In 2004, Dana Senaha was a new graduate of the master’s program in early childhood education at Vanderbilt University and had completed all the work, except for a dissertation, for a doctorate.
She returned home to Hawaii that year to teach at Cole Academy, a private preschool in Honolulu, where she served as lead teacher and administrator.
Even with her advanced education, Senaha’s pay was just under $30,000 a year.
“That was par for the course,” Senaha said of her salary, adding it was comparable to similar early education teaching jobs in Nashville, Tenn., where Vanderbilt is located.
But Senaha wanted to be home. She lived with her parents to help offset the high cost of living and pay off student loans.
But even then, “it just wasn’t sustainable,” Senaha said.
She left Cole Academy after less than a year to accept a higher-paying, entry-level assistant marketing role outside the field of education.
Senaha’s experience captures the challenges of the early childhood education industry in Hawaii and nationwide. Wages are low, driving a workforce shortage that is contributing to the limited number of available seats, while tuition at private centers is often outside the financial reach of many working families.
The pandemic made the statistics even grimmer, as Covid restrictions and rising costs reduced capacity across Hawaii’s child care providers by 15%, from 23,803 seats down to 20,157, according to Early Childhood Action Strategy.
“Even before the pandemic, child care...
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