Bonus checks! One year free! How states are trying to fix a broken child care system

Damaris Mejia runs a child care center out of her Washington, D.C., rowhouse. In an effort to stem a shortage of early educators, the city wants to boost their pay closer to that of public school teachers. (Jennifer Ludden/NPR)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Child care provider Damaris Mejia is about to get the biggest pay raise of her life, starting this summer: the District of Columbia will send her and her co-teachers each a big check, between $10,000 and $14,000.

At last, "I will have happy teachers!" she says, laughing.