On May 1, Worthy Wage Day, the American Federation of Teachers hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill in which early childhood educators from a Head Start center, a home-based center and a for-profit center discussed low wages and other problems plaguing the profession.

To draw attention to the stagnant and low wages of early childhood educators, the American Federation of Teachers compiled the following fact sheet and state-by-state salary comparison charts for child care workers and preschool teachers based on the May 2006 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics.

• State Ranking of Child Care Worker Salaries (pdf)
• Mean Annual Salary for Child Care Workers and Preschool Teachers (pdf)
• State Ranking of Preschool Teacher Salaries (pdf)
• Fact Sheet (pdf)
• Comparison of Mean Hourly Wages of Early Childhood Educators with Mean Hourly Wages of Other Teachers (pdf)