March is Women’s History Month, so it’s time to honor the women who have shaped our past and continue to shape our future: women early childhood educators. I’d like to take this moment to honor my grandmother, Mary Watters, an early childhood educator who taught kindergarten and pre-K in both public schools and Head Start programs, and who inspired my desire to work in education. My grandmother was a devoted educator and fierce advocate for women – she was a leader in the League of Women Voters, and she memorably bought me a “Women’s place is in the House…and in the Senate” shirt that I proudly sported in middle school. She instilled the value of education in her children and grandchildren and helped found the Chico Cooperative Nursery School.
My grandmother comes from a long line of women who have been foundational to the development of early childhood education, often overcoming significant societal barriers. From the pioneering work of Friedrich Froebel’s “kindergarten” concept, which was largely implemented and popularized by women, to Maria Montessori’s revolutionary educational philosophy, women have consistently championed child-centered learning. Figures like Susan Blow, who established the first public kindergarten in the United States, and Patty Smith Hill, who advocated for play-based learning, shaped the landscape of early education. These women not only established educational practices but also fought for the professionalization of early childhood teaching, laying the groundwork for the field’s ongoing evolution and recognition.
Like my grandmother, most early childhood educators are women. In the United States, about 97% of early childhood educators are women. Early childhood educators are also largely underpaid. Research for Action’s (RFA) work on teacher retention in early childhood (here and here) consistently demonstrates that compensation is the number one reason that early childhood educators leave the field.
The impact of low wages isn’t just a personal issue for educators—it’s a crisis for the entire early education system. Many teachers leave because they simply can’t afford to stay. In a recent study, RFA found that nearly 30% of Head Start teachers left their jobs in the 2021-22 program year. That’s nearly one-third of the workforce turning over in a single year.
Such high rates of turnover mean that kids lose out on consistent relationships with teachers they trust. It also means that there is more strain on the educators who persist in the field. High turnover rates can lead to classrooms that are short-staffed and already-burdened administrators who struggle to hire replacements and train new staff.
My grandmother understood, and our research here at RFA bears out, that high-quality early education benefits us all. When kids get a strong start, we all have a more educated workforce and stronger communities. We need educator compensation that reflects that reality.