News of the child care crisis escalated during the pandemic and spotlighted the system’s many inequities. Despite the critical role early childhood educators play in shaping the lives of young children, child care workers are among the lowest paid workers in the country. Many attribute low pay to high staff turnover rates and low morale.

In response to local advocacy efforts, Washington, DC, created the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund to ensure early childhood educators in licensed child care facilities receive a living wage on par with the DC’s public school system. It marks the first early childhood educator wage supplement with dedicated public funding in the nation. In the first phase of implementation, annual payments of $14,000 for full-time lead teachers and $10,000 for full-time assistant teachers had to be distributed quickly, which required accurate staff information and data.

Eva Laguerre, director of licensing, compliance, and subsidy at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and interim deputy superintendent for early learning, along with her team, were crucial in implementing the Pay Equity Fund in a timely and efficient manner. Urban’s DC Child Care Policy Research Partnership team spoke with Laguerre to learn about the initiative’s rollout and the data infrastructure and staffing support necessary for its success. Her insights can inform policymakers, practitioners, and advocates in other jurisdictions seeking to address early childhood educator pay inequity. 

What have been the biggest successes of implementing the Pay Equity Fund so far?

Our biggest success was getting the program off the ground and millions of dollars to thousands of hardworking early childhood educators over the course of just a few short months. We were able to do this in large part to our partnership with AidKit, a social impact company that specializes in administering efficient and secure direct cash programs at scale.

What has been the biggest challenge to implementing the Pay Equity Fund so far?

While we were able to make quick movements, update our systems, and move the work forward, we relied on existing staff to pick up new tasks and projects. On top of doing over 200 inspections, including inspection follow-ups, every year, licensing specialists now had to review every staff record for every individual employer at every licensed child development facility.

The biggest challenge was training providers in how to use the system differently and to get them to fill in information in a timely fashion. Providers needed to update staff records to ensure the information on file for each staff member was accurate and up-to-date, including everything from the staff members’ date of birth to date of hire and proof of credentials.

How did you engage providers to fill in those data gaps?

We created a guide to show them screen by screen how to use the new system and then followed up to make sure they were completing the data. This additional responsibility was sometimes very burdensome on providers, some of whom do not have any administrative office staff and some of whom have over 200 employees.

The timeframe for providers to add the new data was tight, and the expectation on providers was really high. The data collection was tough for everybody at the beginning, but I think providers have the hang of it now. We have more accurate and robust information than ever before thanks to their efforts.

What did early educator data and data systems look like before the Pay Equity Fund, and how have they changed?

Our data systems had the capability to implement the work, but we had to make modifications, including collecting additional staff data we didn’t have before and granting providers a higher level of access to the system for them to provide information that would then be reviewed and approved by the licensing specialists. It went really well because we have amazing staff and our leadership is so collaborative.

What additional opportunities do you see for using the new data infrastructure for the Pay Equity Fund, or even beyond the Pay Equity Fund?

In the next phase of the Pay Equity Fund, providers will have the opportunity to opt in or out of the Pay Equity Fund. Providers that choose to participate in the program will receive quarterly payments through a child development facility (CDF) payroll funding formula and must then pay eligible early childhood educators, by position and degree, salaries that meet or exceed the FY24 minimum salaries. We recently launched an expanded provider portal, in the same licensing system, that supports the collection of documents and agreements from providers that opt into the program. We also added a few more fields to the staff section to make sure we have all the information we need to calculate a facility’s CDF payroll funding formula award.

As a result of these changes, we will be able to use the data as a comprehensive workforce registry that will ultimately benefit providers and educators. The additional information we are collecting will also enable us to analyze staff turnover and how much providers are paying their staff for those that participate. We will also use the education data to verify credentials and plan for the December 2, 2023, implementation of increased minimum education requirements. This data will be important for monitoring moving forward, including monitoring providers who do not participate in the subsidized child care program and generally have not had to report substantial information to OSSE.

What lessons would you share with other jurisdictions seeking to embark on data systems improvements for the early childhood educator workforce?

• Stakeholder engagement is really important. Go to all your provider groups, go to education staff and all your impacted stakeholders inside your agency to gather their insights and feedback on data improvements.
• Give yourself time. Start with stakeholder engagement, establish a plan for what you need to add to your system, and include licensing specialists or those in supportive roles related to this work, from the beginning. Include the licensing manager or related manager from inception so you are making realistic goals and promises to your legislature.
• Give providers time. Every child development facility is different. Leaders need time to consider how their programs will be affected and to ask questions.
• Have a strong project and communication plan. Share clear and concise information with providers and educators and make sure the information is easily accessible. Consider issues of equity. We made materials and supports available in English, Spanish, and Amharic—the most common languages spoken among our early childhood educators.
• Make sure your policies include time to evaluate how what you did impacted the system. Did it cause early educators to leave or join the child care field? Is it enough money for providers to engage with the ECE Pay Equity Fund?