Child Care Advocates Travel To Capitol

Anticipating the release of California's May Revised Budget, more than 600 members of Parent Voices traveled to the Capitol, calling upon Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to reject the proposed $200 million reduction in child-care funding.

The El Dorado County-South Lake Tahoe chapter of Parent Voices traveled to the rally in transportation provided by Kindertown Preschool, where local parents met with the legislative directors for Sen. Dave Cox and Assemblyman Ted Gaines to inform them on subsidized child-care programs and to ask them to consider the importance of these programs for working families.

In addition, two South Lake Tahoe parents, Cheri Varner and Leah Deas, along with other parents from across the state, met with Camille Maben and Nancy Remley from the California Department of Education to emphasize the value of child-development programs that offer full-day services and to encourage them to increase funding for families waiting for child-care assistance.

Since January, more than 25 low-income working parents have testified in Assembly and Senate budget subcommittee hearings, bringing the urgency of their child-care needs to legislators' attention.

Full article available at The Tahoe Daily Tribune.