(325 ILCS 80/45-5)

Sec. 45-5. Findings; policies.

(a) The General Assembly finds the following:

(1) Research shows that early childhood teacher effectiveness is a predictor for positive developmental and academic outcomes for children.

(2) The work of early childhood educators is sophisticated and central to the healthy learning and development of young children and takes place in a range of settings, including schools, community-based centers, and homes.

(3) It is critically important for children's outcomes to have educators that reflect the diversity of the families and communities they serve.

(4) The early childhood workforce is more racially diverse than the K-12 workforce, and its members hold degrees, have earned credentials, and have years of experience in the field.

(5) The early childhood workforce, particularly those working in community-based settings and those working with infants and toddlers, often are not paid wages aligned to the sophistication of their work and level of education.

(6) All regions and settings have difficulty finding qualified teachers.

(7) A disproportionate number of Black and Latinx women serve in essential, frontline positions but are underrepresented as lead teachers and in program leadership where credentials and degrees are required.

(8) The early childhood workforce faces multiple barriers to additional credential and degree attainment that lead to career advancement and higher levels of compensation.

(b) The General Assembly encourages all of the following:

(1) The Department of Human Services to undertake an analysis of teacher data in the Gateways Registry to determine those individuals who are close to their next credential or degree, including information where available in the Registry such as their geographic location, demographics, work setting, and age groups of children for whom they are responsible.

(2) The Department of Human Services to conduct outreach and provide targeted coaching and access to financial supports, including, but not limited to, scholarships and debt relief, in a way that prioritizes increasing the diversity of the teacher pipeline, including bilingual providers and educators, regions of the State with the highest need, and children in age groups with the greatest teacher shortages.

(3) The State Board of Education to provide additional financial support to candidates and provide this support to all candidates regardless of the setting in which they work and the credentials they are currently seeking, prioritizing those by greatest need in the early childhood field.

(4) The Department of Human Services to provide annual reports on who receives these and other scholarships or other financial support administered by the Department or the State Board of Education by geographic location, demographics, work setting, age groups of children served, and credential/degree attainment as available.

(5) The Board of Higher Education, in the course of their strategic planning process, to review the barriers experienced by the early childhood workforce and by teachers of color, in particular in accessing and completing the needed coursework to attain additional credentials and degrees, and to recommend policy or practice changes to better meet the needs of this workforce, which is largely comprised of non-traditional students and women of color.

(6) The State Board of Education and the Department of Human Services to prioritize reducing compensation disparities between the early childhood workforce and their K-12 counterparts and disparities within the early childhood workforce between setting and age groups in which they work, as funding becomes available.

(Source: P.A. 101-654, eff. 3-8-21.)