In order to improve the quality of child care services in the United States, the child care workforce must be better compensated. This paper describes the movement to improve child care compensation over the last 25 years as viewed by one of the leaders in that effort. The paper focuses on three distinct phases of this history: (1) 1970-1985, the first signs of a movement as teachers of young children articulated the problem of poverty-level wages; (2) 1985-1995, characterized by research linking low wages and the quality of services, community and labor organizing, public awareness campaigns, and public policy initiatives; and (3) 1995-2001, a more visible movement through sustained grassroots organizing efforts and public policy responses. Each phase is explored with respect to the economic and policy climate, key players, the primary assumptions and key strategies employed by activists, accomplishments, missteps, and challenges. The paper explores how each phase of the movement has influenced the next, and how the various challenges facing the movement around organizational form, strategy, and the structure of the industry have been resolved or have persisted. The final section of the paper focuses on the current tasks facing the compensation movement. (Contains 56 references and 35 endnotes.) (KB)