NM Pre-K Pay Parity

Announced in September 2021, the Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) Pre-K Pay Parity Pay parity: Provides community-based early educators with wages (and sometimes benefits) comparable to those received by public-school educators with similar education and experience levels. Program ensures state-funded community-based pre-K educators and directors are compensated at a level comparable to pre-K teachers working in the public schools. The program covers the difference between the New Mexico Public Education Department base amount and an educator or director’s annual salary. To be eligible for this program, educators and directors must:

• Serve in a New Mexico-funded Pre-K, Early pre-K, or Mixed-Age pre-K program in a community-based setting and
• Have a bachelor’s degree or higher in early childhood education, early childhood multicultural education, or another degree + alternative licensure/18+ credit hours in early childhood education
• Individuals who meet the above requirements are assigned a category depending upon their education and work experience. This category determines the base compensation amount:
• Category 1: Bachelor’s degree with 0-3 year’s work experience | $50,000 base salary
• Category 2: Bachelor’s degree with more than 3 year’s work experience | $60,000 base salary
• Category 3: Master’s or doctoral degree with at least five year’s work experience | $70,000 base salary

Sources:

New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department. (n.d.). Pre-K Parity Information.