EXCERPT FROM: MLive.com
By Lynn Moore
WEST MICHIGAN -- About 800 relatives and in-home day care aides who provide child care in Muskegon County must receive six hours of training to continue getting paid with state child care subsidies.
EXCERPT FROM: Detroit Free Press
By Jack Kresnak
Thanks for last week’s “Fixing our schools” series of articles on the education reforms Michigan must have to have an economic future, and in particular the reporting on the crisis in Detroit. Scant attention, however, was paid to the critical need for quality preschool programs that help the most vulnerable children come to kindergarten healthy, safe and ready to learn.
EXCERPT FROM: The Wall Street Journal
By Patrick J. Wright and Michael D. Jahr
Michelle Berry runs a private day-care service from her home on the outskirts of this city, the birthplace of General Motors. "The Berry Patch," as she calls the service, features overstuffed purple gorillas, giant cartoon murals, and a playroom covered in Astroturf. Her clients are mostly low-income parents who need child care to keep their jobs in a city that now has a 26% unemployment rate.
WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) - The board of Godfrey-Lee Public Schools voted Monday night to stop providing child care services to alternative education students with children of their own, following other Kent County districts which have eliminated the programs in recent years citing a lack of funds.
Investing in early childhood education could reduce the amount the state spends on its corrections system, one advocacy group said Wednesday.
For junior Sarai Embaye, the stress of the first week of classes was reduced when she found out she didn’t have to take her daughter to class with her.
Tables were assembled across the floor of a large room in Emmett Township. They were covered in children's toys, snacks and books, which were on display in a garage-sale style.
Over 20 people, including state Rep. Andy Neumann, gathered to discuss proposed cuts to early childhood development programs on Monday.
While public schools around Michigan are adopting their 2009-10 budget before a July 1 deadline, the state continues to examine $410 million worth of reductions to education funding.
With the recent articles detailing child care violations in Genesee County, "Who's Minding the Kids?" June 4 and June 7, it is easy to be apprehensive about leaving your child in the care of others. While there may be public and private child care programs with legitimate violations on record, there are also many licensed quality child care settings to choose from when considering child care for your children.