Advocates praise New Mexico early childhood educator wage scale funding

Following Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s signing last week of the state budget, New Mexico’s early childhood educators and supporters are praising a $60 million allocation to create a professional wage scale for early educators.

The funding, from the state’s general fund and Early Childhood Education and Care Fund, will support increased base pay for educators and additional pay increases based on experience, as well as education. The wage scale will go through a rulemaking process before it’s fully implemented.

State Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces), co-sponsor of the budget bill and chair of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, told Source NM in a written statement that lawmakers plan to work closely with the governor’s office, ECECD and early educators through the next steps toward implementation.

“The early childhood educators we entrust with the care of our youngest New Mexicans are the foundation of [the state’s] childcare system,” Small wrote. “Investing in the workers who care for our children is both the right thing to do and how we will meet the demand for this transformational program.”

A coalition of early childhood organizations, educators and parents released a statement voicing their support of the funding. They also noted that creating a professional wage scale will support the state’s universal child care program, established through the Child Care Assistance Program Act, also signed by Lujan Grisham last week.

“This investment sends a powerful message to early educators across New Mexico that our work is valued,” educator Olga Grays said in a statement. Grays, the owner of Mrs. Olga’s Daycare in Las Cruces, co-hosted an event in May 2025 as part of the national “Day Without Child Care” movement. “Universal child care can only succeed with a strong and stable workforce,” she said this week.

NM early childhood educators call for higher wages 

The coalition of early childhood organizations and educators stated that the wage scale will help address the state’s high turnover of early educators and workforce shortages, and a taskforce has begun working to flesh out the wage scale.

ECECD Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky told Source NM in a written statement that she is “deeply committed” to increasing compensation for early childhood workers across the system. 

“Our work on a comprehensive wage and career ladder extends well beyond child care,” she said, noting that the department is responsible for developing a wage structure for all of its programs including home visiting and early intervention. “We are grateful to have secured $10 million per year for three years to support this system-wide effort. It represents a meaningful investment in building a sustainable, equitable compensation structure for early childhood professionals across all of our programs.”

According to a November 2025 report released by the University of New Mexico’s Cradle to Career Policy Institute, New Mexico leads the country in the steepest increase in median annual child care wages from 2019 to 2024. New Mexico employers reported a 64.6% increase compared to the country’s overall 32.3% increase for the same period of time. South Carolina had the next highest rate at 46%. 

“New Mexico is the first state in the nation to offer universal, no-cost child care, but my hope is that we won’t be the last,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement about universal child care last week. “I encourage other states to consider our model, and New Mexico is ready to assist in helping others turn the vision into reality for families across the nation.”