House Bill 377S passed unanimously, and it will require the Department of Education to conduct an annual workforce study of early childhood professionals to support the development of a plan and implementation of a system of supports to grow and deepen the ranks of the early childcare professionals.
The COVID pandemic revealed and heightened an existing difficulty in attracting and maintaining well qualified professionals in child care jobs, which are frequently low-paying compared to K-12 jobs. Since reliable, widely available, high quality child care options are a foundation for the whole workforce, and because the early childhood years are so important to childhood development and school readiness, it is a priority for the State that this crisis be addressed in a systematic, holistic fashion.
The Department of Education is tasked with leading this rethinking and prioritization of early childhood careers – through the development of reliable data systems which can help bring living wages, financial and other support for academic and credential attainment, and coordination with CTE programs and institutions of higher education to uplift the profession and support individuals seeking to make a career in early childhood education.
The first study is due by November 1, 2022, the plan by January 31, 2023, and implementation of the system should be in place by September 1, 2023.
| House Bill 377S Sponsors | Yes Votes | No Votes |
| S.Moore, K.Williams, Baumbach, Bolden, Bush, Heffernan, K.Johnson, Morrison, Osienski, Briggs King, Hensley, Ramone | House Passed 39-0-2. Baumbach Bennett Bentz Freel Bush Carson Chukwuocha Cooke Dorsey-Walker Griffith Heffernan K.Johnson K.Williams Kowalko Lambert Longhurst Lynn Matthews Minor-Brown Mitchell Morrison Osienski S.Moore Schwartzkopf Wilson-Anton Briggs King Collins D.Short Dukes Gray Hensley M.Smith Morris Postles Ramone Smyk Spiegelman Vanderwende Yearick | Absent: Bolden Shupe |
| Gay, Sturgeon, Sokola, Townsend | Senate Passes 21-0. Brown Ennis Gay Hansen Lockman Mantzavinos Paradee Pinkney Poore S.McBride Sokola Sturgeon Townsend Walsh Bonini Hocker Lawson Lopez Pettyjohn Richardson Wilson | |
| Current Status: | Sent to the Governor. |
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