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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6899
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 3870
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT CONCERNING EARLY EDUCATOR PAY EQUITY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section and 1
section 2 of this act: 2
(1) "Compensation schedule" means the early childhood educator 3
compensation schedule developed by the Office of Early Childhood 4
pursuant to section 10-531 of the general statutes, as amended by this 5
act; 6
(2) "Early childhood care and education program" means a child care 7
services provider, early childhood education program or license-exempt 8
early childhood provider; 9
(3) "Child care services provider" means a child care center or a group 10
child care home, as those terms are described in section 19a-77 of the 11
general statutes; 12
(4) "Early childhood education program" means a private preschool 13
program or an early care and education program under Early Start CT, 14
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pursuant to section 10-550b of the general statutes; 15
(5) "License-exempt early childhood provider" means any child care 16
services provider or school readiness program that accepts state funds 17
for infant, toddler and preschool spaces associated with such program 18
that is not required to be licensed pursuant to subsection (b) of section 19
19a-77 of the general statutes and is located in a public school building 20
but is not administered by a public school system; 21
(6) "Employee" means a person who is employed by an early 22
childhood care and education program and meets the eligibility criteria 23
described in the compensation schedule and policy developed by the 24
Office of Early Childhood pursuant to subsection (e) of this section; 25
(7) "Base salary" means the annual salary that an employee was paid 26
on December 31, 2024, or, if the position was vacant on December 31, 27
2024, the starting annual salary for such position on said date; 28
(8) "Benefits amount" means seven thousand five hundred dollars; 29
(9) "Individual employee salary enhancement amount" means, for 30
any fiscal year, the sum of (A) the difference between (i) the salary 31
prescribed in the compensation schedule for an employee, and (ii) the 32
amount of such employee's base salary, and (B) the benefits amount; 33
(10) "Salary enhancement amount" means the sum of the total 34
individual employee salary enhancement amounts for all employees of 35
an early childhood care and education program for the fiscal year; and 36
(11) "Family child care home" has the same meaning as provided in 37
section 19a-77 of the general statutes. 38
(b) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, and each fiscal year 39
thereafter, the Office of Early Childhood shall administer the early 40
childhood care and education salary enhancement grant program. The 41
office shall annually pay to each early childhood care and education 42
program a salary enhancement grant in the amount of such program's 43
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salary enhancement amount. Such program shall distribute such grant 44
funds to its employees in accordance with the policy developed by the 45
Commissioner of Early Childhood pursuant to subsection (e) of this 46
section. 47
(c) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, and each fiscal year 48
thereafter, the office shall annually pay to each family child care home 49
a salary enhancement grant as follows: (1) Twenty thousand dollars for 50
each licensee of a family child care home, (2) six thousand dollars for 51
each full-time assistant or substitute staff member approved by the 52
Commissioner of Early Childhood pursuant to section 19a-87b of the 53
general statutes, and (3) three thousand dollars for each part-time 54
assistant or substitute staff member approved by the commissioner 55
pursuant to section 19a-87b of the general statutes, and employed by the 56
family child care home. The licensee shall distribute such grant funds in 57
accordance with the policy developed by the commissioner pursuant to 58
subsection (e) of this section. 59
(d) Each early childhood care and education program shall register, 60
at such time and in such manner as prescribed by the commissioner, 61
with the Office of Early Childhood to receive a grant under the program. 62
Upon registration, such program shall provide any information 63
required by the office, in accordance with the policy developed by the 64
commissioner pursuant to subsection (e) of this section. 65
(e) Not later than October 1, 2025, the commissioner shall develop a 66
policy for the administration of the early childhood care and education 67
salary enhancement grant program. The policy shall include, but need 68
not be limited to, eligibility criteria for the program, the registration 69
process for the program, the distribution requirements of the grant and 70
any other requirements the commissioner deems necessary. 71
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) On and after July 1, 2025, each 72
employee of an early childhood care and education program shall be 73
