“I have been a RECE for over 25 years and I totally and utterly love what I do. It breaks my heart when I hear of good ECEs leaving the field due to not having a decent living wage and the inability to provide for their own families.
I became a child care supervisor after 10 years of being a front line ECE, during that time, while I truly enjoyed working with the children and other staff, I had very little support. I often had to buy my own program supplies, even though I couldn’t afford to live on the wages I was getting.
I found that people didn’t value ECEs or our work.
After 10 years I took an administrative course to become a supervisor. I didn’t know how I was going to make a difference or where I was going to start, but I knew I wanted to try. After graduating, I got a job as a supervisor at a non profit childcare. I got paid very little and worked 10-12 hours, but I was invigorated and I wanted to make sure our centre provided quality programs for young kids. I realized that a few things were missing; in-program support for staff, training for staff to upgrade their skills and fair living wages.
While we don’t have support from a system that values these things, I have worked very hard to bring up staff salaries to above average, to provide as much training for the teachers as possible, and to support each and every employee to be the best that they can be. In our centre we work as a team, as all staff positions in all programs should be valued so together we can achieve a program that we are collectively proud of.
We must have a system that recognizes all RECEs and all childcare staff as an integral part of our education system, that is how we can make sure that our childcare staff stay in the field.”
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This supervisor’s story is so important. We know the challenging working conditions and low wages in the sector are a direct result of our market system of child care. We know that there is a way to improve these conditions. The current regulatory changes the government is proposing do not address these long standing issues – they deflect from them. What Ontario needs, what children, families, and educators really need, is a publicly-funded child care system which ensures decent work for all.
Share your story. Sign the petition. Rise up for child care. https://www.childcareontario.org/risingup