How much should an assistant teacher with Early Childhood Development make at a daycare in CA??

Question

How much does the average assistant teacher make with their Early Childhood Development Certificate make in CA at a daycare. Without it I will make $9/hr but with it I will make close to what the teachers make however, to get my ECD Certificate it will cost $1400 so I'm wondering will all that money be worth the increased amount of pay??

Answer 1

I have gone through this same decision.  Go and get the degree.  Once you have the degree, you will have an expanded job market.  There is more to the degree than the pay.  Without the degree, someone will always be coming in that has more education than you, and you will not have the job security, or the option to move elsewhere as you would have with a degree.  

Answer 2

What certificate are you referring to?  If you mean a degree (A.S. in Child Development), yes- it will cost tuition to get that.  If you mean, a Child Development Permit (from the state of CA)- you can get that for FREE through the Child Development Consortium.  Yes, it is a bunch of paperwork, but you can gain professional "points" with this document.  Check out the Teacher Credentialing agency at:

https://teachercred.ctc.ca.gov/teachers/...

And, you can find out about how to get a Child Development Permit at:

http://www.childdevelopment.org/cs/cdtc/...

Through this agency, you can get your permit without paying for the cost of it.  I have received three permits through the Child Development Training Consortium, and have never paid anything except for my first fingerprinting fee ($65, of which you can fill out a form to get reimbursed).  Having the permit has increased my base pay from around $9/hr to upwards of $12.50/hr.  Pay increases also vary based on the area of the state you work in, as well as the type of program you work in (whether it is state-funded, privately-owned, church-based).  

All in all- I'd try to get a Child Development Permit first (inexpensive, but provides more money and good "experience points"), then get a Child Development Associates Degree.