Teacher shortages close early childhood classrooms

Federal dollars could 'fundamentally reshape' landscape, profession

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Child care centers are struggling to find qualified teachers, and a third of those responding to a September survey said they’ve had to close classrooms with little notice to parents because of staffing shortages.

Providers were looking for an average of 4.5 teachers this fall, the survey from the North Carolina Child Care Resource & Referral Council found. Most respondents said they were finding it harder to recruit and retain teachers than before the pandemic, and had lost both teachers (2.5 on average) and students (7 on average) since March 2020.

In the short term, quarterly stabilization grants from the state could help early childhood programs with recruitment and retainment. More than 3,600 centers and home-based facilities have completed the state’s application to receive the first payment this month. But those grants are from a one-time federal supply of money, and will last for only 18 months.

A six-year federal package could be a more long-term solution. The Build Back Better Act, working its way through Congress, currently includes large investments — $400 billion nationwide — in child care and pre-K. That would mean lower costs for parents, high-quality care for children, and higher wages for teachers.

I spoke with Dan Wuori, senior director of early learning at The Hunt Institute, about what the proposal would mean for the early childhood landscape and the workforce if passed.

“On the presumption that North Carolina and other states are going to move forward and that this is passed, it’s going to fundamentally reshape what it means to be a part of this profession,” Wuori said.

Don’t miss a breakdown of the bill’s current early childhood components below. And follow me on Twitter for updates on the package and what it means for North Carolina in the coming days.