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|  | News Items Posted On: March 17, 2006
Showing stories 1 - 3 of 3.
WA - Gregoire signs bill allowing state's child care workers to unionize
Submitted by emohan. Posted on Friday, March 17 @ 17:10:33 EST by emohan
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Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law a bill today making Washington the second state after Illinois to let its family child-care providers unionize.
“Quality day care is key, not only for our children but for parents as well,” Gregoire said, explaining that the legislation offers a “much needed voice” to the workers, who number an estimated 10,000 statewide.
Turning to several children gathered around her at her Capitol conference room, the Democratic leader added, “All the big people are working to make sure we can do the best for you.’’
Passage of House Bill 2353 was one of the partisan session’s most bipartisan efforts with Democratic Rep. Eric Pettigrew of Seattle and Republican Rep. Jan Shabro of Lake Tapps co-sponsoring it and openly sharing the credit.
The Service Employees International Union Local 925, which expects its membership of 12,000 to nearly double, will represent the workers in a process that includes negotiations with the Governor’s Office later this year. The goal is to hammer out an agreement for wages, possibly health care and other details in October, before Gregoire completes her next two-year budget plan.
“We know it’s the beginning of a national movement,” said Kim Cook, president of Local 925, which is part of the roughly 100,000-member SEIU, Washington’s largest union. “It’s an important moment for these kids and workers.’’
Child-care centers are not affected, but in-home or family child providers are. The amount of subsidy paid by the state to providers for low-income families would change under the labor agreements.
According to data collected by the Washington State Child Care Resource and Referral Network, Thurston County has 236 family child-care homes and another 88 formal child-care centers. The daily subsidy for preschool children in family child-care is $22 in Thurston County.
But Cook said the state now pays so-called license-exempt providers just $2.06 an hour to care for the most needy children. “It’s an amazing number,” she said. “It has to change.’’
Full text available at The Olympian Online
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NH - Child care centers get boost
Submitted by emohan. Posted on Friday, March 17 @ 17:02:21 EST by emohan
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Jane Marquis wore a broad smile Tuesday as Health and Human Services
Commissioner John Stephen kicked off a new state program to recognize worthy child care centers with a 5 percent rate increase.
"It feels great to be recognized and have parents see that a program is certified for quality. This will allow programs like ours to enjoy the benefits of that," said Marquis, who heads the Early Childhood Adventures program at the Adult Learning Center in Nashua.
All child care centers that care for more than three children must be licensed by the state. Any center can receive the new "Licensed Plus" designation if they have low child-to-adult ratios, federally approved food programs and family support groups.
Centers that serve large numbers of poor or at-risk children can receive a one-time grant of $500, plus a 5 percent increase in rates paid by the state, said Sharon Lee, who will run the new program.
Full text available at the Portsmouth Herald
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SC - Senators lobbied for early childhood funds
Submitted by emohan. Posted on Friday, March 17 @ 16:56:31 EST by emohan
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Nap time is over for the issue of early childhood education at the General Assembly.
The two state officials in charge of educating the state’s youngest children lobbied a special Senate committee Wednesday for state money to increase early childhood programs their agencies run.
After the meeting, state Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum said it was “incredible” that so far, neither the governor nor the House of Representatives intends to earmark money for the state Department of Education to expand early childhood initiatives.
“The politics are that you can do it cheaper in a private setting, and some of the members don’t think you need a certified teacher,” Tenenbaum said. “Also, the politics are: This is where the governor wants it, and he wants it to go into First Steps, and he wants it to go into private child care and not into schools.”
First Steps director Susan DeVenny and the governor’s spokesman said they are focused on finding what works for children and what families need.
The Senate committee that DeVenny and Tenenbaum addressed may play a major role in which organization’s goals are funded, and which — if any — additional resources will be available to South Carolina parents and their children. The committee is charged with developing a response to a judge’s December ruling that the state needs to better educate its neediest, youngest children.
At the meeting, Tenenbaum proposed expanding 4-year-old kindergarten programs for the state’s neediest students and offering more help to disadvantaged parents. Her plan would require $71.9 million for kindergarten for 4-year-olds and $5 million for parenting programs.
DeVenny lobbied for First Steps’ request for another $53 million over the next three years. First Steps officials want to expand programs for kids ages birth to 4 and to offer incentives for nonpublic, child-care providers.
Full text available at The State
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