Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/dear-eli/5025682/
Dear ELI,
When programs hire teachers who possess higher qualifications, or when programs help current teachers increase their training or educational credentials, those teachers often leave for another position that pays more and offers better benefits. How can community-based organizations and/or small private child care centers can retain staff who earn degrees?
Yours,
Frustrated with Fair-weather Staff
Dear Frustrated,
I feel you! This cycle of supporting teachers and then losing them to higher-paying jobs is, unfortunately, a common one. To be fair to your teachers, it’s hard to resist the allure of better pay, better hours, and more responsibility and professional growth opportunities. There may be limits on your ability to tackle the first item in that laundry list, but the others are well within your grasp.
Find ways to empower your educators to share their knowledge and lead by example beyond your walls. The flexibility of working in a private child care program or community-based organization is genuinely empowering. Encourage outstanding educators to become a local trainer or coach for others in your program or at nearby programs. Make your program a home base for leadership in the field and help your staff discover how to be involved in the community, on a local NAEYC committee ...