Parents of children in private child care may be seeing tuition hikes that stem from an unlikely cause: a one-year lapse in training dollars for their kids’ teachers.

For years, day care and preschool teachers could receive up to $400 a year through a state program to cover training, including their 12 required hours. Extra professional development, like college courses on child development and special education, could earn them bonuses ranging from $200 to $1,500.

Not this school year.

State education officials say funding dried up for the Maryland Child Care Credential Program, launched in 2000 to reward educators who go above and beyond state requirements. It’s expected to return in fiscal year 2026.

Until then, some early childhood teachers — who often make minimum wage or a few dollars more — are suddenly without the extra income they’ve come to rely on to cover the slow season or pay off daunting bills. Advocates worry it’ll drive teachers out of the low-paying field, worsening the child care shortage.

Meanwhile, some child care businesses are scrambling to cover the difference, with tuition hikes on the table.

Ruthi Claytor, owner of Grannie Annie’s Child Care & Learning Center in Anne Arundel County, will pay an expected $7,200 in training costs, representing about $400 for each of her 18 teachers. She said because the training is mandatory, she feels its her responsibility to cover the cost for her staff, who make between $18 and $19 an hour.

Claytor likened the annual bonuses to a tax refund that could be used for things like new car tires or apartment down payments.

“When you’re making less than $20 an hour, it’s hard to save for those big-ticket items,” Claytor said. “They’re disappointed and a little scared because they’ve come to depend on that bonus.”

Claytor is looking to next year’s budget, and potentially her tuition rates, to try to find money to increase her teachers’ salaries and make up the lost bonus money. Historically, Claytor increases tuition 5% every year, but she may have to increase it by 6% to absorb the training costs among other increased expenses.

More than 8,600 early childhood educators were in the program that supplied the bonuses at the time of a June letter to the General Assembly from Shayna Cook, the assistant state superintendent who oversees the state’s early childhood programs. That represents 15% of the field. The program issued 933 training vouchers this year, the letter said.

Applications, vouchers and bonuses were put on pause after June 30 because there’s currently no more federal or state funding for it, according to the program’s website.

The Maryland State Department of Education declined to comment further.

Maryland State Child Care Association Executive Director Christina Peusch said over 11,000 emails were sent over the summer to public officials and legislators, including the state school board, asking for emergency funding, but the money wasn’t restored.

Georetta Alexander has spent over 20 years in the field and currently teaches 2-year-olds at The Goddard School of Owings Mills. By doing additional training and participating in community education events, she used to be eligible for $600 annually in bonus money right before summertime and some big bills.

“Knowing that I could plan for the use of that money brought me a sense of peace,” Alexander said. “It was always just like that safety net to know I had that coming in.”

Brenda Tyrrell, who owns Prime Time Children’s & Youth Activity Center in Calvert County, said she’s talked with other owners who are only going to require minimum training of their staff, which employees will have to pay for themselves.

“I’ve got a feeling that’s going to bounce back and really bite us in the end,” Tyrrell said. “The children are the ones that are going to suffer from it. Because people need training.”

Tyrrell designed her own bonus program for her employees which will pay out between $200 and $500 apiece for additional training and participating in community events, like a clothing drive. To afford that in a business that “is not going to make you rich,” Tyrrell had to make other sacrifices, like not buying new mulch, rain gear and bikes for the over 200 kids in her care.

The choice hasn’t affected tuition — yet.

“If I’m struggling to get that money, I will have to raise my tuition. There’s no alternative,” Tyrrell said, adding that she generally raises rates annually to reflect inflation. “Tuition will have to go up, which is going to affect parents who are saying, ‘It’s costing so much to have my kids in child care, I might as well stay home.’ And that’s going to affect the economy.

“It’s a snowball effect,” Tyrrell added.

Here’s another layer, according to Peusch: If day cares struggle to retain teaching staff or keep up with increasing costs and close, that cuts down on the number of private providers who can participate in the state’s pre-K expansion. At least half of preschool programs are supposed to come from the private market by 2028, but the vast majority of Maryland school districts as of last school year hadn’t even hit 10%. And Maryland already lost 15% of its child care providers between January 2020 and January 2024.

At the Goddard School where Alexander works, teachers will have access to an online training source to get their requirements knocked out. That will be free to them, said program director Caitlyn Holley.

Holley said while the online training is “great for ease,” there may be challenges for teachers who learn best by asking trainers questions directly, especially teachers for whom English is not their first language. She hopes to send teachers to an in-person conference next year, but that’ll be an additional cost.

In her letter to the General Assembly, Cook said that during fiscal year 2025, the education department would offer “high quality, free” professional development opportunities. The education department’s Division of Early Childhood provided links to online resources for free training in a recent newsletter.

Advocates and educators said prior to that email, they had not seen any free training offered by the department this year, and the linked programs don’t appear to be Maryland-run.

Peusch said it’s unclear to her how many people will be able to take advantage of those trainings and how many hours they’ll fill.

The lapse of funding for training and bonuses is making some educators feel unappreciated just a few years after the pandemic shined a light on the essential nature of child care.

“It’s just hard to be given something and acknowledged a tiny bit for what you do,” Tyrrell with Prime Time said, “and then now, you’re on your own.”

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.