Source: EdSource
California State University Long Beach (CSULB) and California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) today announced $33 million in funding from the Ballmer Group, a philanthropic organization, to support programs designed to address the shortage of early childhood educators (ECE). These grants are intended to help close the emerging ECE teacher gap as well as provide living wage jobs for these educators.
California school districts need an estimated 12,000-15,000 credentialed ECE teachers to drive California Gov. Newsom’s expansion of early childhood education such as TK, or transitional kindergarten, experts say.
CSULB and CSUDH both have key programs that train early childhood educators, a profession long dominated by women of color in California. Whereas preschool teachers often exist on meager wages, TK teachers are paid the same as K-12 teachers. That’s why these programs should increase the economic mobility of ECE teachers who can use their new credentials to access jobs with better pay and benefits.
