now,such as attending college classes and going tojob fairs. I didn’t use to have to market my school.It’s more difficult now because of the EarlyChildhood Endorsement, and the fact that thereare less and less people who want to becometeachers. They have to train in a specialized area,so it takes more time, and Pre-K teachers are paidless than others. 11A large number of teachers are nearing or havereached retirement age. This has created a needfor larger numbers of teachers in this populousstate with changing populations.The principals who reported that recruitment andretention of skilled teaching staff had becomemore difficult in the last three years were more likelyto be from schools in Dallas County, one of thetwo large urban areas in our sample. 12Principals identified as promising an alternativecertification program in Texas that provides assistanceto job candidates with bachelor’s degreesbut no certification. 13 Newly-passed legislationaimed at broadening health coverage for teacherswas also identified by several principals as animportant recruitment and retention strategy.Although they were in the minority, several principalsindicated that improved school district orstate funding to raise salaries and benefits wouldbe an important recruitment tool for Pre-K teachers,who must meet steep educational requirements.Table 8: Barriers to Recruiting andRetaining Staff: Responses from All PrincipalsLow wagesInadequate benefitsCompetition from kindergartenand other elementary schoolemployersInadequate supply of staff whomeet educational qualificationsSummary10%0%5%57%Our case study of the Texas prekindergarten programreveals certain trends in the provision ofprekindergarten services through the publicschools. The Texas program requires teachers tomeet stringent educational standards, compara -ble to those for teachers of older children, andteacher salaries and benefits appeared to fallwithin the range of those offered to teachers in K-12 classrooms. Assistant teachers, however, themajority of whom had no formal training in earlychildhood education, earned much lower salariesthan teachers. Without having access to or supportfor ongoing education, assistant teachersappeared unlikely to be able to meet the growingdemand for qualified teachers that principalsidentified. Instead, assistants appeared to be consignedto lower-paid Pre-K positions requiring notraining.Annual teacher turnover of 24 percent, substantiallyhigher than the six percent identified amongK-12 teachers nationally, was concentrated inapproximately one-third of the sample of programs.For this reason, many principals did not registerstaff instability as a significant concern.Recruiting new teachers, particularly those whoare bilingual and meet other special educationalcriteria for Pre-K teaching, appeared to be a moreurgent concern. Principals in Dallas County weremost likely to see recruitment and retention oftrained staff as a growing problem. Mindful of thebroader teacher shortage in Texas, principalsappeared supportive of initiatives that wouldimprove compensation and benefits for teachers.86

Endnotes1 Personal communication with Cami Jones, Director, EarlyChildhood Education Division of Curriculum and ProfessionalDevelopment, Texas Education Association, May 22, 2001. Noestimates of the number of non-public school programs areavailable.2 Participants include at least one program from each county13 No data are available as to whether “alternatively credentialed”teachers differ from certified teachers in terms ofturnover rates, job satisfaction or job performance.selected in the original sample, with the exception of TylerCounty.3 Schulman, Blank & Ewen, 1999. The program has remainedlargely unchanged in terms of being housed in publicschools, and in its educational requirements for teachers.One significant alteration, however, was a 1995 legislativechange giving local school districts, rather than the state, theauthority to set Pre-K curriculum guidelines.4 A high school degree or enrollment in an early childhoodcareer program approved by the Texas Education Agency,such as the Child Development Associate (CDA) or ChildDevelopment Professional (CDP), qualifies one as a teacheror assistant teacher in Texas child care programs (TexasDepartment of Protective and Regulatory Services, 2000).5 Data were not collected on the qualifications or compensationof principals, since their job classification was determinedto be substantively different from that of on-site directors andteacher-directors described in other states.6 U.S. Department of Labor, 2000.7 U.S. Department of Labor, 2000.8 The two teachers in the sample with a bachelor’s degreeand no credential were from Bexar and Dallas Counties,respectively. The lowest starting wage in Bexar County for allteachers, for example, was $16.95, compared with $11.37 inLubbock County.9 A state bill passed after the time of our survey calls for fullypaidindividual health coverage for all active school employees.10 Eight percent of principals said that recruiting and retainingteachers was easier over the last three years, and 62 percentsaid that it had remained the same.11 Prekindergarten teachers’ salaries in our sample did not differsignificantly from K-12 teachers, but certain school districtsmay compensate K-12 teachers at higher levels thanprekindergarten teachers.12 Fifty-nine percent of Dallas principals in our sample reportedthat recruiting skilled teaching staff had become more difficult,compared with no principals in Jefferson, Lubbock, andTyler Counties; p

