Lawmakers Hear Support and Concerns Over Bill to Create OPR Licensure for Early Childhood Educators

The House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee heard testimony on S.206 on Wednesday, a bill that would create new early childhood educator licenses administered by the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation.

Jeff Fannin, executive director of Vermont NEA, told the committee he supports the bill’s goal to professionalize the workforce but urged changes to reduce confusion. "The bill would create an entirely new and separate licensure regulatory system for early childhood educators under the Office of Professional Regulation," Fannin said, and recommended eliminating the proposed ECE 3 designation because its requirements are "almost identical" to existing Agency of Education endorsements.

Supporters said S.206 would create clearer career pathways and help retain workers. "It provides a clear pathway to attract and retain new members to the ECE field," said Shannon Edmonds Folsom, childcare manager of JPeak Resort’s child care program, which serves infants through pre-K for staff and guests. Folsom said the bill "provides further accountability for ECE professionals, which generates trust and security for the families we serve." She also stressed the importance of recognizing infant and toddler teachers, noting that "90% of your brain is formed before the age of 3."

Danny Sato, vice president of the board of trustees at Northshire Day School, framed licensure as a tool for transparency and safety: "Licensure ensures shared liability, better protects young children," he said, adding that without a shared system a worker dismissed for misconduct at one program could be hired immediately at another.

Several witnesses described transition and access provisions they want to preserve. Christine Byron Smith, a universal pre-K teacher at Lincoln Cooperative Preschool who said she would qualify for ECE 3, urged two amendments: a family child care provider license grandfathering in home-based providers operating on or before 01/01/2029, and a conditional license allowing new home-based providers six years to obtain ECE 2 qualifications. Smith said the bill builds on Act 76’s progress without increasing costs for families and argued the proposals would "support providers at every stage."

Opponents and skeptical witnesses raised practical concerns about overlapping authorities. Fannin warned schools might face hiring confusion if some applicants held an OPR license and others an Agency of Education license, because public schools are obligated to employ teachers licensed under the standards board. He also said a national license-discipline database (referred to in testimony as "NASDAQ") could be complicated by multiple state systems and reciprocity rules.

Jennifer Fulham, director of the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation, said OPR plans explicit safeguards in the application process to reduce confusion between pathways. "There will be a threshold question: do you want to teach public pre-K or do you want to teach in a public school? If yes, go to AOE. The application stops. Hard stop," Fulham said, adding OPR will publish clear website guidance and return with more detail on national reciprocity and survey methodology.

Committee members pressed witnesses about how licensure would affect private programs, whether the titles should be changed to avoid class distinctions, and how union representation might apply to workers in nonpublic settings. Fannin suggested renaming the proposed ECE 1 and 2 to "early childhood professional 1 and 2 (ECP 1 and 2)" and striking ECE 3 to avoid redundancy with existing AOE endorsements.

No formal vote was recorded during the hearing. Committee members requested written testimony and indicated OPR and other stakeholders would be asked to return with clarifications on reciprocity, survey outreach, and application processes. The committee recessed for lunch at the end of the session.