OPR tells Senate committee S.119 should license early childhood educators in nonpublic settings

The Vermont Senate Committee on Government Operations heard March 2025 that the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) supports S.119, a bill to license early childhood educators working with children ages 0 to 8 in nonpublic settings, and recommends a three-tier credentialing system (ECE 1–3) with phased implementation and transitional measures for current practitioners.

OPR General Counsel Jennifer Cohen told the committee that OPR “does fully support S.119 and the licensure of early childhood educators as set forth in the proposed legislation before you,” and that the office reached that view after conducting a Sunrise review to test whether regulation is needed “because OPR is a public protection agency.” The Sunrise process applied the statutory criteria in Chapter 57 of Title 26, Cohen said, and concluded that licensure meets the public-protection tests in law.

The Sunrise review recommended individual licensure for lead educators in family childcare homes and center-based preschool programs…