A collaboration between Arizona’s early childhood agency, First Things First (FTF), Eastern Arizona College, Arizona State University and the United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties will create a pipeline of certified early childhood educators in an area of Arizona known for being a child care desert.
The dire shortage of early education teachers is nationwide.
The pandemic brought cuts to staffs and when it was time to bring them back, many had moved on to other careers.
Business Insider recently reported 100,000 early childhood teachers are “missing,” and might not return. Many former teachers cite low wages.
According to 2020 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, childcare workers make a median hourly wage of $12.24, much lower than the median hourly wage for all occupations at $20.17, according to Business Insider.
Noting the dearth of early childhood teachers, Pima County on Thursday hosted a job fair for more than two dozen agencies seeking to fill 100 positions.
About the program
The early childhood education degree program, called 2+2, was launched by the FTF Graham/Greenlee Regional Partnership Council, Eastern Arizona College, Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, and the United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties in the FTF Graham/Greenlee Region.
The program will help students obtain a two-year early childhood degree from EAC and provide an additional two years to complete the ASU early childhood education bachelor’s degree program at potentially no cost. For the communities in eastern Arizona, it has the promise to expand the pool of certified early educators available to provide quality early education to the communities’ babies, toddlers and preschoolers.
“This is a first in our region and that is big for a small community,” said FTF Graham/Greenlee Regional Director Shari Elkins.
“There is a real need for quality child care here. Before the pandemic it was a need, but after, we lost a lot of workers who didn’t come back. And the ones that stayed are there because they love to work with young children, not because they’re getting paid what they’re worth.”
The local United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties will pay for staffing and EAC will provide classroom space for the early childhood education classes at the college.
“From the United Way’s perspective, we knew there was a lot of work we need to do in early childhood development. And we were looking at what we could do to support that,” said Adam O’Doherty, former CEO at United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties.
O’Doherty, who recently left Arizona for a newly formed United Way in Indiana, worked on the 2+2 project since its inception.
“So when the proposal came to us, the United Way, we were looking at the finances. Can we pay for the first three or five years of expenditures to get this rolling? There is a (financial) component to build these programs. So if we can just eliminate that barrier, we can focus on the development portion of these programs,” he said.
Long partnership
EAC has worked with ASU and Northern Arizona University for many years to help students work toward bachelor degrees, including elementary and secondary education, at the community college so it was natural to add early education to the list.
“EA values early childhood education and recognizes that students are going to come in with different needs and wants and educational goals,” said Susan Wood, vice president for Academic and Student Affairs at Eastern Arizona. “There are multiple entry points to further their education.”
For those who complete their two-year early childhood degree and choose to continue to a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, MyPath2ASU is there to help coordinate the process. Through ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, full-time students are eligible for the Arizona Teachers Academy tuition waiver scholarship, where they can complete their bachelor’s degree tuition free, with the expectation that they will work in the region for a length of time equal to the number of years they receive funding through the grant.
“There’s not any one route that’s better than others,” said Kurt Palmer, who is director of rural partnerships at ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. “Our goal is to find the right people to be the right teachers in their communities and then create a seamless pathway from wherever they’re at that brings them into that teaching profession.”
The collaboration will work to build relationships within the community.
“The most important thing is that it’s not just a bachelor’s degree in early childhood and certification, but that this partnership that we’re working to build and develop focuses on change within the community,” Palmer said.