[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 139 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 139

  Supporting the goals and ideas of a National Child Care Worthy Wage 
                                  Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2005

    Mrs. McCarthy (for herself and Mr. George Miller of California) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
              the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Supporting the goals and ideas of a National Child Care Worthy Wage 
                                  Day.

Whereas approximately 13 million children are in out-of-home care during part or 
        all of the day while their parents work;
Whereas the average salary of early childhood education staff is $17,610 per 
        year, and only one third have health insurance and even fewer have a 
        pension plan;
Whereas the quality of child care and early childhood education programs is 
        directly linked to the quality of early childhood education staff, and 
        such low salaries make it difficult to attract high quality early 
        childhood educators;
Whereas the turnover rate of early childhood program staff is roughly 30 percent 
        per year because of low wages and lack of benefits, making it difficult 
        to retain high quality educators who have the consistent, caring 
        relationships with young children that are important to children's 
        development;
Whereas the compensation of early childhood program staff must be commensurate 
        with the importance of the job of helping our Nation's young children 
        develop their social, emotional, physical, and intellectual skills and 
        be ready for school;
Whereas providing adequate compensation to early childhood program staff should 
        not be achieved by further burdening parents with higher fees, and 
        therefore requires additional public as well as private resources so 
        that quality care and education are accessible to all families; and
Whereas the Center for the Child Care Workforce and other early childhood 
        organizations recognize May 1 as National Child Care Worthy Wage Day: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That Congress supports the goals and ideas of National Child Care 
Worthy Wage Day, and urges public officials and the general public to 
honor early childhood care and education staff and programs in their 
communities, and to work together to resolve the early childhood care 
and education staff compensation crisis.
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