Policy Implicationsof Study Findings,and RecommendationsThis study found a striking disparity betweenpublicly- and privately-operated prekindergartenprograms in terms of the qualifications,compensation and stability of teachingstaff. This disparity appears to reflect a longstandingsplit in the U.S. early care and educationsystem between services that emphasize theneeds of young children as learners (such as HeadStart and other part-day preschool programs), andthose that emphasize the work-related needs offamilies (such as full-day, year-round child carecenters, and child care initiatives related to welfarereform).State-funded prekindergarten services have beenlargely prompted by the former concern – i.e., theearly learning needs of young children, especiallythose considered to be at risk of later underachievementin elementary school. But this splitbetween two kinds of services is being particularlyplayed out in states where Pre-K programs arehoused both in public schools and in the community-basedchild care system. Pre-K programsbased in public schools have generally been ableto maintain a stable cohort of well-trained teachingstaff, which is a fundamental element in meetingthe learning needs of young children, buthave often been less successful in assuring the fullday,year-round services that many families need.Privately-operated child care settings, on the otherhand, have often been better at supplementingpart-day Pre-K programs with full-time services forworking families, but have often been less able torecruit and retain a well-qualified teaching staff.The key question, however, is not whether it isinherently better for children and families whenstates place prekindergarten services in the publicschools or in the privately-operated child care system.Both approaches can provide excellent earlycare and education for children, as well as appro-priate services for families, and both, as it currentlystands, also face significant shortcomings. Theessential question is one of equal standards,teacher qualifications and compensation in allsegments of a Pre-K service delivery system, andthis is nowhere clearer than in states that haveused a combination of settings in which to houseprekindergarten services. Equity of standards istherefore the starting point of the following policyrecommendations.Set equal standards for all settings within states’prekindergarten service delivery systems, and providesufficient resources for programs to implementthem – particularly regarding the qualificationsand compensation of teaching staff.Mixed delivery systems should be governed by acommon set of standards, operating principlesand ground rules. In particular, to ensure the presenceof stable, well-qualified teaching staff acrossall programs, teaching staff in both privately- andpublicly-operated Pre-K programs should receiveequal compensation for equal qualifications, educationand training.•Privately-operated, child care-based services:When Pre-K efforts are grafted onto an underfundedchild care system, without attention toreaching parity with the standards and resourcesof public school districts, the results for child carebasedsettings are lower compensation, poorersuccess in recruiting qualified teachers, and higherteaching staff turnover, all of which jeopardizethe preschool learning experiences that promptedthe programs’ creation. In this scenario, privately-operatedPre-K services essentiallybecome the lower tier of a two-tier system, atraining ground from which teachers move intopositions in the better-funded public school systemas soon as they are able.89

•Publicly-operated, school-based services: Publicschool districts may also need additional supportin appropriately meeting the needs of workingfamilies with full-year and full-day ("wraparound")care. Of the five states examined in thisstudy, the almost exclusively school-based TexasPrekindergarten Program offers the best exampleof providing such services in school settings.Integrate Pre-K programs more fully into the largerpublic or private systems in which they operate.As indicated in Finding 5, both publicly- and privately-operatedprekindergarten programs havehad mixed success in integrating their teachingstaff into existing service delivery systems. Withoutsuch integration, teachers are less able to do theirjobs effectively, have fewer opportunities for professionaldevelopment and career advancement,and are likely to experience less job satisfaction.