Parent Deirdre Keane remembers how child care helped stabilize her youngsters during a rough divorce. Elstein patiently worked with Tierney on other ways to express her feelings. Tierney is now doing well in kindergarten, Keane reports. Staff turnover rates are very high . 27 percent of teachers and 40 percent of teaching assistants left their jobs last year.
Most centers offer their staff limited or no health insurance.
Caring for young children heavily exposes workers to illnesses. Despite this fact, only 23 percent of centers offered fully paid health coverage to teachers, and only 21 percent offered such benefits to assistant teachers. Centers paying higher wages kept more of their workers. Some counties in New York and North Carolina already give salary boosts to child care staff. In North Carolina, state funds cover salary supplements in at least 25 counties, says Susan Russell, executive director of Day Care Services Association.