Unearthing the Ecological Impacts of Workforce Compensation Disparities

• In Event: Money Talks: Implementing and Interpreting Values Through Education Finance Policy

Abstract

We examined the consequences of unequal compensation policies within New York City’s early childhood education ecosystem, focusing on their impact on directors, teachers, and families in non-public school settings. Through Critical Policy Analysis (CPA), we interconnected the ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) and the social construction and policy design theory (Schneider & Ingram, 1993) to understand how policies privilege some groups over others. Utilizing a qualitative case study approach, we analyzed 40 semi-structured interviews with directors (n = 10), teachers (n = 20), and parents (n = 10). Findings highlighted how compensation and work condition disparities affect every layer of the early childhood education ecological system, with setting and location differences pointing to systemic bias in NYC’s Universal Pre-K expansion.

Author

• Maria Mavrides Calderon, Hunter College - CUNY