•Privately-operated, child care-based services:Prekindergarten funding and administrationshould allow for equitable sharing of trainingopportunities, classroom supplies and otherresources between Pre-K and other staff, whenPre-K services are housed within child care centersor other privately-operated communityagencies. Chicago has developed a particularlysuccessful model of such integration, blendingPre-K and other funding to provide all children atcommunity agency sites with a full day of qualityearly care and education. Administrators alsoappeared to use Pre-K funding to address thequality of work life for all child care staff, sharingstate-funded Pre-K resources among all classroomsand improving benefits (and in somecases, pay scales) for all staff. The GeorgiaOffice of School Readiness has also made anotable effort to provide training for all teachingstaff in centers housing privately-operated Pre-Kprograms, in an attempt to "raise the bar" of educationalattainment and support the overallquality of the centers.•Publicly-operated, school-based services:Prekindergarten programs housed in publicschools should be treated as equal partners withthe upper grades in providing quality educationfor children and in offering professional advancementopportunities for teaching staff. The leadershipof school principals is particularly importantin this regard; without it, Pre-K staff frequently feelunappreciated and unfairly treated within publicschools. Decisions about the availability of classroomspace and other school resources shouldalso be made equitably for Pre-K programs andupper grades.Provide adequate training for directors of Pre-Ksettings in serving this population of children.While not all states require Pre-K site directors tocomplete training in early childhood education,such training is an essential element of Pre-K quality.In public school settings that house Pre-K programs,principals should have training in understandingthe methods and goals of early childhoodeducation, serving this population of childrenappropriately, appreciating the professionalismof prekindergarten teachers, and integratingPre-K programs into the schools.Ensure appropriate access and support for teachersin meeting state Pre-K training requirements.A number of states providing publicly-fundedprekindergarten services are now engaged inupgrading the training and education requirementsof Pre-K teachers, in some cases bringingthem closely into line with those of kindergartenand elementary school teachers. In states thathouse Pre-K programs in a combination of publicly-and privately-operated settings, however, disparitiesin funding and other resources can make itvery difficult for privately-operated programs tomeet these increased requirements and to competewith the public schools in recruiting andretaining teaching staff. States should address anysuch inequities by ensuring that all Pre-K teachingstaff, wherever they work, have appropriateaccess to and financial support for pursuing andcompleting the professional training that isrequired of them.90

Appendix: Study Designand MethodologySampling StrategyWe employed a similar sampling strategyin each state, conducting a stratifiedrandom sample from administrativedata, but altering our approachdepending on each state’s available informationabout the universe of prekindergarten programs.In each state, we selected a random sample ofPre-K programs within counties specifically chosento represent urban, suburban and rural communities;our goals were to reflect each state’s geographicaldiversity, as well as the variety of programauspices of state-funded Pre-K services. 1 Theuse of stratified random sampling ensured thatgeographical variations would be present in ourfinal sample of participating programs. 2Each state maintained a database of its Pre-K programs,but these varied in form and composition,and this variation had consequences for our samplingstrategy and ultimate sample size. The mostsignificant difference among the five states’ lists ofPre-K services was whether the lists were composedof single agencies overseeing multiple sites,herein referred to as “programs,” or by individualsites, herein called “sites.” In New York, for example,we sampled respondents from a list of multisiteprograms, and thus each Pre-K entity on thelist represented a number of sites, whereas inChicago, Georgia and Texas, we sampled respon -dents from a list of individual Pre-K sites, some ofwhich were affiliated with multiple-site programs.In California, the lists contained a combination ofprograms and sites. (See Table 1.) Specific issuesrelated to sampling Pre-K programs in each of thestates, as well as response rates, are discussedbelow. 3Table 1: Five-State SampleCaliforniaChicagoGeorgiaNew YorkExperimentalPrekindergartenNew YorkUniversalPrekindergartenTexasT O TAL POPULA-TION OF PRE-KPROGRAMS INS TAT E / C I T Y342397804130126*SAMPLE OFPROGRAMSRECRUITED60901405090122SITES REPRE-SENTED INRECRUITEDSAMPLE24694217123668126PROGRAMRESPONSERATE87%80%76%68%54%34%P R O G R A M SI N T E R -V I E W E D5272107344941SITESINTER-VIEWED211761698912741* The total number of Texas prekindergarten programs is not available from any source. Prekindergarten programs are reportedlyoffered by the majority of the 1,056 school districts in the state.91

