Senate Health & Welfare Hears Support and Concerns on S.206 to License Early Childhood Educators

MONTPELIER — The Senate Health & Welfare Committee on Jan. 28 heard hours of testimony on S.206, a bill that would create an individual licensure regime for early childhood educators administered by the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR).

Proponents told the committee that licensure would strengthen public protection, provide clearer career pathways and help professionalize a workforce that serves Vermont’s youngest children. "Individual licensure would really benefit the public because it would allow... for the removal of bad actors," Lauren Hibbert, deputy secretary of state, said during OPR’s presentation. OPR and other witnesses also said licensure would give families searchable information about an educator’s qualifications and discipline history.

OPR outlined the findings of its Sunrise review, saying the process involved two public hearings and extensive written comments. The office recommended licensure on the grounds that CDD (the Child Development Division) currently regulates facilities rather than individuals, limiting the state’s ability to suspend or revoke an individual’s authority to work quickly when serious misconduct is alleged.

The bill would create a new chapter in Title 26 and establish an Early Childhood Educators Board to adopt rules and set credentialing details. Proposed credentials include ECE 1 (assistant teacher), ECE 2 (lead teacher, generally aligned with an associate degree or equivalent credits) and ECE 3 (lead teacher with a bachelor’s-level threshold), plus a family childcare provider credential as a legacy pathway. OPR said the program would require rulemaking and a two-year startup timeline and that credentialing would begin with offered credentials in 2028 if S.206 is enacted.

Supporters urged measures to limit disruption while raising standards. OPR said the bill includes transitional licenses for ECE 2 and ECE 3 that can be valid for up to eight years to give current workers time to meet education requirements. The office also described a proposed license fee of $275 for a two-year credential and said the legislation contemplates an appropriation from the Child Care Fund to cover initial licensing and the first renewal for credential holders, effectively reimbursing the first four years.

Presenters and stakeholder groups repeatedly tied S.206 to Act 76, the state’s recent large-scale early care investment, and to other reports on financing and workforce needs. Dr. Voreen Crossman, executive director of Building Bright Futures, said Act 76 has already increased access and affordability and that licensure could align public investment with clearer accountability and workforce supports.

Several witnesses described Vermont data they said supports the proposed changes. Vermont AEYC and other groups cited an 8.5% increase in the childcare workforce since Act 76 and a roughly 22% rise in verified degrees among early childhood workers between late 2022 and 2024. A business representative for Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility highlighted a 2022 study estimating roughly 8,752 additional regulated childcare slots are needed statewide for children under 5.

Committee members and witnesses probed several implementation questions. Senators asked whether the Child Care Fund can sustainably cover both family subsidies and expanded workforce-education costs, whether licensure will raise costs for families and how the proposal addresses cost-of-care inflation. OPR officials said the fee is modest relative to the projected impact on compensation and that the appropriation language is a policy choice for the Legislature to resolve; they recommended coordination with Appropriations and the Tax Department for long-term analysis.

Witnesses identified groups the bill would not cover, including AOE-licensed universal pre-K teachers, certain after-school staff regulated by CDD, and small exempt home providers who care for a family’s own children plus a limited number of additional children. OPR emphasized mandatory public disclosure for facilities that would list staff credentials and provide details on how families can make complaints to OPR.

Stakeholders generally endorsed the bill as a workforce-development measure: Vermont AEYC said licensure would create consistent career pathways and accountability, while business groups framed S.206 as essential to expanding the pool of workers who can staff new slots created by public investment. At the same time, advocates and committee members urged careful implementation so that increases in qualification requirements do not shrink the available workforce.

The committee did not vote on S.206 at the hearing. Members asked presenters to supply additional data and written materials and took a short break to allow follow-up and circulation of testimony. OPR and allied organizations provided links to their Sunrise review and monitoring reports and said they would return with more detailed analyses as the bill moves toward markup.

The committee invited written materials and follow-up answers on funding trajectories, how licenses will interact with AOE credentials, and implementation steps to minimize workforce disruption. The Office of Professional Regulation’s Sunrise review and the parties’ written testimony were referenced repeatedly and are available on the legislative website.