CSI Head Start Program raises pay, amid challenges

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The Biden administration set guidelines for Head Start Programs to attract more teachers.

The Head Start Program helps low-income families prepare their children before school enrollment.

Many teachers have recently left the program because of the pay.

Head Start Teachers in Idaho make about $17 an hour, according to Zip Recruiter.

While the Biden Administration has set guidelines for higher pay, the government is not helping these programs afford it.

“It requires us to pay our bachelor degree teachers at the level of a like staff at the school district, so pre-K to third grade I believe,” Director Ruby Behm said. “Performance standards didn’t come with any extra money.”

The Head Start Program at the College of Southern Idaho has had to sacrifice some services to comply with the new standards.

“We needed to raise their pay, and we were able to do that, but we had to do that by reducing slots of children, another 154 children that won’t receive those services,” Behm said. “So, we’re serving 256 head start slots which is the three to four and then 92 early head starts which is birth to three.”

In 2020, the Head Start Program at CSI raised wages by about 16%, compared to prior years, when teachers were only paid $7 an hour, according to Behm.

To learn more about Head Start or apply, visit this website.

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