Child Care Providers Fear Economic Undertow
Child care providers in Minnesota and Illinois have been changing far more than diapers over the past five years.
They've also been forming diverse coalitions to make their services more affordable to lower-income clients, many of whom have been getting squeezed by state budget cutbacks. They have had many successes, such as free preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds and raising the income levels for subsidies.
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Those of us who have no children, or whose children are grown, or who have no problem providing quality day care for our own children may think that this story is unimportant, or irrelevant to our lives. But the way children are cared for affects us all. We provide 12 years of free public education because we believe in the economic and social value of having an educated public. Day care must become an equal priority--affordable, high-quality, with skilled care providers who are adequately paid for their work. Abundant studies show that the first five years of life set the neurological infrastructure of the brain: the foundation for all future learning. Properly trained caregivers incorporate simple learning tools with infants, toddlers and preschoolers that teach six essential pre-reading skills. Sadly, babies, toddlers and preschoolers warehoused in learning-impoverished conditions are far more likely to lag behind in their educational development from the start, and may never catch up. The final result costs us all.