[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9843-9844]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 170--SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF A NATIONAL 
                       CHILD CARE WORTHY WAGE DAY

  Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Kerry, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Inouye, Mr. 
Feingold, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Dodd) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 170

       Whereas approximately 63 percent of the Nation's children 
     under 5 are in nonparental care during part or all of the day 
     while their parents work;
       Whereas the early care and education industry employs more 
     than 2,300,000 workers;
       Whereas these workers indirectly add $580,000,000,000 to 
     the economy by enabling millions of parents to perform their 
     own jobs;
       Whereas the average salary of early care and education 
     workers is $18,180 per year, and only \1/3\ of these workers 
     have health insurance and even fewer have a pension plan;
       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 per 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 the 
     children's development;
       Whereas the compensation of early childhood program staff 
     should be commensurate with the importance of the job of 
     helping the young children of the Nation develop their 
     social, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills, and 
     helping them to be ready for school;
       Whereas providing adequate compensation to early childhood 
     program staff should be a priority, and resources can 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 
     care and education workforce is

[[Page 9844]]

     critical to ensuring high-quality early learning 
     environments;
       Whereas child care workers should receive compensation 
     commensurate with such training and experience; and
       Whereas the Center for the Child Care Workforce, a project 
     of the American Federation of Teachers Educational 
     Foundation, with support from the National Association for 
     the Education of Young Children and other early childhood 
     organizations, recognizes May 1 as National Child Care Worthy 
     Wage Day: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates May 1, 2007, as National Child Care Worthy 
     Wage Day; and
       (2) calls on the people of the United States to observe 
     National Child Care Worthy Wage Day by honoring early 
     childhood care and education staff and programs in their 
     communities.

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I am proud to be submitting a resolution 
designating May 1, 2007, as National Child Care Worthy Wage Day. On 
this day, child care providers and other early childhood professionals 
nationwide conduct public awareness and education efforts highlighting 
the importance of good early childhood education for our Nation's young 
children. This resolution is an effort to support these initiatives and 
to help develop greater public awareness to our early educators and the 
critical work they do.
  Every day, nearly 63 percent of children under the age of 5 are cared 
for outside their home so their parents can work. Early care and 
education workers, who number more than 2.3 million, make it possible 
for millions of parents to leave their children at day care and go to 
work. By enabling parents to go to work every day, our early education 
workers add more than $580 billion to our economy nationwide.
  The importance of early education cannot be overstated. From the day 
they are born, children begin to learn, and the quality of care they 
receive will affect their language development, math skills, behavior, 
and general readiness for school. Our early educators help future 
leaders and workers of our Nation develop their social, emotional, 
physical and cognitive skills so they can be ready for school.
  However, the committed individuals who nurture and teach these young 
children continue to be undervalued, with grossly low wages and lack of 
benefits. It is outrageous that the average salary of our early 
education staff is just a little over $18,000 per year, that only one-
third has health insurance and even fewer have pension plans.
  Early childhood educators perform essential work by supporting the 
development of our Nation's children. Yet poor wages and benefits have 
made it difficult to attract and retain high-quality early childhood 
care takers and educators, and one-third of all early childhood 
educators leave their jobs every year. This is not only unfair to our 
child care workers, but it undermines the quality of care that our 
children receive.
  Our early educators deserve nothing less than to be recognized and 
adequately compensated for the work they do. We must give our Nation's 
early childcare workers wages worthy of the incredible work they do 
every day to train and develop the future workforce of America.
  The Nation's childcare workforce, and the families who depend on 
them, deserve our support, and I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting this resolution.

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