INDIANAPOLIS — More than 2,400 early education jobs go unfilled in Indiana each year, according to a preliminary report that was released by Talent First during Tuesday’s Early Learning Advisory Committee (ELAC) meeting.

The report also showed that median wages of Indiana’s early educator workforce reside in the bottom tenth percentile of all occupations statewide.

”One of the things that we learned today is we are not alone in this,” Maureen Weber, the Chair of ELAC, said. “Many other states are in a similar position, and so, we’re anxious to get to the end of the study and see what our recommendations are moving forward.”

”Staffing, honestly, just in early learning — it will always be tricky,” Jacqueline Strong, the director of the Little Duckling Early Learning Christian Academy, said.

Next month, the academy will open six new classrooms, allowing childcare providers to serve an additional 65 students. According to Strong, a grant through Gov. Holcomb’s Next Level Agenda made the academy’s expansion possible, but the question of how the academy will retain 15 new teachers amid a landscape fraught with turnover remains to be answered.

”They step into the classroom, and they encounter some things that they weren’t really anticipating,” Strong said. ”Whether it’s student behaviors, whether it’s students with special needs or students that have developmental delays, a lot of the training isn’t geared towards helping them learn how to manage those things.”

On top of a lack of consistent hands-on training across the board, Strong said most providers statewide cannot make ends meet given the average wage.

”Most childcare providers aren’t working in a way where they can meet their family needs,” Strong said. ”So, there’s a lot of turnover.”

According to a separate report released Tuesday by the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children (INAEYC), Indiana’s turnover rate for early education teachers back in 2021 was 28%. For assistant teachers, that number was 43%.

”The retention numbers are really challenging, particularly for those entry level jobs in childcare, and I will just say as a provider, we experience that every day,” Weber said.

Despite these numbers, Strong said recent steps the state has taken, like the Next Level Agenda, are helping reverse some trends.

”In comparison to a lot of other states, I feel like we’re kind of at the forefront of making changes and reform things that will really support the industry,” Strong said. ”Here, I feel like it’s a great start to kind of showing other people or modeling to other states ways that they can utilize the money and support the industry in a positive way.”

Weber said the completed Talent First Study is expected to be released in September.