In York County and across the country, early childhood educators are the brain architects laying the foundations for a lifetime of learning, social-emotional growth, and curiosity. Yet those who perform this specialized, high-impact work often are underpaid and undervalued.
At the same time, parents struggle to find affordable, reliable care that lets them participate in the workforce. Some York County early learning centers have waiting lists numbering into the hundreds.
This fraught situation was at the heart of the Every Child Has Opportunities (ECHO) screening of “Make a Circle,” a documentary that tells the stories of early learning educators and advocates and honors the expertise of those who shape young minds while ensuring that families can access quality care without breaking the bank.
A crucial investment
ECHO Director Katie Caples opened the evening on Sept. 11 at the Appell Center for the Performing Arts by couching the film’s message in the experiences of York County residents and their hopes for the future.
“Our goal is to double the number of low-income children here in York County who receive a high-quality early childhood education,” she says.
She shared that just this year ECHO, an initiative of Community Connections for Children and the York County Economic Alliance, has awarded over $950,000 to the York County early childhood education community. Since ECHO launched in January 2024, it has invested more than $2.3 million into learning centers and teacher education. Katie projects that over 1,500 more children will have access to high-quality early childhood education as a result of those investments.
“We know 90 percent of a child’s brain develops before the age of 5, so it’s crucial for families to have that support so that they can go into the workforce and know that their children are educated, well cared for and safe,” she says.
Katie also announced that the South Central Workforce Development Board now acknowledges early childhood education as a high-priority occupation in southcentral Pennsylvania. The designation brings a level of prestige to the teachers in this field and opens up additional state and federal funding and resources.
Educated but underpaid
After the film’s screening, a panel composed of Kimberly Early, Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy at the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children; Shante’ Brown, Deputy Secretary at the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning; and Wendy Latshaw, Executive Director at Otterbein Early Education Center, explored what’s at stake for York County’s children and families, its workforce, and the regional economy.
York County President Commissioner Julie Wheeler moderated the discussion.
Kimberly emphasized that credentials, expertise, and relationships are at the heart of quality early learning. She long has fought the belief that individuals working in early childhood education don’t require credentials.
“You need to understand child development,” she says. “There’s a child development associate (degree) that folks earn. Many people have bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees in early childhood, and those things matter when they’re working in the classroom. Those things matter in terms of having a high-quality experience and providing high-quality care to children.”
Wages for early childhood educators hover around $15 an hour in Pennsylvania, which doesn’t even meet the cost of living in York County. Katie hopes that the designation as a high-priority occupation helps attract and retain qualified individuals in the field.
An intrinsic desire to help children
Darlene Leonard, a co-owner of Jack & Jill Nursery who attended the screening, put the night’s themes into the everyday context of classroom quality.
“It’s very important to us that we hire people who are not just looking for jobs, but people who have an intrinsic desire to help children,” she says.
ECHO’s investments have been a catalyst of change for her center and the families it serves. Several grants have allowed the early learning program to expand and add safety features. Two of Darlene’s employees have gone through ECHO’s teacher aide training program.
“I don’t know how we would have actually made it without the support that ECHO provided us,” she says. “Our hopes are that we can continue to enrich the lives of the students that we work with.”
A united front for children, families, and the economy
The guest panel and the audience question-and-answer session on Sept. 11 brought to light a shared conviction that early childhood education is essential. With ECHO’s targeted grants, a new and esteemed designation for educators, and a broad community partnership, York County is uniting around a simple idea with outsized returns: that early learning matters and that it needs more support to be sustainable.
“We’re excited to bring together our early childhood education community, our funders, state leaders here in the field, advocates, and community partners to energize around advocacy efforts and lift up the voices of our early childhood educators,” Katie says.
Every Child Has Opportunities is an early childhood education initiative in York County, Pennsylvania, led by Community Connections for Children and York County Economic Alliance. Funding partners include WellSpan Health, the J. William Warehime Foundation, the Powder Mill Foundation, United Way of York County, the Kinsley Foundation, and the York County Community Foundation.
For more information on ECHO’s grant programs, visit www.echoyork.org/grants-and-programs.