Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s ambitious goal for universal pre-K in the state should include better pay for teachers, according to a nationally known education researcher.
Lamont’s proposal, the largest expansion of pre-K in the state’s history, can only be successful if qualified early childhood educators are retained, said Walter Gilliam, executive director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska.
“What is the one thing that is important to invest in to make sure we have high-quality preschool programs? Compensating adults well enough to be able to keep them in the classroom, to be able to retain the very best for our young children,” he said during a roundtable discussion of universal pre-K at the legislative office building in Hartford on Tuesday.
“The measure of how a society truly cares about its young children is how well it takes care of those who care for those young children. And that means compensating them well,” Gilliam said.
Lamont agreed.
“How come they are the most important teachers when it comes to the grades they are teaching when they get these kids, and they tend to earn the least? It seems backward to me,” Lamont said.
Lamont’s proposal is being considered by the General Assembly. It spends $300 million from the state’s surplus on an endowment that would yield about $30 million each year to increase access to pre-K.
The state is currently short about 53,000 pre-K slots. The average yearly pay for preschool teachers is about $44,000.
