III 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. CON. RES. 21 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 29, 2009 Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Feingold, and Mr. Dodd) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Supporting the goals and ideals of National Early Educator Worthy Wage Day.

Whereas approximately 60 percent of the children in the United States under the age of 6 are in nonparental care during part or all of the day while their parents work; Whereas the early childhood industry employs more than 2,300,000 workers; Whereas the average salary of an early care and education worker is $18,917 per year; Whereas only 1/3 of early care and education workers have health insurance and even fewer have pension plans; Whereas the quality of early care and education programs is directly linked to the quality of early childhood educators; Whereas the turnover rate of early childhood program staff is roughly 30 percent each year, and low wages and lack of benefits, among other factors, make 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 should reflect the importance of the job of helping the young children of the United States develop their social, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills and be ready for school; Whereas providing adequate compensation to early childhood program staff should be a priority, and resources should be allocated to improve the compensation of early childhood educators to ensure that quality care and education are accessible for all families; Whereas additional training and education for the early childhood workforce is critical to ensuring high-quality early learning environments; Whereas early childhood educators should receive compensation commensurate with their training and experience; and Whereas the Center for the Child Care Workforce, a project of the American Federation of Teachers Educational Foundation, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and other early childhood organizations, recognize May 1 as National Early Educator Worthy Wage Day: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress— (1)supports the goals and ideals of National Early Educator Worthy Wage Day; and (2)urges public officials and the general public— (A)to honor early childhood care and education staff and programs in their communities; and (B)to work together to resolve the early childhood education staff compensation crisis.