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Preschool Teachers Deserve Extra Credit
The supermarket strikes have got me driving much farther than I usually do and thinking more than I usually do. I have been thinking about the work we do and the value that is placed on that work.
After spending a morning recently at the Palomar College Child Development Center in San Marcos and watching the dedicated teachers, I wonder why preschool teachers don't go on strike. If ever there was a group that should be pounding the pavements, waving picket signs and demanding their rights, it's the men and women who are entrusted with the lives of young children.
Actually, there are few men in this field, which probably has a lot to do with the abysmal pay early childhood educators receive.
Carol Mitton, who works with 2-year-olds at the Palomar College Child Development Center, has an associate's degree and has taught at the center for 20 years. She considers herself immensely fortunate to be making $30,000 a year. Most of the other teachers who work there make half of that, she says.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual salary of a preschool teacher with an associate's or bachelor's degree in San Diego County is $20,840.
"Mean" might be the operative word here.
Our leaders tell us our children are our most precious resources. If that were the case, surely the people who devote themselves to the well-being of these precious resources would be more highly valued. The younger the child, the less the person who works with them gets paid.
Kindergarten, primary school, middle school and high school teachers in San Diego County make an average of $42,440, $48,460, $45,900, and $51,000 a year respectively, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
We've heard plenty of well-founded complaints from these teachers over the years, but never a peep from the ones who have to wipe noses and give hugs.
There's an ad on television that says children who go to preschool are more likely to have success in later life. I'm not so sure about that. There are plenty of kids who spend their days happily playing at home until kindergarten, and on to become doctors and CEO's.
But the fact remains that these days most parents have to work and there are thousands of children younger than 5 in day care or preschool. Unfortunately, because of the low pay, there are many people who would love to do this vitally important work, but cannot afford to do it. Because of this, the quality of child care is sometimes compromised.
There are thousands of women who, despite the lack of financial reward, dedicate themselves to the welfare of children whose parents' earnings far exceed theirs ---- women who, even when they're not at work, are constantly thinking about how to enrich the lives of children.
So why aren't the preschool teachers striking? Maybe it's because they care too much about the children they work with to leave them in the lurch. Maybe it's because they do what they do ---- not for the money, but because they believe in it. Or maybe it's because they're women who care for very young children ---- two of the most undervalued groups in our society.
— Brigid Brett
Preschool teachers deserve extra credit
North County Times
2003-11-18
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2003/11/18/opinion/11_17_0321_14_50.txt
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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