00:00:00    Alyssa

You're listening to Voices of Your Village, this is episode 227. In this episode I get to hang out with the CEO of Wonderschool, Chris Bennett. Chris and I got to dive into how Wonderschool is changing childcare systems. Ya'll know I am not here for a Band-aid on a bullet hole. I love really taking a million steps back and looking at the whole picture, getting that bird's eye view and saying, how do we create systems change? Change that supports Early Childhood educators, that's best for families and for kids. What does this really look like and how do we afford to do it? What does it look like logistically? Wonderschool is a huge piece of that...

The statistics are staggering. On average, preschool teachers are paid half of what kindergarten teachers are paid. The wage gap is more extreme for educators of color, who make up 40% of the ECE workforce. 20% of the early childhood workforce turns over every year.

As one of the wealthiest nations in the world, how did we get to a place where early childhood educators are so undersupported that they’re leaving the field entirely?

 
Our childcare system began in space where it was primarily stay at home parents. During WWII, more women began to enter the workforce and the childcare landscape began to shift. People came together to help each other, and a lot of family...