MEMORANDUM

TO: The Honorable Vincent C. Gray

FROM: Susie Cambria, MSW

DATE: March 12, 2009

RE: Issue of concern for UDC and OSSE oversight hearings: Early learning
professional educational requirements

As you well know, the skills of adults in early learning environments – child care centers and
homes as well as school classrooms – is an important component of quality. Between 1997
and 2007, the early childhood education community in the District rewrote the regulations
for child development facilities. Believe me -- they were in desperate need of updating! In
1997, the regs were 25 years old.

What we now have is a regulatory framework that puts children at the center of the issue;
as such, all components – from safety to group size to adult training requirements – are
designed to ensure the best possible and most productive environment for children. By all
accounts, one of the most significant improvements in the regulations was making more
stringent the educational requirements for all child development facility staff. Research and
experience clearly and routinely show that the education levels of staff are correlated to the
skills of children.

The 1997 regulations (online at

http://www.osse.dc.gov/seo/frames.asp?doc=/seo/lib/seo/pdf/29_dcmr_3_cdf_nfrm_-
_04.27.07.pdf, see page 33) require that child development facility staff achieve
compliance with educational requirements within five years (2012). Achievement
of the requirement is largely reliant on UDC’s Early Childhood Leadership Institute (ECLI).
ECLI and ECLI alone has stepped up to enable the city to achieve its public policy goal of
ensuring quality early learning experiences. In addition to offering certificate and degree
opportunities, ECLI administers the District of Columbia's Professional Development Registry
and the Trainer Certification Process. Further, ECLI is a thought leader on the issue of early
childhood and quality. No other institution of higher education in the District has made the
commitment to early learning. While Southeastern has had a program, the cost is
prohibitive and the university’s administration has been less than willing to accommodate
increasing numbers of early childhood providers as students. Now, the point is largely moot
given the status of Southeastern’s future. Finally, Catholic University offers a BA in
education but not an AA, a degree that is acceptable for certain types of staff members in
early childhood development programs.

Phone: 301.832.2339 • Email: secambria@gmail.com • Web: http://susiecambria.blogspot.com

UDC’s plans to eliminate the education undergraduate major will have the effect of
shutting down the early care system. Without a higher education partner, there is
no way that providers can meet the regulatory requirements and the city can
achieve its public policy goals. Certainly, UDC has a right to make decisions about
majors, facilities and the like. That being said, it is unclear from limited media reports and
outreach to the early childhood community how well UDC and its new leadership
understands the link between the early childhood system and UDC. At a minimum, UDC
should be asked to address this issue in a public forum and answer a number of questions
including:
• Does UDC plan to continue ECLI? In what form?
• If UDC plans to discontinue ECLI, how does it plan to transition students to other
universities?

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) should be held to

account for this issue. While OSSE may not hold any responsibility for the decisions of
the UDC board, it is responsible for the early learning system and thus should play an active
role in this issue. Today at the oversight hearing, I would suggest you ask a few questions
of OSSE. For example, you might ask about OSSE’s plans for credentialing (credentials like
the CDA as well as degrees) early learning staffers in light of the UDC decision to eliminate
the undergrad education major. You might also ask the progress being made toward
meeting the regulation requirements – the number of staff needing certificates and degrees,
the time it will take the staff to achieve the credentials, etc. Finally, you might want to ask
about OSSE’s efforts to bring additional programs online, such as at American University,
Georgetown University and GW.

The unintended consequences of the UDC decision will negatively affect children and I would
argue that the Council has an obligation to ask tough questions and force resolutions
particularly when decisions impact public policy goals of the government.

Should you have any questions about this issue, I am more than happy to answer them.
You may reach me by email at secambria@gmail.com or by phone at (301) 832-2339 (cell).