South San Francisco, CA December 3, 2019 Submitted by David Burruto,Chief of Staff, SMC Supervisor Dave Pine
San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine
Supervisor Dave Pine Champions Grant for Community Equity Collaborative to Improve Teacher Pipeline for Early Childhood Educators
REDWOOD CITY – Today, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved a grant for $50,000 from Measure K funds in support of Community Equity Collaborative’s (CEC) Teacher Pipeline Project. This program offers tuition-free Early Childhood Education classes to address the shortage of high-quality child care providers in San Mateo County.
“There is an acute shortage of high-quality early childhood education providers in San Mateo County and the region,” said Supervisor Pine. “This shortage contributes to the lack of availability of childcare and preschool spaces which creates significant challenges for both local families and employers. Improving the pipeline of teachers coupled with efforts to develop new childcare facilities through our Build Up initiative are critical to meeting the demand for childcare and early learning programs.”
The Teacher Pipeline Project provides adult students pursuing early childhood education college credits with one and two-year pathways to assistant teacher or teacher positions with classes, meals, and childcare at no cost to the participants. By facilitating the training of these future teachers, CEC anticipates that this grant will put 80 new assistant teachers into local early childhood education classrooms in 2020. The Teacher Pipeline Project leverages existing community resources so that participants can easily access the wraparound support necessary to become an early childhood education professional.
In 2020, CEC will refine this community-based model and look to expand throughout San Mateo County, with an emphasis on North County expansion.
“Early childhood teachers’ demographics and needs often mirror those of low-income families,” said Dayna Chung, Co-Founder and Executive Director of CEC. “According to UC Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, roughly 47% of California’s child care workers participate in one or more income support programs and face the same housing and other challenges as other low-wage workers. Investing in the human infrastructure of our high-quality early learning programs through the Teacher Pipeline Project not only creates pathways into teaching careers, it has multi-generational benefits for families who ultimately gain greater access to these programs.”
In 2018, the CEC offered free early childhood education classes to 31 teacher candidates in partnership with Foothill College, the Redwood City School District, and the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula.
Measure K is a 20-year extension of the countywide half-cent sales tax passed by local voters in November 2016 to support essential County services and community needs.