A Tribute to Early Educators
CCRC, in partnership with KVCR Public Media, Child Care Providers United Training Fund, and First 5 San Bernardino, was thrilled to be a part of a special screening event for the award-winning documentary, Make a Circle. The film, a love letter to early educators and a rallying cry for a child care system in crisis, was followed by a panel discussion featuring local early education leaders. The work of filmmakers Jen Bradwell and Todd Boekehelheide, Make a Circle tells the story of several early childhood educators in Northern California. The educators encapsulate the devotion and self-sacrifice of those who engage in the highly skilled and formidable work that is early child care. It shows the essential magic the providers create in the classroom, the struggles they endure at home, and their tireless activism for their profession.
A Vulnerable Child Care System
The film opens at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, the child care industry was already vulnerable against insufficient funding, a shrinking workforce, and systemic inequities. The pandemic aggravated the instability of the field and worsened existing child care deserts, or areas where there are not enough programs to serve the number of children. All early education environments in the film were shuttered for a time, and one center was kept afloat by the temporary federal and state relief funds. One preschool teacher, who felt early education was his calling, made the tough decision to leave a center for better pay and benefits in the K – 12 system to support his family. Another provider, Patricia Moran, a family child care owner, takes the audience into the work of advocacy. Moran joined the Child Care Providers United Union (CCPU) twenty years ago to negotiate with the state for better rates, retirement, and healthcare for herself and future providers.
The Cost of Care for Providers and Parents
The impossible equation highlighted by Make a Circle is that teachers can’t afford to stay in the job and parents can’t afford the expense. Nationally, early child care providers earn an average of $13 per hour, and program funds go to overhead and infrastructure, food and essential items, professional development, emergency needs, and staffing for larger centers. For families, child care can be their biggest expense. While the cost is dependent on the type of child care, age group, and region, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the annual median price for care in 2022 was between $6,552 and $15,600. And, as the film emphasizes, “25 million parents in the United States rely on child care to go to work.” The filmmakers hope that Make a Circle will connect providers, parents, and the community and ignite conversations around policy change.
Advocacy and Action
Following the screening, the film’s co-director, Jen Bradwell, joined Racine Reece, owner of All God’s Children Child Care and CCPU advocate; Jennifer Carter, Executive Director of Oak Tree Learning Center; and James Moses, CCRC RIMS Director of Strategic Engagement, for questions with former state senator and Executive Director of KVCR, Connie Leyva. The group discussed ways to raise awareness and engagement.
For Jennifer Carter, awareness and engagement start with a shared understanding of the need for high quality early care and its long-term benefits. In working with children, she said, “The brain is a muscle, and we have to build it. The earlier you start, the better that muscle functions and operates. If we infuse learning early on, by the time [children] reach challenging points, they’ve had all the social-emotional endurance and academic foundations. If you have those neuropathways already built, the brain has more resilience to get through those difficult stages.” The early years are the building blocks for children’s school and future success, and workforce support is the foundational piece that holds it all together.
Watch Make a Circle on PBS
Make a Circle is currently streaming on PBS and can be watched here.