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This year marks the centennial anniversary of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), arguably the premier professional organization for the early care and education workforce in America. 

The national nonprofit plans to the occasion with an 鈥渋ntentional year of celebration, reflection and doing what we鈥檝e always done 鈥� center the voices of educators,鈥� said CEO Michelle Kang. 

A century is a long time for any organization to exist. It is a long time 鈥� period. Thus, NAEYC鈥檚 centennial presents an opportunity for longtime early childhood educators and leaders to recognize the progress the field has made, and to consider why, 100 years later, some systemic issues remain unchanged. 

Founded in 1926 and first known as the National Association for Nursery Education, NAEYC has a long history of promoting high-quality education for children from birth to age 8, advocating for improved working conditions in the field, and helping families and the general public understand the value of early childhood education. Today, it is the largest early childhood education association in the country, with affiliates in nearly every state, reaching hundreds of thousands of educators through its research, advocacy and membership network.

Over the past century, NAEYC has been involved with a number of the profession鈥檚 major . The organization participated in the creation and expansion of , a federal program that provides high-quality early care and education to children from low-income families; collaborated on the development of the (CDA), a nationally recognized credential for the field鈥檚 educators; and built the first national to demonstrate quality in early learning programs.

But at the same time, the field has been defined by stagnation in critical areas, such as low compensation, insufficient public funding and a lack of professional recognition. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of 鈥榯wo steps forward, one step back,鈥欌�� said Marcy Whitebook, who co-founded the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) in 1999. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not that we haven鈥檛 made progress. It鈥檚 that these problems we鈥檝e had for a long time endure.鈥�

Whitebook, a septuagenarian, recalled meeting with other child care workers in the 1970s and 1980s to campaign for better working conditions. At that time, these teachers felt their contributions to society were underpaid and undervalued. 

鈥淧eople who did the work had no rights, raises and respect,鈥� Whitebook said, referencing the of a campaign from that era. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 still true.鈥�

Few would dispute that. Early childhood educators today make an average of to care for and teach the nation鈥檚 youngest children, according to the CSCCE 2024 Workforce Index 鈥� despite a growing body of research and increased awareness among the public that the early years are foundational for learning and development, and deeply connected to a person鈥檚 eventual success. 

In a of the early childhood workforce, released by NAEYC in February, educators reported high levels of burnout and increasingly unstable personal financial circumstances. One teacher in California said, 鈥淚’m constantly worried about making rent and affording groceries, which distracts me during the day.鈥� 

Many teachers are also dealing with the consequences of working in understaffed programs. Teacher turnover remains high and recruitment challenging, largely because many educators leave the field for better-paying jobs elsewhere. 

What would most help them stay in the field, the survey respondents said, is better pay and more employee benefits. Instead, many providers are experiencing stagnant federal funding and a perceived reduction in public support. 

Carol Brunson Day, who became a NAEYC member in 1969 and later served as the organization鈥檚 president, believes that wages and compensation remain the biggest issue facing the field. 

鈥淭hat problem was there when I entered, and it鈥檚 still there,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working on it, but we don鈥檛 seem to be getting the kind of traction we should be.鈥�

Day added: 鈥淯ntil we solve that problem, we are still going to have high turnover, which is not just not good for teachers, it鈥檚 not good for young children.鈥�

Day also spent 20 years as president of the Council for Professional Recognition, a nonprofit that NAEYC helped form in the 1980s to oversee the administration of the CDA credential. 

That credential, she said, has not only helped 鈥減roduce competent caregivers,鈥� but has also created a pathway for a racially, culturally and linguistically diverse workforce 鈥� primarily women 鈥� to advance their careers in early childhood education. As a result of getting many community colleges to recognize the CDA and award credits toward an associate degree, some early educators have been able to use their CDA as a springboard to earn four-year degrees and beyond. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not perfect yet,鈥� Day said, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 there.鈥�

Kang called the credential 鈥渙ne of the best first steps into the field of early learning,鈥� noting that at her own son鈥檚 high school, students can pursue coursework to earn their CDA before graduation. 

鈥淚t has represented the path for so many people who would not otherwise have been able to be part of the field,鈥� Kang said.

Even still, it鈥檚 not a solution to the lack of professionalization that early childhood educators face. There is still, among much of the public, a perception that adults who care for babies and toddlers are not teaching, but 鈥渂abysitting.鈥�

鈥淲e have not gotten to a place where we fully understand, as a community and a country, that these are professionals doing this work,鈥� Kang acknowledged. 鈥淲e push back against the narrative that anybody who loves children can do this work.鈥�

That misconception likely perpetuates the low compensation in the field and the limited federal investment it receives. If the public and policymakers recognized the importance of the early years, they would, theoretically, want to pay the professionals who work with young children a living wage while also investing public dollars to boost quality and accessibility. 

鈥淭he entire system depends, basically, on very underpaid people doing the work,鈥� said Whitebook. 鈥淭he whole thing has been operating on cutting corners with the people who do it.鈥�

Indeed, the current structure of the system is unsustainable, said Kang, resulting in a 鈥溾�� of early care and education. And yet she finds herself thinking back to at least one point in the field鈥檚 history when that was perhaps not the case.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in early care and education allowed the field not only to survive the disaster, but to come out of it, in some respects, stronger than before. That was also a time when many families and government leaders referred to early childhood education as 鈥渆ssential,鈥� though Kang said she hasn鈥檛 heard that sentiment expressed for several years now. 

鈥淭here is very little about COVID that I would say we want to go back to,鈥� Kang said, 鈥渂ut I do want to go back to that moment where policymakers on all sides of the political spectrum, families, community leaders recognized the importance of early childhood education and the investment needed to have it work well.鈥�

It proved that it is possible for public dollars to buoy early childhood education and to raise the stature of the professionals who work in the field, she noted. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to see us have another global calamity to get there,鈥� Kang said. But when she reflects on NAEYC’s 100 years and the narrative around high-quality early learning, she said one thing is clear: 鈥淲e need to support the professionals who are doing this work 鈥� so children can get everything they need to become the citizens we want them to be.鈥�

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