EXCERPT FROM: News 8 Austin
By Heidi Zhou
Estella Cruz and Maya Gray have yet to reach their first birthdays.
Though the two were born equally innocent and cherished, the inequality between their families' income will likely create two unequal paths before they even reach 5 years of age, at which point children develop 85 percent of their capacity to learn, according to research.
"I want her to be happy," Maya's mother, Jane Gray, said.
"I want them to be anything that they want to," Estella's mother, Angelica Cruz, said.
Unfortunately, the two mothers will not have equal access to the kind of child care that can give their children a big head start in life. Jane Gray, a mother of one, is married and a psychologist, while Angelica Cruz, a mother of two, is single and works at a grocery store deli.
Cruz has no option, but to laugh in the face of a monster that parents of all incomes battle. That monster's name is child care, and in Texas, it only breaths fire into the inequalities separating Estella and Maya.
Texas oversees child care through five government agencies. The agencies don't always play well, Mainspring Schools Director Rudi Andrus said.
The Texas Workforce Commission pays Mainspring Schools, a nonprofit preschool in South Austin, to care for children from poor families. But for each dollar the school needs to maintain its operations, the government gives it only 40 cents, Andrus said.
"I laugh about my hands are so knotty from crossing my fingers from hoping it will all work out," she said. "I wonder how strong this system can stand and continue to operate."
The Department of Family and Protective Services sets minimum standards for child care. Standards in Texas are among the nation’s lowest. In Texas, class size for 2-year-olds is limited to 22 children per room, while the national average is 14.
"It is just very difficult to supervise that many children, particularly if you're new to the field and have only had eight hours of training, which is what we require," DFPS Assistant Commissioner Sasha Rasco said.
DFPS is looking at improving those requirements, but higher standards mean higher costs. Meanwhile, subsidies for helping low-income families remain low, something child care providers say creates a dilemma.
"The budget just doesn't work," Andrus said.
DFPS plans to decide whether to improve minimum standards in October. If the proposals pass, providers said they'll have to pass the cost onto parents. Though the two were born equally innocent and cherished, the inequality between their families' income will likely create two unequal paths before they even reach 5 years of age, at which point children develop 85 percent of their capacity to learn, according to research.
"I want her to be happy," Maya's mother, Jane Gray, said.
"I want them to be anything that they want to," Estella's mother, Angelica Cruz, said.
Unfortunately, the two mothers will not have equal access to the kind of child care that can give their children a big head start in life. Jane Gray, a mother of one, is married and a psychologist, while Angelica Cruz, a mother of two, is single and works at a grocery store deli.
Cruz has no option, but to laugh in the face of a monster that parents of all incomes battle. That monster's name is child care, and in Texas, it only breaths fire into the inequalities separating Estella and Maya.
Texas oversees child care through five government agencies. The agencies don't always play well, Mainspring Schools Director Rudi Andrus said.
The Texas Workforce Commission pays Mainspring Schools, a nonprofit preschool in South Austin, to care for children from poor families. But for each dollar the school needs to maintain its operations, the government gives it only 40 cents, Andrus said.
"I laugh about my hands are so knotty from crossing my fingers from hoping it will all work out," she said. "I wonder how strong this system can stand and continue to operate."
The Department of Family and Protective Services sets minimum standards for child care. Standards in Texas are among the nation’s lowest. In Texas, class size for 2-year-olds is limited to 22 children per room, while the national average is 14.
"It is just very difficult to supervise that many children, particularly if you're new to the field and have only had eight hours of training, which is what we require," DFPS Assistant Commissioner Sasha Rasco said.
DFPS is looking at improving those requirements, but higher standards mean higher costs. Meanwhile, subsidies for helping low-income families remain low, something child care providers say creates a dilemma.
"The budget just doesn't work," Andrus said.
DFPS plans to decide whether to improve minimum standards in October. If the proposals pass, providers said they'll have to pass the cost onto parents.