CaliforniaAll Pre-K programs in four California counties (Kern,San Diego, Santa Clara and Shasta) were selectedto participate. These counties were chosen to representthe Northern, Bay Area, Southern andCentral Valley regions of the state, and to providea balance of rural, urban and suburban communitiesin the sample. Eighty-six percent of programsagreed to participate. Refusals were spread evenlythroughout the target counties.Lists of Pre-K programs in California were obtainedfrom the State Department of Education, ChildDevelopment Division (CDD), which oversees Pre-Kcontracts. Information about the total populationsize of Pre-K sites in California was not available atthe time of the study from CDD, which tracks programcontracts only, or from any other source. Asshown in Figure 2, school districts and communitybasednonprofit programs are eligible to receiveCalifornia state funding to operate Pre-K programs.CDD estimates that 75 percent or more ofthese programs are operated by public school districts,with the remainder located in communitybasednonprofit agencies, public universities andcommunity colleges.Chicago, IllinoisThe Illinois Board of Education, which oversees thestate prekindergarten program, reports that 90percent or more of Illinois Pre-K programs are operatedby public school districts, with the remainderoperated by nonprofit child care agencies orHead Start. In Chicago, however, a more sizeableproportion of programs are operated by nonprofitcommunity-based agencies holding subcontractsfrom the school district to provide prekindergartenservices. Chicago was selected because it offereda compelling case study of differences within onecommunity between programs operated by publicschool districts and those operated by community-basedorganizations.The Chicago Public Schools oversee 309 publicschool-based and 88 community-based prekinder -garten sites. We oversampled the communitybasedprekindergarten sites in Chicago to permitcomparisons between public school and community-basedprograms. Lists of individual Pre-K sites inChicago were obtained from the Chicago PublicSchools.Table 2: California SampleSAMPLE OF PROGRAMSRECRUITEDSITES REPRESENTED INRECRUITED SAMPLEPROGRAMS INTERVIEWEDSITES INTERVIEWED6024652211Table 3: Chicago SampleSAMPLE OF PROGRAMSRECRUITEDSITES REPRESENTED INRECRUITED SAMPLEPROGRAMS INTERVIEWEDSITES INTERVIEWED9094727692

GeorgiaWe selected just over one-third (39 percent) ofPre-K sites in the Georgia counties of Baldwin,Bibb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinett, Jones, Paulding,Peach and Tift. These counties represent urbanand suburban communities in the Atlanta metropolitanarea, as well as smaller cities and ruralareas in central and southern Georgia. All sites inthe rural counties of Baldwin, Jones, Peach and Tiftwere selected to ensure adequate representationof these counties that have only a small number ofstate-funded Pre-K sites.All program auspices, including for-profit, community-basednonprofit, faith-based nonprofit andschool district programs, are eligible to receiveGeorgia Pre-K funds, and are included in the findings.The list of Pre-K sites in the state was obtained fromthe Georgia Department of Education, Office ofSchool Readiness (OSR), which oversees the statesponsoredPre-K program. OSR reports that 44 percentof all prekindergartens are operated by publicschool districts, with the remainder operated bynonprofit child care agencies, Head Start, faithbasedcenters, or for-profit independent or chainchild care centers.New YorkNew York currently operates two distinct types ofPre-K programs: the Experimental Pre-K Program(EPK) and the Universal Pre-K Program (UPK). EPK isprovided at the local level exclusively by publicschool districts, whereas UPK can be providedeither by school districts or by community-basedprograms. Approximately 65 percent of UPKs areoperated by public school districts, with theremainder operated by nonprofit child care agencies,for-profit centers, family child care providers,and private schools. Both types of programs wereincluded in the study sample.Fifty EPKs and sixty-five UPK school districts wererandomly selected from 36 of the 45 counties inNew York. Most EPKs in New York are large, centrallyadministered programs overseen by publicschool districts. UPKs were oversampled to ensurethe inclusion of a sufficient number of communitybasedprograms. The New York State Departmentof Education, which oversees the EPK and UPKprograms, supplied the list of all Pre-K programsfrom which the sample was selected.Table 4: Georgia SampleSAMPLE OF PROGRAMSRECRUITEDSITES REPRESENTED INRECRUITED SAMPLEPROGRAMS INTERVIEWEDSITES INTERVIEWED14021778126Table 5: New York SampleExperimentalPrekindergartenUniversalPrekindergartenSAMPLE OFPROGRAMSRECRUITED5090SITES REPRESENTED INRECRUITED SAMPLE123384PROGRAMSINTERVIEWED3449SITES INTERVIEWED8912793

