Washington, DC's Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund (PEF)¶
Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 5 claims (5 for) · 2 studies (1 causal, 1 associational),q1–q2· 0 of 2 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study
Description¶
A Washington, DC initiative that provides funding to increase compensation for early childhood educators and reduce pay disparities with K–12 teachers.
Components¶
Claims¶
- A benefit-cost analysis of DC's Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund finds the initiative to address educator pay gaps has economic value [+W]
- The PEF's total FY 2024 cost was $76 million, up from $54 million in FY 2023, reflecting larger educator payments and new facility administrative costs [+W]
- Washington, DC's PEF sustained a positive social return on investment of 21 percent in FY 2024, similar to 23 percent in FY 2023 [+W]
- Program costs rose under the PEF's facility payment model, but the size and economic value of benefits also increased [+W]
- The PEF's total FY 2024 economic value of benefits was $93 million, up from $67 million in FY 2023, with benefits to families the largest share [+W]
Related Products and Programmes¶
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Key Sources¶
- Under 3 DC. (2024). Public Investments in Early Childhood Education: Comparing the Cost and Benefits of the Pay Equity Fund (PEF). Mathematica. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/public-investments-in-early-childhood-education
- Owen Schochet, Katie Gonzalez. (2026). Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund (PEF): Do Economic Returns Change Over Time?. Mathematica. none in text. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/early-childhood-educator-pef-do-economic-returns-change-over-time
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
product |
id |
washington-dcs-early-childhood-educator-pay-equity-fund-pef |
title |
Washington, DC's Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund (PEF) |
description |
A Washington, DC initiative that provides funding to increase compensation for early childhood educators and reduce pay disparities with K–12 teachers. |
status |
review |
moved_from |
element/dc-early-childhood-educator-pay-equity-fund |
product_kind |
programme |
generated |
by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — under-3-dc-2024, owen-schochet-2026 |
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