The Early Childhood Education Career Development Ladder is a pilot project developed to improve the quality of child care by supporting the career goals of child care workers. The career ladder applies only to ECE workers who work 20 hours or more a week and school age care workers who work 15 hours or more a week. Marilyn Watkins, Ph.D. Family leave provides a foundation for balancing work and family. In recognition of this, Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act. For covered employees this act mandates 12 weeks of family leave.
Efforts are underway in a number of states to expand family leave benefits.
A broad coalition of working people in Washington state is supporting a new initiative to fund family leave, and extend the benefits of job-protected family leave with partial wage replacement to the entire work force. The Economic Opportunity Institute developed policy to expand Washington's Basic Health Plan through an increase in the cigarette tax. Ph.D. Increasing the minimum wage has proven to be an effective tool for raising earnings of low-wage workers without lowering their employment opportunities. The Economic Opportunity Institute examined and promoted the impacts of this minimum wage increase in Washington. The EOI s work was instrumental in determining the policy and political debate on this issue, and in discrediting the policy arguments of opponents to this initiative.