TexasPre-K programs in Texas are operated exclusivelythrough public school sites, primarily elementaryschools. Dallas, Bexar, Jefferson, Lubbock and TylerCounties were selected to provide a balance ofurban, suburban and rural school districts, and abalance of regions throughout Texas. DallasCounty, which includes the city of Dallas, andBexar County, which includes San Antonio, togetherprovide a view of large metropolitan areas containinga combination of urban and suburbanschool districts. Thirty percent of individual Pre-Ksites in Dallas and Bexar Counties were selected toparticipate in the study, and all of the Pre-K sites inthe smaller rural counties were selected to ensurean adequate representation of rural sites.The final Texas response rate was markedly lowerthan in other states. Elementary school principalsare typically the sole site-level administrators ofTexas Pre-K programs, and do not have access toinformation about the salaries and educationalattainment of Pre-K teaching staff; nor are theyresponsible for recruiting and retaining staff. As aresult, principals could not respond to the majorityof the interview questions. A variety of school districtpersonnel who have access to compensationand educational background data on school districtstaff, including Pre-K teachers, were reluctantto provide information they perceived as confidential.Telephone Survey InterviewsThe telephone survey for site and program directorsthat was developed for use in this study wasadapted from measures used in the study, Thenand Now: Changes in Child Care Staffing, 1994-2000 (Whitebook et al., 2001), and in state andlocal child care center studies conducted by theCenter for the Child Care Workforce. Directorswere asked to provide information about thecompensation, professional background anddemographic characteristics of teachers, assistantteachers and on-site administrative directorsemployed by their Pre-K program or site, as well asto characterize their programs’ auspices, fundinglevels, and daily, weekly and yearly schedules. Wealso asked open-ended questions regarding directors’experiences with recruiting and retainingteaching staff. On average, the interview required45 minutes to complete. Interviewers were instructedto call each respondent at least ten timesbefore abandoning that particular effort. Prior todata collection, the instrument underwent a totalof 15 pilot interviews in the study sample’s fivestates, in order to test the applicability of the questions’content and wording for each state.Interviewers were trained by study researchers inhow to administer the interview instrument, includingthe use of probing questions and other openendedinterviewing techniques. Interviewers wereTable 6: Texas SampleSAMPLE OF PROGRAMSRECRUITEDSITES REPRESENTED INRECRUITED SAMPLEPROGRAMS INTERVIEWEDSITES INTERVIEWED122126374194

provided with written protocols prior to beginningdata collection, and were convened throughoutthe data collection period to ensure consistency intechnique, with the goal of increasing the reliabilityof the responses.A majority of interviews (N=250) were conductedwith administrators of single Pre-K sites. In somecases, however, directors who oversaw severalsites were the most knowledgeable respondentsabout the compensation levels and characteristicsof staff at these sites, and thus provided informationfor the multiple sites under their direction(N=99). A larger proportion of interviews with directorsof multi-site programs were conducted inCalifornia (58 percent) and New York (29 percent)than in the other states.Qualitative Study of Pre-K Programsin Chicago and GeorgiaWe also conducted a qualitative study of Pre-Kprograms in Georgia and Chicago in order toidentify the effect of trends in staff education,compensation, recruitment and retention on Pre-Kprogram staff in these two states.The Chicago and Georgia prekindergarten programswere selected for this qualitative investigationbecause they represented programs with distinctiveand contrasting policies, and thus offeredtwo very different models of programs in operationtoday: a public school-based prekindergarten system,and one anchored in a wide variety of community-basedand public school sites.Established in 1985 to serve at-risk children, theChicago prekindergarten program is based in thepublic schools, with educational requirements forstaff commensurate with those required of publicelementary school teachers, and primarily employingunionized, credentialed teachers whose compensationis on par with teachers of older children.The Georgia Prekindergarten Program, begun adecade later than the Illinois program, is availableto all four-year-olds in the state, and more thanhalf of its sites are operated by community-basedchild care centers. As a relatively new programthat grew quickly to serve a large number of children,the Georgia prekindergarten program featuresa diverse delivery system, modest teachereducational requirements (which will be increasedin the 2002-03 academic year), wide variations incompensation, and no teacher unionization.As states such as Illinois contemplate the staffingand funding challenges of extending prekindergartenservices to all four-year-olds, and as statessuch as Georgia with “universal” Pre-K efforts inplace grapple with inequities in staff educationand compensation resulting, in part, from adiverse delivery system, we determined that adetailed exploration of these two very differentprograms would be enlightening to policy makersand researchers alike.Within these two study sites, we explored differencesbetween school district and communitybasedprograms through open-ended interviewsand focus groups. One-hour focus groups wereconducted with separate groupings of teachingand administrative staff in Chicago and Atlanta,using the same sets of questions in both study sites.A total of seven focus groups were conductedwith the following prekindergarten stakeholders:public school teaching staff, public school principals,4 community-based agency teaching staff,and community-based agency directors.A total of 13 teaching staff and ten administratorsparticipated in the focus groups. Participants wererepresentative with respect to age and ethnicityof prekindergarten teaching and administrativestaff in their communities. 