Not all child care providers are uneducated. Many people in this field have bachelor's and even master's degrees. While others start teaching with only a high school degree but proceed to take continuous training courses and are well educated in the field while not receiving the more global education you receive in a university.

Those teachers who receive their degrees typically chose child care over public schools for various reasons. First, they prefer working with younger children. Second, they prefer the educational philosophy found in early childhood education over that of what is used in many public school systems. If you look at the NAEYC accreditation standards and some of the more progressive state standards you will see that in the higher quality programs there are a high percentage of teachers with degrees. This is one of the main points. If members of society feel the need for child care programs, and feel the current situation in unexceptable due to low quality and poor conditions in the centers, then we need to find a way to help raise the standards for these programs, including the pay. Higher pay attracts higher qualified individuals, which increases the quality of the service being provided. Right now the higher quality service is provided by the small percentage of individuals and programs that stay in the profession due to their passion for educating the youngest members of our society.

Before people start yelling about government needing to stay out of our buisness, let me state that this change can be acheived through buisnesses and individuals supporting centers and working to make changes. Some states have implimented voluntary rating systems that help individuals and buisnesses identify those programs that already strive for higher quality as well as the NAEYC accreditation process. These evaluation tools would give those individuals who wish to start supporting quality a way to identify those programs that are already working hard to improve quality.