Rhode Island 2023 Regular Session

Rhode Island Senate Bill S0492 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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5	5	2023 -- S 0492
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7	7	LC001598
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9	9	S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND
10	10	IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
11	11	JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
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13	13
14	14	A N A C T
15	15	RELATING TO EDUCATION - RHODE ISLAND EARLY EDUCATOR INVES TMENT ACT
16	16	Introduced By: Senators Cano, and Murray
17	17	Date Introduced: March 07, 2023
18	18	Referred To: Senate Education
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21	21	It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
22	22	SECTION 1. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled "EDUCATION" is hereby amended by 1
23	23	adding thereto the following chapter: 2
24	24	CHAPTER 112 3
25	25	RHODE ISLAND EARLY EDUCATOR INVESTMENT ACT 4
26	26	16-112-1. Short title. 5
27	27	This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Rhode Island Early Educator 6
28	28	Investment Act." 7
29	29	16-112-2. Legislative findings and purpose. 8
30	30	The general assembly hereby finds that: 9
31	31	(1) Young children's healthy brain development and learning depends on consistent, 10
32	32	nurturing care and enriching learning opportunities at home and in early care and education settings. 11
33	33	Starting at birth, day-to-day interactions with family members and early educators shape children’s 12
34	34	brain architecture upon which all future learning and development is built. 13
35	35	(2) Many of the early educators and early childhood professionals in Rhode Island earn 14
36	36	very low wages even when they achieve credentials equivalent to kindergarten through grade 15
37	37	twelve (K-12) teachers and demonstrate effective practices. Child care, family home visiting, early 16
38	38	head start, head start, Rhode Island Pre-K, and Early Intervention (Part C of the Individuals with 17
39	39	Disabilities Education Act) programs across the state report difficulty attracting, developing, and 18
40	40	retaining effective early childhood professionals. 19
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44	44	(3) A 2019 statewide survey of early childhood professionals in Rhode Island found that 1
45	45	over forty percent (40%) of infant/toddler educators worry about having enough food to feed their 2
46	46	family and fifty percent (50%) worry about having enough money to pay for housing. 3
47	47	(4) The 2019 statewide survey also found that almost one-third (1/3) of early educators had 4
48	48	a second job to help make ends meet and almost two-thirds (2/3) reported that they plan to leave 5
49	49	their early education job if the compensation does not improve. And yet, most report that they enjoy 6
50	50	working with children and families and many have earned college credits and degrees in child 7
51	51	development and early education. 8
52	52	(5) A landmark report issued by the National Academy of Science in 2015 found that 9
53	53	educators of young children, including infants and toddlers, need the same high level of knowledge 10
54	54	and competencies as teachers of older children and that educational qualifications and 11
55	55	compensation of early educators should be equivalent to those of kindergarten through grade twelve 12
56	56	(K-12) teachers. 13
57	57	(6) According to 2021 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for 14
58	58	a child care teacher in Rhode Island was thirteen dollars and twenty-six cents ($13.26) per hour and 15
59	59	the median wage for a preschool teacher in Rhode Island was fourteen dollars and eight cents 16
60	60	($14.08) per hour in the same range or below the hourly wages in the same range or lower than fast 17
61	61	food workers, dishwashers, laundry workers, animal caretakers, and retail sales workers. 18
62	62	(7) By enacting this chapter, the general assembly acknowledges the need to establish goals 19
63	63	and develop strategies to improve the compensation of early educators in order that programs can 20
64	64	attract, develop, and retain effective staff to care for and educate young children and provide 21
65	65	family-focused services. 22
66	66	16-112-3. Establishment of wage benchmarks. 23
67	67	(a) The children’s cabinet established in § 42-72.5-1 shall work in collaboration with the 24
68	68	department of human services, the department of health, the executive office of health and human 25
69	69	services, and the department of education to establish goals to improve compensation, including 26
70	70	cross-departmental wage benchmarks for early educators linked to education levels above high 27
71	71	school and demonstrated competence working with children and families. 28
72	72	(b) The compensation benchmarks for early educators shall be developed to apply to 29
73	73	educators working in child care centers, family child care homes, Rhode Island Pre-K classrooms, 30
74	74	Early Head Start and Head Start Programs, family home visiting programs, and Early Intervention 31
