James, Georgia

We Can’t Keep Child Care and Early Learning Strong If We Can’t Keep Teachers

Two years ago, we spent $14,000 on childcare. It was our down payment for a house as we prepared to purchase a home following COVID.

I have worked in early childhood education for 10 years. Now a curriculum specialist, I started as a preschool teacher. My wife Danielle works for the same organization on the family services side. We have two boys: Tristen, 6, and Tatum, 3.

A Critical Moment

Tristen has a tree nut allergy and asthma. One day, after a severe reaction, we rushed him to the nearest urgent care and were told we’d have to pay $400 to $500 before he could be seen.

We left and drove about an hour to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta instead. Thankfully, we had Medicaid, which has been a lifeline for our family. Without it, I don’t know how that day would have gone.

Quality Care Requires Stability

In my role, I help hire teachers. And I can tell you plainly: we are losing good people. We lose them to places like Chick-fil-A and Walmart, where the pay is the same or more, often with better hours and less stress. I understand why people make that choice. Many of the educators we hire have young children of their own. They are trying to make it work, just as the families we serve are.

Earlier this year, when funding was frozen, our agency had to take out a loan to stay open for 45 days. Forty-five days of uncertainty—about jobs, about whether the center would survive, about whether families would have anywhere to send their children.

You cannot walk into a classroom and be fully present for young children when you don’t know if your job will exist next month.

James

Believing in Babies Means Believing in Educators, Too

I tell my teachers to show up with energy, to create a space where children feel safe and seen. I know the children in our center—what makes them feel secure, what helps them learn. But that kind of care requires stability.

My sons are growing up watching two parents who chose this field and are staying. I want them to grow up in a world where that choice is sustainable for families like ours, and for the people doing this work.

Share