Children’s Funding Project Highlights Milwaukee’s ARPA Investment into ECE
The Children’s Funding Project, a national leader in strategic public financing for children and youth, has recently highlighted Milwaukee’s $7 million American Rescue Plan (ARPA) investment into the ECE workforce - and the incredible work which the Milwaukee Succeeds-led ECE Coalition did to secure it. The new report, which was published in August, is part of a series of community profiles that examine how cities across the country are using the funds to expand child care, offer job training to youth and creatively support the needs of children.
The ECE Coalition’s Advocacy Efforts
Last year, Milwaukee’s ECE Coalition developed recommendations on how the City of Milwaukee could invest these federal dollars, securing sponsorship from Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic. In October of 2021, the Common Council voted to approve the Coalition’s $7 million proposal, which focuses on recruiting and retaining ECE processionals into the struggling workforce.
According to Children’s Funding Project profile, “The Milwaukee Early Childhood Education Coalition’s advocacy efforts were crucial in demonstrating to city leadership why investing Milwaukee’s recovery dollars in early childhood education was important for Milwaukee and how it would help build on existing and forthcoming state investments in the sector.”
Summary of the Investments
To bolster retention and reduce turnover rates, $5 million has been allocated to salary supplements for ECE professionals, which will be administered by the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association. The remaining $1.9 million will help create educational opportunities for new professionals to enter the field - particularly young men of color.
Through MATC’s dual enrollment program, youth will have the opportunity to take college-level courses in early childhood education while still in high school. In addition, the Literacy Lab’s Leading Men Fellowship will give young men of color (ages 18-24) the opportunity to be placed in a pre-K classroom and engage in professional development activities, intensive training sessions, and interactive mentoring experiences. The funding will support 20 fellows over 3 years as they pursue careers as educators. Finally, MKE Rising will also help prepare young men of color for ECE careers through 10-month classroom residencies over the next 3 years.
Lived Experience Leading the Way
According to the Children’s Funding Project, Milwaukee’s ARPA success was due in large part to the efforts of the early educators who were most impacted by the pandemic - along with the Coalition that brought them together.
“With support from the Milwaukee ECE Coalition, early educators called and emailed their council representatives to tell their stories, and the proposal’s legislative sponsor elevated these stories on the council floor when the proposal was up for debate,” the profile states. “Milwaukee’s success demonstrates the importance of involving early childhood educators and workers in advocacy efforts.”
To learn more about Milwaukee’s efforts, along with those of other notable cities around the country, visit the Children’s Funding Project.