NJ A5951

Establishes the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Program in the Department of Human Services to provide grants to licensed child care facilities and registered family child care providers for increasing wages of early childhood educators

Requires the department to create an Early Childhood Educator Salary Scale based on educator degree, years of experience, and position title, designed to achieve pay parity with comparable public school educators

Creates a Child Development Facility Payment Formula to calculate grant amounts, which must account for economic need of families and communities served, directing more funding to facilities serving lower-income populations

Participating child development facilities must enroll in Grow NJ Kids quality rating system and agree to pay educators at or above the minimum salaries established in the salary scale

Establishes the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund as a non-lapsing fund for appropriated and private funds, with the act taking effect 180 days after enactment