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State agency and SRI present data showing a statewide shortfall in Oregon childcare workforce
Summary
The Department of Early Learning and Care and SRI International told the House Higher Education Committee that Oregon faces a shortage of roughly 3,000 early childhood workers, uneven regional access to training, and persistent low wages that hinder recruitment and retention.
Alyssa Chatterjee, director of the Department of Early Learning and Care, told the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development on Feb. 11 that Oregon’s early childhood system counts about 24,000 practitioners as of 2022 and is short “just under 3,000” workers statewide.
Chatterjee said the Department, established July 1, 2023, oversees licensing, preschool and infant–toddler programs, and professional learning for a workforce that includes teachers, family child‑care providers, coaches, mentors, home visitors, program administrators and licensors. "We need a workforce that can support the variety of settings that children receive care," she said.
The SRI International presentation of the 2024 Oregon talent assessment reinforced those figures. Christiana McFarland, director in SRI’s Center for Innovation Strategy and Policy, told the panel that the assessment estimates a childcare labor shortage of about 3,000 workers (nearly 13% of the workforce) and that…
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