EEA Campaign Goal:
Ensure a statewide system to improve the training, education and compensation of the early childhood workforce.

Investing in Early Educators is Essential
Research shows that a teachers’ education, training, and compensation levels are the main determinants of early education program quality, which has a direct and positive effect on children’s healthy development. The Early Education for All Campaign worked hard to make sure that one of the statutory responsibilities of the Department of Early Education and Care was an early educator workforce development system to support the increased training, education, and compensation of early educators.

See the research.

	Among its charges, the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) oversees the implementation of a workforce development system designed to support the education, training, and compensation of the early education and care workforce. Find out what's going on at the Department of EEC.

Initiatives Underway in Massachusetts
The Early Educators Scholarship program was created to help people working in the early education and care field to pursue higher education degrees. Obtaining a degree is not presently a requirement, but because so many early educators have expressed interest in affordable access to higher education opportunities, and because the research links higher early childhood teacher credentials to improved outcomes for children, the Commonwealth has invested in this program.

EEA is currently advocating to maintain funding for the Early Educator Scholarship, among other initiatives, to improve professional development opportunities for early educators.

Find out more about EEA's FY10 budget recommendations.

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