Join us as Dr. Ashley Williams helps us unpack and discuss the disparities within early childhood education and the need for policy reform for a truly just and equitable ECE system.

Full transcription and resources available here

Miranda: So when we look at K to 12, while in many regards still underpaid, the benefits of ECE pale in comparison, so can you tell us a little bit about why this continues to be an issue?

Ashley: It's an issue because first, the K through 12 workforce is whiter than the ECE workforce, so we have more of a diversity of women of color in the ECE workforce, right? And so that's important to call out and I think one of the clearest examples we can see of this, is this divide-and while people might say, oh it's different or people think differently about K through 12 or ECE, it is an issue of race. Again, like I said, because of the racial makeup of the workforce, especially in California, the clearest example of this devaluation of the ECE workforce versus K through 12 is how it's being treated in this pandemic in this very moment. We see that K through 12 schools are closed, closed immediately, while childcare has remained open, some never closed. And we’re also finding in our studies, particularly in the state of California where programs are still trying to access personal protective equipment, they’re still trying to access cleaning supplies to do this work safely while K through 12 has remained closed. I think another aspect of that is how dollars are distributed. So there's not a lot of public investment in ECE whereas, K-12 is a public good. This is nothing new, we have a deep rooted history of undervaluing labor that's performed by women and people of color. And the prime example of this is slavery. The experiences of enslaved Black women expected to care for White children with priority over their own, their own flesh and blood, and the most deplorable conditions and dehumanizing conditions. And this is the foundation of the creation of child care, so this is how child care was created and we continue to see that in childcare. Childcare is one of the most underpaid professions in this country. So nationally, early educators are in a median wage of $12.12. There's a real thing called #fightfor15, so when I say that the median wage is $12.12 across the nation, we're not even at minimum wage, so they're earning poverty levels and this is true in each state. So, I think in comparison to their K-12 counterparts, early educators are experiencing these poverty rates at 4 to 14 times higher than K through 12 educators. And the wages in K through 12 are also problematic. I'm not saying not to say...both are terrible.

Miranda: But in comparison

Ashley: Right

Noelle: If that's bad then this system is really bad.

Disparities in wages

Disparities in access

Disparities in diversity

Disparities in the value of education

The list goes on...

Join us for season one as we explore bias, systemic racism, the roots of oppression and barriers found within the education and criminal "justice" system.

The Unpacked Project is produced by Vicky Lee with Branding and Marketing by Raquel Avalos.

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