In Tillamook, Oregon, there is a two-story structure with ivory trim and grass-green siding. It doesn’t appear to be the focal point of anything significant. It appears to be a place where young children nap and finger paint, which is, of course, exactly what it is. However, facilities like that one, which are dispersed throughout Oregon’s 36 counties, many of which are understaffed, many of which are operating below capacity, and some of which have wait lists that go back a year and a half, are quietly at the heart of one of the state’s most persistent and underreported labor issues.
Oregon has dedicated significant funds over the years to expanding its health care workforce, tech sector, and manufacturing pipeline. At the time, the reasoning made sense. These sectors were well-organized in their lobbying, vocal about their labor shortages, and simple to portray as economic engines. In contrast, preschool and infant care center administrators typically spend their days overseeing two-year-olds and preparing grant reports. Their commanding rooms at the Capitol are not well-known. And that was reflected in the budget for a long time.
This began to change in early 2025 when State Representative Courtney Neron proposed House Bill 3011, which would allocate $20 million over two years to expanding degree programs in early childhood education at Oregon’s public universities and community colleges. The state’s institutions would use about two-thirds of that money to develop degree and credential programs, with the remaining portion going toward providing enrolled students with on-the-job training. It’s a simple concept, and it’s odd that it took so long to come about.
The bill’s numbers are hard to accept. Only one in five children under the age of two could be served by the state’s qualified early childhood educators, according to a 2023 Oregon State University analysis. Approximately one in three children aged three to five had access. Less than 10% of children under the age of two had access to any kind of early childhood education or care in twelve of Oregon’s thirty-six counties. Rounding errors are not what those are. After years of treating this specific workforce as an afterthought, a structural gap was created.
The executive director of Yamhill County’s Head Start, Suey Linzmeier, made an unforgettable statement to a House committee. During the 2023–2024 school year, her program had 138 preschool-age children on its waiting list; this was due to a shortage of teachers rather than a lack of funding. Things worsen. Yamhill Head Start was compelled to lower the number of children enrolled and return $1 million in funding that would have gone directly to county families due to a lack of qualified staff. One million dollars. came back. due to the absence of the teachers.
A minimum associate’s degree in early childhood education or a similar discipline is required for Head Start instructors. Approximately half of child care providers in the state fulfill that requirement in one way or another. The others are using credentials obtained overseas, a certificate, or a few college credits. Even though the political will to fund it has taken longer to materialize, the logic of House Bill 3011 is fairly clear because the pipeline to get more qualified teachers into classrooms passes through the very institutions that the bill is attempting to support.
Observing this discussion in Salem gives one the impression that Oregon is at a truly significant juncture. According to Amy Luhn, director of the Family Resource Center at Oregon State University, centers all over the state are running below their authorized capacity due to a staffing shortage rather than a lack of demand. For infant and toddler care, an 18-month wait list is not a small annoyance. It can be the difference between having a job and not having one for working parents, particularly in households with lower incomes.
$20 million might not be sufficient. By itself, it most likely isn’t. It will take years of consistent investment rather than a single appropriation to repair a workforce pipeline this depleted. However, it’s also possible that the true significance of a bill like this is less about the money and more about the signal—finally, the recognition that the caregivers of Oregon’s youngest children should receive the same institutional attention that the state has been providing to semiconductor engineers and welders. Even with its delayed arrival, that signal might be more important than anyone is currently acknowledging.
