Read past storytime features: David, Terry, Prany, Amari, Cheryl, and Sue.

Holly Ponciano is the director/head teacher at Cubbie Care/Kids Preschool in Butte County, California.

The responsibility of being a preschool teacher and a mother of a preschool-age child is challenging.  When I began working at Cubbie Care/Kids Preschool three years ago my son was only 10 months old.  I started at an hourly wage of $13.  With this set-up I worked 16 hours each week and could be home by noon to be with my son.   I was also lucky enough to have my mom baby-sit three days a week and a friend I paid $5 an hour to watch my son one day a week. 

As my son grew so did Cubbie Care/Kids Preschool.  The program that once served only 8 children in a morning preschool class 4 days per week now holds morning and afternoon classes, with 24 students and 13 students respectively.  The program, despite its expansion and need for resources, operates under an extremely low budget. 

I am now the director/head teacher of Cubbie Care/Kids Preschool. My son is three years old and attends classes here twice a week. I would prefer to send him full-time but with a salary of $13/hour (I have not had a pay increase in 3 years), I can barely afford part-time preschool and babysitter fees. My mom helps when she can. The days when I cannot find a babysitter and my mom is unavailable, I stay at home and lose a day’s wage.  If I felt like I had sick leave, paid vacation or another teacher to help out, my hourly wage would seem more worth while, but that is not the case. 

The Cubbie Care/Kids Preschool is a wonderful program that holds a great sense of community, loyalty, and an appreciation for accomplishments.  I stay because the children and families need the consistency and stability that this program provides. Children deserve the right to a quality preschool education.  They need to feel loved, safe, challenged and trust that their teachers are going to be there each day, and know the answer. I will not let them down. However, the fact remains that without better working conditions, better pay and better resources it is difficult to maintain a quality program and to reduce teacher turnover.