5 The administrator focusgroups were conducted during the day; teachingstaff participants, who attended evening groups,received a $25 stipend for their participation. TheChicago Public Schools provided a list of all schooldistrict and community-based agencies offeringprekindergarten in the city, and programs wererandomly selected to participate. The GeorgiaState University Applied Research Center, whichwas concurrently conducting a study of prekindergartenprograms, provided a list of administratorsand teaching staff participating in their study, andfacilitated their involvement in our study.95

State and city policy makers, administrators andadvocates were interviewed by telephone toexplore the history, policies and future trends ofstate prekindergarten staffing in school district andcommunity-based programs in Chicago andGeorgia. Interviews ranged in length from 45 minutesto one hour.Interview respondents in Chicago included:We then used t-tests, analysis of variance and chisquares to explore the relationships between thesalaries of staff, their educational attainments, andreported staff turnover by program. Differencesbetween staff working in school district or community-basedPre-Ks were analyzed along the dimensionsof educational attainment and salary withthe use of these tests. When present, variance inprogram characteristics by public or private auspiceswas also analyzed.• The administrator of early childhood educationfor the Chicago Public Schools;• The manager of subcontracted prekindergartenprograms for the Chicago Public Schools;• The Executive Director of the Chicago MetroAssociation for the Education of Young Children;• The Assistant Director of the Illinois Child CareResource and Referral Network; and• The Director of the Day Care Action Council.Interview respondents in Georgia included:• Officials from the Office of School Readiness,including the Acting Director, the Head StartCollaborative Director, and a Program Managerfor the prekindergarten program;• A Strategic Planner from the Georgia EarlyLearning Initiative;• The Executive Director of the GeorgiaAssociation for the Education of Young Children;• The Director of the Georgia Child CareAssociation; and• The Director of the Georgia ChildcareLeadership Forum.Plan of Analysis for Survey InterviewsInitially, we compiled descriptive data for eachstate, including demographic characteristics, educationalattainments and salaries of Pre-K teachers,assistant teachers and on-site administrators;program characteristics such as auspice, fundingsources, schedules (daily, weekly and annual),employee benefit levels, and staff turnover; andthe attitudes of respondents regarding staff recruit -ment and retention.Open-ended responses to the director interviewquestions regarding recruiting and retaining staffwere coded and analyzed to identify significantvariations in directors’ opinions and experienceswith staffing.Endnotes1 In New York, we selected counties randomly from a statewidelist of school districts holding prekindergarten contracts,rather than targeting specific counties. In Illinois, we studiedPre-K programs only within the city of Chicago.2 The exception to this approach occurred in the selection ofNew York programs; because of the smaller sample size ofPre-K programs identified for inclusion in the study, we sampledfrom the total population of programs. We did not stratifythe sample by program auspice because of the paucity ofavailable information on this subject. In Chicago, we didstratify the sample by auspice because we had informationabout the auspice of Pre-K sites. In other states, we selecteda sufficiently large random sample to ensure that variations inprogram auspices would be reflected in the final sample.3 A small number of prekindergarten programs included on thestate lists were no longer in operation at the time of our interviews.The closures ranged from a low of 1 in Georgia to 3 inChicago.4 In Georgia, a public school prekindergarten principal wasinterviewed by telephone in lieu of a focus group discussionbecause of difficulties encountered in organizing a focusgroup discussion with these informants.5 The ethnicity of the Chicago focus group participants wasAfrican American (4), European American (4), Latino (3) andAsian American (3). Most participants were over age 40 (11),with the remainder below age 40 (3). The ethnicity of theGeorgia focus group participants was African American (4),European American (3) and Biracial (2). Seven participantswere above age 40, and two were younger.96

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