I've been reading this forum for a while, but I just registered so I could respond to this post.

I totally agree with everyone's sentiments. I have been a home care provider and I currently work in a center. The center I work in is part of a large international chain. The company's centers are immaculate, the training is good, the pay is above industry standard, the standards they hold employees to are high and in general they (a bit location dependent) treat teachers as professionals. They actually focus a lot on observation and assessment of children. Parents get parent/teacher conferences, lesson plans, objectives tailored specifically to their child, a truly open door policy, daily sheets with pictures of their children, emails, phone calls from teachers etc. Teachers even call parents and write a detailed report as soon as their child gets a minor boo boo. Customer service is held in high regard and parents get a lot of it. I would go so far as to say they are the best company to work for if you do choose this profession.

Despite all this, group care is group care. Unless it is a Montessori, these children are all the same age group with all the same needs. In a family with multiple children or even a home child care environment the children are multi aged, which helps. We do provide excellent care, but we still deal with the biting, the inability to properly care for children with special needs and burnt out teachers. The teachers that get overwhelmed the most are the infant and toddler teachers. Twos teachers are not too far behind. This is because regardless of everything that teachers do, they are still paid very little. Yes, they pay a few dollars above industry standard, but industry standard is just over minimum wage anyway. The most a degreed (read B.A in ECE) teacher can make is about $13.00 in my state (in my company). Other, less prestigious centers around here only pay about $9.50 for a B.A. Then teachers have to worry about losing hours when there are not many children and what not.

That's the main reason I'm pursuing a MA program in elementary education. Despite my love for what I do, I still need to survive. All of the co-workers that I have ever had have one thing in common. They depend on someone else financially. No, elementary teachers are not rolling in the dough, but at least they make more than a few dollars over minimum wage.

I've come to the conclusion that this field is not for people like me...young professional people who care about education and want to make a living at the same time (unless you're a director or run an in home). It is for people straight out of college or still in college "working on it" who need to get their feet wet with working with children. These people most likely still live with their parents, have a spouse with a decent income, or something similar. It can also be good for older people who have retired and need extra income.

All in all, I don't blame parents if they have to put their children in child care. It is unfortunate because the people that need child care the most (those with low income who need to work two jobs just to make ends meet) end up with the most ridiculously horrible care conditions possible. They can never afford to place their kids where I work. Heck, I can't afford it! Yes, some people do need child care and I don't fault them for it. I don't look down on them either. However, just know that it will never be like the one on one care and attention that mom or dad can provide. Never.

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