In collaboration with the city of Sacramento, Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA), and Valley Vision, the North/Far North Center of Excellence has issued a needs assessment of the early childhood education workforce. 

The report finds that a chronic workforce shortage exists that worsened during the pandemic. Workers face job quality issues, such as low wages and uneven availability of retirement and health benefits. Additionally, there are equity concerns in the industry—workers of color comprise smaller shares of supervisory positions than teacher positions. 

The report presents recommendations to address these issues, including implementing marketing and course sequence information, work-based learning, cohorts and mentorship, and online coursework.

The report notes that all eight community colleges in the Sacramento region offer early childhood education programs. Additionally, California State University-Sacramento has a program in Child and Adolescent Development. Together these programs increased certificates and degrees by 45% since the 2013-14 academic year. 

The report cites initiatives underway, such as transitional kindergarten and reimbursement reform, that state and regional partners are undertaking to address job quality challenges. 

The report was released at a press conference in Sacramento on October 25. A webinar is planned for early December. Details are forthcoming. Please contact Aaron Wilcher for more information: wilchea@losrios.edu.