Pay Equity: Berna Artis and Owen Schochet

Pay Equity: Berna Artis and Owen Schochet

From Small Talk: Big Ideas About Little Learners by NAEYC

May 20, 2026 · 36 min · Season 1 · Episode 3

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of the Pay Equity Fund on early childhood educators' salaries in Washington, DC, and its implications for similar efforts nationwide.

It seemed fair to pay early childhood educators the same as K-12 teachers with similar education and experience. Taxpayers and policymakers in Washington, DC, agreed, setting up the Pay Equity Fund. The move increased ECE salaries by $15,000 per year, stabilizing the workforce and opening more childcare slots for families. NAEYC’s Daniel Hains talks with DCAEYC Executive Director Berna Artis and Mathematica Senior Researcher Owen Schochet about what’s working, what’s threatened, and what DC’s experiment signals about the fate of similar pay equity efforts around the country.

People in this episode

Host: Daniel Hains

Guests: Berna Artis, Owen Schochet

Topics covered

  • pay equity
  • early childhood education
  • workforce stability
  • childcare
  • education policy

Keywords

  • pay equity
  • early childhood educators
  • salaries
  • childcare slots
  • education policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NAEYC, DCAEYC

Places: Washington, DC

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