Teacher Shortages Endanger the Future of Child Care

An educator takes children for a morning walk outside of the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee’s Early Childhood Education Center. Photo by Jim Moy.

This article by Rilla Williams, the owner of Pristine Child Care LLC, was originally published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It's part of a special report by the Ideas Lab on child care in Wisconsin ahead of a special session of the legislature on September 20.

I am the owner of Pristine Child Care Center, LLC and have been in the early childhood education field for over 25 years. I entered the field after my husband and I learned we were expecting twins. Like many parents-to-be, we quickly realized that child care was unaffordable. I decided to leave my position at a local nonprofit organization specializing in health and welfare-related family services.

Child care is my chosen career and a service I offer to families who need it. I believe all children and families deserve quality services in their own neighborhoods and am committed to providing care for families who live and work around North Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.

What happens in child care settings is vital child development. Research tells us that children learn primarily through play, and more than 75% of brain development occurs by the third birthday. So, what might look like play to an adult is a child in the process of acquiring the foundational scaffolding they will need to build future knowledge and skills.

$12 to $15 hourly is Unsustainable

Two children play at the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee’s Early Childhood Education Center. Photo by Jim Moy.

Providers in Milwaukee and throughout Wisconsin are finding it difficult to meet the demand for quality child care because many teachers have left the field. Former teachers report that although they love working with children, they cannot continue to work for the average starting wage of $12 to $15 per hour and no benefits. This is especially true after the pandemic, which for many teachers highlighted the need for better pay and more security for themselves and their own families.

To be clear, it is not that administrators are unwilling to pay their staff a higher wage. Most programs would love to be able to offer their staff higher wages, but can’t because doing so would mean even higher rates for families who are already struggling to afford child care.

Teachers have a huge responsibility. They are tasked with caring for the physical needs of the children in their care while supporting children’s cognitive development. They are required to have curriculum and lesson plans that outline how they will promote a child’s social, emotional, physical, and creative growth and do it in a way that is fun and engaging. Early childhood education teachers must also have the skills to develop a relationship with the parents of the children they are caring for.

Shortage has forced us to Close Classrooms

We expect a lot from professionals but have not compensated them at the level they need to provide for their own families. The resulting flight of teachers into other careers has had a profound impact in Milwaukee and the entire state.

Like many early childhood education administrators, I have had to close classrooms and reduce the number of children we care for because of staffing shortages. I have had to turn parents away, some of whom are faced with making the decision to quit their jobs because of a lack of quality, affordable child care.

As someone who has worked in the field for more than twenty years, I say to the community and to our city and state leaders: make early childhood education a priority. By investing in child care, we can ensure that professionals will stay in the field, and we can attract others into this field who are passionate about the care and well-being of our most vulnerable citizens – our children. An investment in child care is an investment in the workforce behind the general workforce.

Policymakers at the local and state level, I urge you to give child care funding top priority to ensure this essential industry can survive and thrive. If the City of Milwaukee and the state want to attract and retain businesses, the issue of stable, quality, and affordable child care must be addressed.