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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) and Congresswoman Susan Wild (PA-07) today reintroduced the Early Educators Apprenticeship Act, a bipartisan bill to address the shortage of qualified early educators.

“There is a shortage in qualified early educators, who play an important role in the learning and care of our country’s youngest students. I’m proud to reintroduce the Early Educators Apprenticeship Act to address this shortage by providing opportunities for people, who are passionate about teaching the next generation of leaders, to gain the specialized skillset to become qualified early educators. I encourage my colleagues to support this needed investment in students and the early childhood education workforce, especially in rural communities,” said Guthrie. 

“A child care sector that’s affordable and well supported is critical to our economy’s ability to function at full capacity. The child care industry has lagged behind others in terms of post-pandemic recovery, making investments in apprenticeship programs for child care workers more important than ever. These apprenticeship programs will encourage future educators to join the field in turn allowing parents to return to the workforce and expanding the number of children receiving high quality early learning,” said Wild.

Background:

The Early Educators Apprenticeship Act supports states in developing, administering, and evaluating early childhood education apprenticeships. This bill would establish a three-year grant program in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to help provide early educators with the knowledge, skills, and competencies required to deliver high-quality learning in early childhood education.

Specifically, this bill also helps states to:

• Increase the number of apprentices with a recognized post-secondary credential, certificate of completion, or degree from a higher education institution.
• Promote recruitment and retention of apprentices.
• Provide a pathway to career advancement for apprentices.
• Support partnerships with institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the state, businesses, and other participating entities to provide academic credit for instruction related to the early childhood education apprenticeship and apply such credit toward a degree at an IHE.
• Develop strategies to hire and retain qualified supervisors who provide professional development, mentorship, evaluation, and training to apprentices.
• Prioritize applications that support apprenticeships in underserved or rural communities, Indian Tribes, or IHEs that serve minority populations.

Guthrie is a co-founder of the bipartisan Congressional Apprenticeship Caucus.

Click HERE for bill text.

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