Virginia Early Childhood Foundation: Recommendations to Improve Compensation for the Early Childhood Workforce
Overview
Virginia is among many states engaged in efforts to find solutions to improve compensation for the early childhood workforce. In 2017, the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) partnered with School Readiness Consulting (SRC) to facilitate the work of the legislatively appointed Workforce Finance and Compensation Working Group. Members of the working group represent a diversity of expertise and perspectives and include school and early care and education administrators, funders, advocates, and representatives from the business community, banking, and higher education. This group of diverse stakeholders was charged with examining issues related to early childhood workforce compensation and developing a series of solutions, policy recommendations, and key considerations based on the national and state contexts, as well as best practice.
Our Process
For this effort, SRC facilitated a series of key meetings for the Workforce Finance and Compensation Working Group to consider both policy strategies and funding mechanisms that could be leveraged to address pressing issues with early childhood workforce compensation. The development of recommendations focused on:
a review of the local early learning context and workforce;
the most current research on compensation parity and early childhood financing;
innovations and lessons learned from other states.
The Outcome
This process culminated in a final report outlining a clear set of actionable recommendations. This effort of the Workforce Finance and Compensation Working Group has been an integral part of the ongoing and broader movement to boost compensation and lead to greater investment in Virginia’s early childhood workforce.
Related Work
