Voices from the Field

Vermont Early Educators United-AFT kidscountonme.org

Daily Bulletin

Livable wage for a two wage earner household with 2 children in urban areas of Vermont was calculated to be $19.62 (JFO Livable Wage report 2011). The average hourly wage of a preschool teacher was $13.53 (the Center for the Childcare Workforce).

I am a registered home provider, I provide childcare at home so that I can be with my youngest son. Yet, I find myself leaving him at night to go to work at my second job. I find that even with working two jobs I struggle to make ends meet. I hear lots of complaints from parents who need to work two jobs to make ends meet but are not eligible for subsidy. When I raised my rates, for the first and only time in 5 years, parents who are professionals couldn't afford to pay and needed to make arrangements. The expectation is that I remain professional while I struggle to operate a small home business. Trying to come up with curriculums when I am working two jobs is a challenge. The expectation in the early education field is to be actually teaching children and not just providing care. - Jennifer Berquist, Registered Home Provider, 5 years in field, Springfield Why H. 97?
Parents and early educators are struggling to provide high quality care and education to Vermonts Children. Without the support and collaboration of policy makers, children will continue to suffer from a broken system. H.97 brings all stakeholders to the table to fix the system.

For more information about VEEU-AFT contact Kristin Warner kristinw@upvaft.org (802) 522-2230