by lenore wood

Where Is the Justice in Early Childhood Education?

Early childhood education is among the most consequential investments a society can make. In the earliest years of life, children develop the knowledge, social skills, emotional awareness, confidence, independence, and curiosity that become foundations for all that follows. Children learn to communicate, cooperate, navigate relationships, manage emotions, solve problems, persist through difficulty, and experience themselves as capable human beings. These are more than school-readiness skills. Learning in early childhood education forms the beginnings of a meaningful life.

Of course, I am biased. I am an early childhood educator, and I have devoted much of my life to this work. Yet, with all the conviction of my heart and with all that I have learned, I confidently believe that early childhood education is some of the most important and influential work there is.

There is something extraordinary about watching a young child discover, I can do this myself. A child pours their own water, puts on their own shoes, resolves a conflict, concentrates on a task, makes a choice, tries again, and eventually experiences the quiet pride of mastery. In a Montessori environment, we have the privilege of witnessing these moments every day. Through a carefully prepared environment, meaningful choices, hands-on materials, real work, and time for repetition and concentration, children participate actively in their own development. We are nurturing not simply what children know, but who they are becoming: capable, curious, independent, compassionate, and confident learners.

And this leads me to a question that deserves our collective attention: If the first years of a child's life are this consequential, what does it mean to honor the people entrusted with guiding those years? And, why has society  historically invested so little in something so important?

The History We Inherit

The answer requires us to look at the history of early childhood education. Women, particularly women of color, have long composed the majority of the workforce in the field. Caregiving, nurturing, domestic labor, and the education of young children have historically been devalued as women's work, even as that work has carried enormous social importance.

The history of early childhood education is also deeply connected to race. Black women have long performed an enormous share of America's caregiving work. Meanwhile, for  generations, racist policies and institutions restricted the ability of Black, Indigenous, immigrant, and other communities of color to build and preserve wealth through housing, education, employment, and additional  economic opportunities.

Early childhood educators have, and continue to be, poorly compensated for their work. The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley describes poor compensation in early care and education as structurally embedded within a field that undervalues the labor of women, especially women of color.  Its 2025 California data places typical starting wages for early childhood educators at approximately $18 per hour for assistant teachers and $21 per hour for lead teachers, with typical upper wages around $21 and $26.60 respectively. These numbers invite us to consider the distance between what we say about the importance of children's early years and what our economic structures communicate about the professionals responsible for those years.

Though we inherit this history, inheritance does not require acceptance. Understanding  gives us an opportunity to identify where change can begin.

Where Justice Begins

At Nia House, our commitment to equity extends beyond financial aid for students’ families. It includes a commitment to the educators who make our mission possible. Children thrive when the adults caring for and educating them are respected, supported, professionally developed, and compensated in ways that honor the significance of their work. Teacher well-being is deeply connected to child well-being. Supported educators create the conditions for strong, enduring relationships with children.

Nia House strives to be a leader in educator compensation and workplace quality within the early childhood field. Our average teacher salary is approximately $69,693. We offer 28 paid school holidays, 12 paid vacation days, 12 paid sick days, employer-paid health and dental benefits valued at approximately $7,000–$13,000 annually, life insurance, retirement contributions, professional development, continuing education, and annual salary increases based on performance and experience.

Nia House’s teaching team is highly educated and deeply experienced, with multiple staff members holding Master's Degrees, Bachelor's Degrees, Teaching Credentials, and ECE certifications. Many staff members have decades of educational experience. More than half of our teachers are parents themselves.

These details are important as teacher justice is connected to the quality of human life. Compensation supports teacher's rent, childcare, health care, retirement, and ability to remain in a profession they love. Even with our efforts, the median Nia House salary remains slightly below the estimated living wage for a single adult in the Bay Area. This reality points beyond Nia House toward a larger societal responsibility.

Tuition, Equity, and Shared Responsibility

Many families understandably experience tuition as a significant investment. At Nia House, full-time toddler tuition is $35,364 annually, or approximately $161 per day over a 220-day school year.

This tuition supports far more than time in a classroom. Tuition supports highly educated Montessori teachers, competitive salaries and benefits, financial aid for community members, carefully prepared environments, professional development, and a diverse community. It supports a mission rooted in peace, justice, and equity.

When public investment in early childhood education is limited, the responsibility is shared  among families, schools, educators, and communities. Perhaps, then, the question is not simply, Why does early childhood education cost so much? We should also ask, Why does society invest so little in work that shapes so much?

Families deserve access to excellent education. Children deserve exceptional care. Teachers deserve professional wages. Communities deserve equitable opportunities. These values belong together.

A Different Way Forward

Nia House has not solved the larger challenges facing early childhood education, but we have chosen how we respond within the systems we’ve inherited. 

At Nia House we strive to invest in teachers, provide benefits and professional development, we support financial aid, we prioritize diversity and transparency and we share honestly about the true cost of excellent early education and advocate for greater public investment in the field.

Most importantly, we choose to recognize early educators as the professionals they are.

Years upon years of working with children renders me continually astonished by them, by their questions, humor, tenderness, determination, and remarkable willingness to try. There is a kind of magic in this work. However magical, the work is far from easy. 

If we truly believe that our children are our future, then the people entrusted with their earliest years must be central to that future. We must honor teacher expertise, their dignity and their economic security.

Teacher justice is therefore not separate from educational justice. It is part of it.

At Nia House, we believe that some of the most meaningful changes begin in the places closest to us: in how we compensate teachers, support families, structure tuition, distribute resources, and understand our responsibility to one another. We cannot transform the entire system alone, but we can make different choices within it, and we must make those choices together.

The slivers of justice are already here, in a teacher who is able to stay, grow, and flourish; in a family who receives financial aid; in a child who enters a classroom where they are deeply known and supported; in a community that recognizes care as skilled professional work.

We ask you to join in the push to honor early educators in ways that you can, join as we pursue justice for teachers, and together build an early childhood system worthy of our children.