SR0466 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0466 LRB101 12667 ALS 61249 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Illinois' early childhood education workforce faces a teacher recruitment and retention crisis; and

WHEREAS, Early childhood education in Illinois is an economic engine, generating $2.6 billion in revenues annually; and

WHEREAS, Illinois is home to just under one million children between the ages of birth and five; and

WHEREAS, 40 percent of Illinois children live in low-income families; and

WHEREAS, Young children thrive when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress; and

WHEREAS, The early childhood professionals entrusted with the care and education of young children bear a great responsibility; and

WHEREAS, To train, retain, and recruit highly-effective early childhood practitioners, we must be responsive to the needs of current and aspiring workforce members; and

WHEREAS, The 2017 Illinois Early Childhood Workforce Hiring Survey Report found that 47 percent of the programs have four or fewer classrooms, while nearly 20 percent have just one; and

WHEREAS, The 2017 report found that turnover rates for lead teachers in licensed child care centers were twice as high, 42 percent, as turnover rates in school-based programs, 21 percent; and

WHEREAS, The 2017 report found that 73 percent of administrators reported being diverted from their duties to fill vacant teacher positions; and

WHEREAS, The 2017 report found that 66 percent of programs reported teacher burnout due to inadequate staff; and

WHEREAS, The 2017 report found that, on average, it takes nearly a quarter of a year to fill a lead infant-toddler teacher position, a hiring gap that leaves many of the State's youngest children without qualified teachers for months at a time; and

WHEREAS, The 2017 report found that inadequate salary and benefits were the most frequently cited barriers to hiring and retaining qualified staff; and

WHEREAS, The National Survey of Early Care and Education finds that 46 percent of child care workers in Illinois earn salaries that qualify them for some public health benefits at a cost of $71.4 million to the State; and

WHEREAS, The 2017 Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies report found that 98.1 percent of head teachers are female; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois' obsolete, restrictive rules governing early childhood educator hiring qualifications discriminate against educators with classroom experience, further exacerbating the early childhood education workforce crisis; and

WHEREAS, Early childhood education providers are underrepresented on the Illinois Learning Council, the DCFS Advisory Council, the DHS Childcare Advisory Council, and the Professional Development Advisory Council; and

WHEREAS, The quality in early childhood education lies squarely in the interactions that transpire between teachers and children; and

WHEREAS, Governor JB Pritzker has made early childhood education a centerpiece of his agenda; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize that the State's early childhood education workforce is in a state of crisis; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the General Assembly to take action to modernize its early childhood education funding and teacher qualification standards to address the early childhood workforce crisis; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor of Illinois to increase early childhood education provider representation on the Illinois Learning Council, the DCFS Daycare Advisory Council, the DHS Childcare Advisory Council, and the Professional Development Advisory Council to assure provider voices are heard as early childhood education policy is developed and implemented; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the Governor of Illinois, the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives, the President of the Illinois Senate, and the Minority Leader of the Illinois Senate.