75	75	(Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) programs. The cross-departmental 32
76	76	compensation benchmarks for early educators shall promote parity with compensation of 33
77	77	kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) public school teachers for individuals with similar 34
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81	81	credentials. 1
82	82	(c) In developing this cross-departmental compensation benchmarks for early educators, 2
83	83	the children’s cabinet may consider the findings and recommendations provided in the 2019 3
84	84	Moving the Needle on Compensation Task Force's report "Improving the Compensation and 4
85	85	Retention of Effective Infant/Toddler Educators in Rhode Island" and Rhode Island occupational 5
86	86	wage data available through the U.S. Department of Labor and Rhode Island department of labor 6
87	87	and training. 7
88	88	16-112-4. Developing strategies to increase compensation of early educators. 8
89	89	Once the compensation benchmarks for early educators have been established, the 9
90	90	children’s cabinet shall design strategies and estimate the cost to close the gap between current 10
91	91	wages and the cross-departmental compensation benchmarks for early educators, including parity 11
92	92	with public school teaching staff or individuals with similar credentials. In developing the plan, the 12
93	93	following components shall be considered: 13
94	94	(1) Continuation and expansion of the existing statewide, comprehensive, research-based 14
95	95	early childhood workforce development scholarship program established under § 16-87-4 to 15
96	96	include stronger and ongoing support for compensation, such as implementation of wage 16
97	97	supplements or regular stipends for early educators to lift annual income to meet or exceed the 17
98	98	compensation benchmarks for early educators. 18
99	99	(2) Proposals to increase rates paid to early childhood programs that are adequate to enable 19
100	100	programs to pay early educators wages that meet or exceed the levels in the cross-departmental 20
101	101	compensation benchmarks for early educators. 21
102	102	(3) Contracts to early childhood programs to expand the availability of high-quality 22
103	103	services for young children and families with educators in the program paid wages that meet or 23
104	104	exceed the levels in the cross-departmental compensation benchmarks for early educators. 24
105	105	(4) Registered apprenticeships for early educators that support completion of college 25
106	106	coursework and attainment of college credentials while providing opportunities to develop high-26
107	107	quality practices through regular on-the-job coaching by master early educators. Apprenticeships 27
108	108	shall be designed and funded to enable successful participants to earn wages that meet or exceed 28
109	109	the levels in the cross-departmental compensation benchmarks for early educators. 29
110	110	16-112-5. Reporting. 30
111	111	The children’s cabinet shall report back to the governor and general assembly on or before 31
112	112	December 1, 2023 with the cross-departmental compensation benchmarks for early educators and 32
113	113	initial cost estimates for strategies and public funding needed to close the wage gaps for early 33
114	114	educators. 34
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118	118	SECTION 2. Section 42-72.5-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-72.5 entitled 1
119	119	"Children's Cabinet" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2
120	120	42-72.5-2. Policy and goals. 3
121	121	The children's cabinet shall: 4
122	122	(1) Meet at least monthly to address all issues, especially those that cross departmental 5
123	123	lines, and relate to children's needs and services; 6
124	124	(2) Review, amend, and propose all interagency agreements necessary to provide 7
125	125	coordinated services to children; 8
126	126	(3) Produce an annual comprehensive children's budget, to be submitted with other budget 9
127	127	documents to the general assembly; 10
128	128	(4) Produce, by December 1, 2015, a comprehensive, five (5) year statewide plan and 11
129	129	proposed budget for an integrated state child service system. This plan shall be submitted to the 12
130	130	governor; the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate, and updated 13
131	131	annually thereafter; 14
132	132	(5) [Deleted by P.L. 2015, ch. 141, art. 5, § 21]. 15
133	133	(6) Develop a strategic plan to coordinate and share data to foster interagency 16
134	134	communication, increase efficiency of service delivery, and simultaneously protect children's 17
135	135	legitimate expectations of privacy and rights to confidentiality. This shall include data-sharing with 18
136	136	research partners, pursuant to data-sharing agreements, that maintains data integrity and protects 19
137	137	the security and confidentiality of these records. Any such data-sharing agreements shall comply 20
138	138	with all privacy and security requirements of federal and state law and regulation governing the use 21
139	139	of such data. Any universal student identifier now in use by the state or developed in the future 22
140	140	shall not involve a student's social security number.; and 23