paid an annual salary as prescribed in the compensation schedule 74
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developed pursuant to section 10-531 of the general statutes, as 75
amended by this act, except if an employee's salary is greater than the 76
amount prescribed in such compensation schedule, such employee shall 77
be paid such greater amount. 78
Sec. 3. Section 10-531 of the general statutes is repealed and the 79
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2025): 80
(a) As used in this section: 81
(1) "Early childhood education program" means any child care or 82
school readiness program that accepts state funds for infant, toddler and 83
preschool spaces associated with such program; 84
(2) "Employee" means any person who is employed by an [early 85
childhood education program and meets the applicable staff 86
qualifications requirement, as defined in section 10-16p] early childhood 87
care and education program and meets the eligibility criteria described 88
in the compensation schedule and policy developed by the Office of 89
Early Childhood pursuant to subsection (e) of section 1 of this act; 90
(3) "Compensation" means the salary, wages, benefits and other 91
forms of valuable consideration earned by and provided to an employee 92
in remuneration for services rendered; [and] 93
(4) "Compensation schedule" means a list or lists specifying a series 94
of compensation steps and ranges; [.] 95
(5) "Early childhood care and education program" means a child care 96
services provider or an early childhood education program; 97
(6) "Child care services provider" means a child care center or a group 98
child care home, as those terms are described in section 19a-77; and 99
(7) "Early childhood education program" means a private preschool 100
program or an early care and education program under Early Start CT, 101
pursuant to section 10-550b of the general statutes. 102
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(b) The Office of Early Childhood shall establish, after notice and 103
opportunity for public comment, a proposed early childhood educator 104
compensation schedule for employees of early childhood education 105
programs. 106
(c) (1) The office shall consider the following factors in developing the 107
proposed early childhood educator compensation schedule: (A) Level 108
of education, (B) training in early childhood education or child 109
development, (C) relevant employment experience, including the 110
number of years an individual has been employed in an early childhood 111
education program, (D) compensation levels for certified teachers 112
employed in a preschool program operated by a local or regional board 113
of education or regional educational service center, and (E) cost of living 114
in the state. 115
(2) In developing the proposed early childhood educator 116
compensation schedule, the office may (A) consider the findings and 117
recommendations provided in "A Plan to Assist Early Education State 118
Funded Providers to Degree Attainment and Increased Compensation" 119
created by the office, pursuant to section 4 of public act 15-134*, to create 120
a standardized salary scale and incentive package for early childhood 121
educators, (B) utilize state and federal funding, and (C) examine existing 122
programs that address early childhood educator compensation and staff 123
retention through financial incentives, such as bonuses for degree or 124
course completion. 125
(3) The office shall establish a recommended minimum salary for 126
employees as part of the proposed early childhood educator 127
compensation schedule. 128
(d) Not later than January 1, 2021, the office shall submit the proposed 129
early childhood educator compensation schedule and a report to the 130
joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance 131
of matters relating to education and appropriations and the budgets of 132
state agencies, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a. Such 133
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report shall include: (1) Any recommendations for legislation relating to 134
state-wide implementation of the proposed early childhood educator 135
compensation schedule, (2) an estimate of the cost of implementing the 136
proposed early childhood educator compensation schedule state-wide, 137
(3) an analysis of the effect of the state-wide implementation of the 138
proposed early childhood educator compensation schedule on the 139
number of available preschool seats, and (4) an explanation of how the 140
proposed early childhood educator compensation schedule will be 141
included in any quality rating and improvement system developed by 142
the office, pursuant to subdivision (15) of subsection (b) of section 10-143
500. 144
(e) Not later than January 1, 2026, the office shall amend the 145
compensation schedule to include employees of early childhood care 146
and education programs. 147
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2025 10-531
Statement of Purpose:
To increase the salaries of early childhood educators by establishing the
early childhood care and education salary enhancement grant program.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]