The importance of early childhood education, such as reading, has been increasingly touted, from the White House on down. However, finding a spot at a child-care center, particularly in Southwest Colorado, can be challenging. One local nonprofit, the Early Childhood Council of La Plata County, has spent the past 18 years fighting to remedy the situation and is launching a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of early childhood education./Courtesy photo

Building blocks

Local group brings awareness, funding to early childhood education

by Tracy Chamberlin

It turns out the most important piece is also the hardest to find.

Open day care seats for infants, toddlers and preschoolers are few and far between in Southwest Colorado, and it’s a challenge to get and keep qualified teachers and providers to care for those kids.

All the while, the number of children who need those seats and teachers to lay the foundation for a lifetime of learning, are growing fast.

One local nonprofit has spent the past 18 years fighting to fill the gap in early childhood education, and this week it plans to take the next step with a public campaign to raise awareness of its efforts.

The Early Childhood Council of La Plata County, or ECCLPC, first opened its doors in 1998 as two small pilot programs, one in Ignacio and the other in Durango. Since then, they’ve been combined into one nonprofit organization serving five counties in Southwest Colorado.

The focus is on four main aspects of early childhood education: providing resources and referrals for parents; offering quality support for providers; hosting professional training and development programs; and providing opportunities to expand infant and toddler care in the region.

Kimberlie Brown, regional collaboration coordinator for the ECCLPC, said the lack of enough child-care options for parents is nothing new in this area. “It has been an issue for a long time,” she added.

In a recent survey conducted by the council, 14 out of the 15 child-care centers they talked to have waiting lists for all age groups.

In an effort to combat those growing lists, the council has received grant funding with the El Pomar Foundation, headquartered in Colorado Springs, for a second consecutive year.

With the funds received last year, the council is hosting a public awareness event on Thurs., April 14, from 6-8 p.m. at the Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.

Along with literature and information on the importance of early childhood education, the event features a raffle, food, drinks and screening of a documentary “The Raising of America: Early Childhood and the Future of our Nation.”

The event coincides with the Week of the Young Child, a weeklong celebration of early learning organized by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and a statewide initiative to support family reading by giving every 4-year-old a free book through the One Book 4 Colorado program.

“We live in a society where the importance of early childhood education isn’t really well known,” Brown said. “That’s what we’re trying to change.”

The council is also using the grant funds to create 69 available slots in early child-care and day-care facilities across the five counties it serves – 36 of those in La Plata County.

Some of the ways those grants translate into an open seat for a child is by helping a provider with licensing fees, facility upgrades or additional training for employees. 

The concern for ECCLPC Executive Director Tamara Volz is that grant funding is not sustainable. It’s not something providers can depend on year after year for payroll. Instead it’s used for things like supplies, so providers can spend money on expansion efforts and offer the space and facilities for more children.

Volz said the lack of early childhood education and day-care options is not due to the fact this area is a rural community. It’s a statewide problem, she explained.

The real reason is low wages for teachers and providers.

Early childhood education can often be seen as day care or babysitting, instead of an important stage in a person’s development, Brown said.

Those who provide education and care for young children face emotional and educational demands. What they don’t get in return for taking on those challenges is a paycheck to match.

“It’s a really emotionally demanding job,” Brown said. “It takes dedication to emotional and professional development ... There aren’t people lined up and down the street to get into this profession.”

According to a recent survey of regional providers, the top paying job in early childhood education is a director, which earns an average of $15 to $19.29 per hour in La Plata County. Teachers make just $12 to $17 an hour.

More than 80 percent of the centers said in the survey that finding and retaining quality staff is their No. 1 challenge; and, more than half named low wages as the top reason for staff turnover.

“People don’t get into this field to make money,” Volz said.

The K-12 education system, she explained, is subsidized by the state and federal government, but those budgets don’t extend to infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

The result is a small pool of candidates who meet the state’s educational and regulatory requirements.

“In order to raise the wages, we’d have to raise the cost parents pay,” she added.

But the council’s survey revealed infant care in La Plata already costs an average of $45 a day. Toddlers are almost $42, and preschoolers can average $37.

However, with family budgets tight, the council has found another way to say let providers know they are appreciated.

At its upcoming event and in the subsequent campaign, the council has named early childhood teachers “the celebrities of our future” and is asking parents to send some appreciation by texting “thanks” followed a message of gratitude to: 47711.