The Atlantic

Preschool Teachers Earn Less Than Tree Trimmers

Science says early learning is crucial, but teacher pay suggests otherwise.
Source: Ted S. Warren / AP

In the past several decades, advances in brain science have suggested that the learning that occurs in the first few years of a child’s life lays the groundwork for a productive adulthood. The expansion of preschool is one of the few topics where both Republicans and Democrats in Congress find common ground; while lawmakers don’t always agree on how programs should be funded or structured, the belief that good early-childhood education can help prevent later gaps in test scores and graduation rates from emerging between poor and well-off children is widely shared.

Yet most early-childhood educators still make so little money that they are eligible for public benefits, according to a from the U.S. Education Department and Health

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