141	141	(7) Establish and maintain updated cross-departmental compensation benchmarks for early 24
142	142	educators working in child care, Rhode Island Pre-K, Head Start, Early Head Start, family home 25
143	143	visiting, and Early Intervention (Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) 26
144	144	programs that aligns with compensation of similarly qualified kindergarten through grade twelve 27
145	145	(K-12) educators. These compensation benchmarks shall be posted on the children's cabinet's 28
146	146	website and updated annually using available data on wages. 29
147	147	SECTION 3. Title 40 of the General Laws entitled "HUMAN SERVICES" is hereby 30
148	148	amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 31
149	149	CHAPTER 6.7 32
150	150	CHILD CARE AND EARLY EDUCATOR REGISTRY 33
151	151	40-6.7-1. Child care and early educator registry. 34
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155	155	On or before December 1, 2023, the department of human services shall implement a child 1
156	156	care and early educator registry that meets the recommended guidelines of the National Workforce 2
157	157	Registry Alliance, and includes information about staff who work directly with children in all 3
158	158	licensed child care centers and family child care homes in the state. The registry shall be designed 4
159	159	to support communication of important information and opportunities, including training 5
160	160	opportunities and opportunities to receive a wage supplement, directly to front-line child care and 6
161	161	early educators. The registry shall also be designed to help the state gather and maintain information 7
162	162	about the demographics and annual turnover of child care educators by key factors including 8
163	163	educational qualifications and age category of children they teach. 9
164	164	40-6.7-2. Reporting. 10
165	165	Annually, beginning on or before March 31, 2024, the department of human services shall 11
166	166	produce an annual report on the status of the child care educator registry and the characteristics of 12
167	167	the child care workforce, including demographic information, qualifications, and turnover data. 13
168	168	The report shall be shared with the general assembly, the children’s cabinet, all licensed child care 14
169	169	centers and family child care homes, individuals participating in the registry, and posted on the 15
170	170	department’s website for the general public. 16
171	171	40-6.7-3. Pilot program. 17
172	172	(a) On or before December 1, 2023, the department of human services shall design and 18
173	173	begin implementation of a five million dollars ($5,000,000) pilot program to provide regular wage 19
174	174	supplements for child care educators. The program shall be designed to narrow or close the gap 20
175	175	between the actual wages of the child care educators and the compensation benchmarks for early 21
176	176	educators established by the children’s cabinet. 22
177	177	(b) The department shall consider the design of the Infant/Toddler Educator Education and 23
178	178	Retention Awards demonstration program recommended in 2019 by the Moving the Needle on 24
179	179	Compensation's Task Force and the child care wages model and other wage supplemental models 25
180	180	implemented by at least fifteen (15) states. 26
181	181	(c) The pilot program shall include child care educators who work in both licensed child 27
182	182	care centers and family child care homes and shall be available statewide, with priority given to 28
183	183	child care educators who work with infants and toddlers and children enrolled in the child care 29
184	184	assistance program. 30
185	185	SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage. 31
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192	192	EXPLANATION
193	193	BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
194	194	OF
195	195	A N A C T
196	196	RELATING TO EDUCATION - RHODE ISLAND EARLY EDUCATOR INVESTMENT A CT
197	197	***
198	198	This act would charge the children's cabinet with establishing and annually updating cross-1
199	199	departmental compensation benchmarks for early educators. This act would also charge the 2
200	200	children's cabinet and state agencies with developing strategies and estimating costs to improve the 3
201	201	compensation of early childhood educators in order that publicly funded early childhood programs 4
202	202	can attract and retain a qualified workforce. This act would further direct the department of human 5
203	203	services to implement a pilot program to provide regular wage supplements to child care educators 6
204	204	with a focus on attracting and retaining a qualified workforce to provide high-quality infant and 7
205	205	toddler care. Additionally, this act would direct the department of human services to implement an 8
206	206	early educator registry that meets national standards and produce annual Early Educator Workforce 9
207	207	reports with information from the registry about the characteristics of early educators, staffing 10
208	208	trends, and staff turnover levels statewide. 11
209	209	This act would take effect upon passage. 12
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