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Early‑childhood educators and advocates urge Senate committee to back S.119 and OPR licensure recommendations
Summary
Providers and the Vermont AEYC told the Senate Government Operations Committee on March 26 that licensing individual early‑childhood educators (S.119, OPR Sunrise Review recommendations) will clarify career pathways, raise qualifications, and protect children while noting supports and phased timelines to avoid workforce harm.
Senate Government Operations Committee members heard testimony March 26 on S.119 and the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) Sunrise Review recommendations to license individual early‑childhood educators in regulated programs.
Stephanie Carvey, Co‑Executive Director of the Rutland County Fair and Child Center, told the committee, “The single most important factor in high quality experiences for young children is the qualifications of the people working with them and their families.” Carvey said Vermont has already built supports — scholarships, apprenticeships and programs funded after Act 76 — that make licensure feasible and help retain educators.
Sharon Harrington, executive director of the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children (Vermont AEYC), and Susan Titterton, project coordinator for Vermont AEYC’s workforce initiative, described the breadth of their outreach and the workforce consensus behind professional recognition. Harrington said the OPR review “responds to the application that we submitted” and quoted OPR’s finding…
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