Giving Compass' Take:

• The 74 examines the debate over whether pre-K teachers should be required to have a bachelor's degree and finds that at least one collaborative of early childhood educators says no.

• Will different education levels hurt the profession (which is, generally, much lower paying than other teaching jobs)? Those involved in education initiatives should look at the pros and cons of the issue.

• No matter what, we know that early childhood ed is crucial. Here's why.

Should preschool teachers be required to have a bachelor’s degree? A national collaborative of early childhood educators says no, and is issuing recommendations in an effort to reach consensus in a decades-old debate on qualifications for teachers of America’s youngest students.

The current draft of the recommendations, written as part of a two-year initiative called Power to the Profession, supports multiple education levels for preschool teachers, including associate’s and bachelor’s degrees — flexibility that opponents say could hurt a profession fighting to gain recognition and better pay. Fifteen education organizations, among them the National Education Association, the National Head Start Association, and the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators, created the document with input from dozens of stakeholders.

It’s a critical moment for preschool teachers, who are poorly paid despite research that underlines the importance of early education for student success — especially for children in poverty. Leaders in the Power to the Profession effort say the profession is fragmented, fragile, and misunderstood by the public.

“This developmental period is one of the most important developmental periods that sets the stage for lifelong learning, and the work of early childhood educators in this space requires specialized competencies,” said Marica Cox Mitchell, deputy executive director of early learning systems at the National Association for the Education of Young Children. “That intentionality and specialized skills is not seen by the public and devalued.”

Read the full article about whether pre-K teachers should have bachelor's degrees by Kate Stringer at The 74.