County invests in child care workers' raises.

Byline: MATT COOPER The Register-Guard

A Lane County contribution of $50,000 will help the local child care system by providing pay incentives to some of the nearly 3,000 state-registered teachers, supporters announced Thursday.

Lane County Stand for Children, a group 200-strong with parents, child care providers and others, introduced Lane County Cares, a program that will use the money to keep qualified teachers in the field and improve their skills, said organizer Joy Marshall.

The average pay for local child care teachers is $7.45 an hour - not enough to keep good teachers or to encourage educational advancement, Marshall said. Most of the money will go to raises that range from $1,000 to $4,000 annually for child care providers with four-year degrees or higher in the field of early childhood.

In North Carolina, a similarly modest hike in pay slowed the annual turnover rate to 16 percent - down from 40 percent - while inspiring a 57 percent increase in college-level training, Marshall said.

The seed money is only a start, Marshall said. Supporters are urging the state to assess how much is needed to repair a system in which 33 percent of Oregon children are unprepared for kindergarten and, locally, some children are subjected to child care settings that are "mediocre, poor or even dangerous," Marshall said.

"We are currently raising more money from grants and private sources because ($50,000) is not enough," Marshall said. "What's most exciting is the county acknowledged that we need to support child care."

Although this was a one-time contribution, the county will revisit the program and may fund it again, Commissioner Pete Sorenson said. The money came from the county's general fund - specifically, the discretionary portion that totals $200,000 to $300,000 annually.

The incentives will help a child care system in which teachers are "devalued and unable to stay in the field," Sorenson said. "The significance to the community is the children do not receive the kind of care they need."

"Child care today is not parking children in front of a table with Play-Doh or paints," said Valery Rylands, a Marcola-area mother of two. "Today's teachers plan their monthly lessons with themes and focus on different concepts that all translate into comprehensive learning."

Providers eligible for the incentives must earn less than $12 an hour and remain at the same job for at least one year.

While $30,000 of the county contribution will go to wages, the remainder will cover administrative costs and scholarships of up to $500 for training and education, Marshall said.

MORE INFORMATION

Call Joy Marshall, Stand for Children, at 349-9040 or e-mail [e-mail]