CLEVELAND — Early Education Administrator, Karen Smith, is making an unexpected return to the preschool classroom.
“It's a lot of work because I still have my other job to do,” Smith says. “But I know that these families need me.”
Smith is an assistant site administrator at Step Forward’s William Patrick Day Early Learning Center in Cleveland. Step Forward is a non-profit that helps low-income individuals and families in Cuyahoga County address immediate needs, which include early childhood education programs.
Smith is doing double duty as an administrator and pre-school teacher because of staffing shortages at Step Forward’s seven Head Start sites and 66 partner sites across Cuyahoga County.
According to a 2021 survey from the National Association for The Education of Young Children, 76% of childcare centers in Ohio are experiencing a staffing shortage, with over 40% of those centers serving fewer children because of it.
“We had to shut down classrooms and turn families away because we don't have enough teachers,” Smith explains.
Two of the eight classrooms in Smith’s building are closed because of a lack of teachers. She says she needs at least 5 teachers to reopen those classrooms.
There are currently 313 children on Step Forward’s waiting list.
“The teaching shortage has impacted our ability to serve,” adds Antoinette Hawthorn, the early childhood education service manager for Step Forward. “So, it means we have less classrooms that are open. We have vacant classrooms in almost each of our locations and so right now, we're on a push to try to recruit more people into the field.”
Step Forward is promoting its “People as Teachers in Training” program where individuals can work part-time as education aides, while receiving training and securing credentials to move into full-time employment with their Head Start Program. The training and online instruction to obtain Child Development Associate credentials will be provided at no cost to those who participate.
“If you find people that are interested in working with children, you got to rope them in,” Smith says.
Applicants will need to pass a background check and hold a high school diploma or GED.
Step Forward urgently needs at least 90 employees to fill vacant positions.
The same survey from the National Association for the Education of Young Children found that “75% of survey respondents identify wages as the main recruitment challenge because they are so low that potential applicants … are recognizing they can make more money working just about anywhere else.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for a preschool teacher with an associate degree is $16.99 an hour/$35,330 per year. The median pay of a childcare worker without a degree is $13.71 an hour/$28,520 per year.
An education aide in Step Forward’s program makes $12.00 per hour, plus an additional $3 per hour in supplemental pay. If they go on to become a lead teacher in the Head Start program, their pay will bump up to $18.24 an hour.
Click here to apply for the “People as Teachers in Training” program.
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