(1)The
department, in partnership with the early childhood leadership commission, shall
develop a plan for recruiting, training, and retaining a well-compensated, well-prepared, high-quality statewide early childhood workforce. In developing the plan,
the department and the commission shall work with the departments of education,
higher education, and labor and employment and with organizations that have
expertise pertaining to the early childhood workforce. At a minimum, the plan must:
(a)Take into account existing early childhood workforce qualification
pathways and create a simplified process for persons in the workforce to attain
credentials and meet qualifications;
(b)Ensure the ability to overcome any regulatory and systemic barriers for
entry into the early childhood wo
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(1) The
department, in partnership with the early childhood leadership commission, shall
develop a plan for recruiting, training, and retaining a well-compensated, well-prepared, high-quality statewide early childhood workforce. In developing the plan,
the department and the commission shall work with the departments of education,
higher education, and labor and employment and with organizations that have
expertise pertaining to the early childhood workforce. At a minimum, the plan must:
(a) Take into account existing early childhood workforce qualification
pathways and create a simplified process for persons in the workforce to attain
credentials and meet qualifications;
(b) Ensure the ability to overcome any regulatory and systemic barriers for
entry into the early childhood workforce by addressing administrative and policy
barriers to entry, including addressing barriers faced by individuals who speak
languages other than English;
(c) Address strategies for recruiting and providing incentives for diverse,
nontraditional workforce members, such as high school students, teachers from
other countries, and parents, and reducing barriers that prevent these individuals
from joining the early childhood workforce;
(d) Promote a coherent and aligned system of preparation and ongoing
professional development for individuals in the early childhood workforce;
(e) Simplify the requirements an individual must meet to enter the early
childhood workforce, clearly articulate the competencies that members of the early
childhood workforce are expected to achieve over time, align the system of
professional learning and development for early childhood services, and reduce
regulatory barriers when possible to promote attainment of these competencies
through identified professional development partners, including institutions of
higher education;
(f) Establish goals for increasing the qualifications of members of the early
childhood workforce over time, including strategies for achieving the goal of
supporting increased attainment of baccalaureate degrees in early childhood or
baccalaureate degrees with supplemental early learning credentials for lead
teachers employed by preschool providers;
(g) Address strategies for increasing the compensation for individuals in the
early childhood workforce with the goal of ensuring that all individuals in the early
childhood workforce receive a living wage; and
(h) Address other sustainable and evidence-based strategies to recruit,
prepare, compensate, provide continuing professional development for, and retain
members of the early childhood workforce.
(2) The department shall make the plan publicly available on the
department's website and shall submit a copy of the plan and any subsequent
revisions to the plan to the early childhood leadership commission, to the
governor's office, and to the education and the business affairs and labor
committees of the house of representatives and the education and the business,
labor, and technology committees of the senate, or any successor committees.
(3) The department, working with the departments of education, higher
education, and labor and employment, shall periodically review and assess the
implementation of recruitment, preparation, professional development, and
retention initiatives for the early childhood workforce. In reviewing these initiatives,
the department shall solicit feedback from, at a minimum, individuals in the early
childhood workforce, families, early care and education providers, the early
childhood leadership commission, and organizations with expertise pertaining to
the early childhood workforce.