Lawmakers tackle the early childhood education dilemma
MIDDLETOWN — Lawmakers will consider seven bills this session that would bolster early childhood education programs, help families with moderate incomes pay for child care and support incentives for teachers to remain in their field.
Merrill Gay, executive director of the CT Early Childhood Alliance, and Dawn Dubay, Middletown school readiness coordinator, spoke Thursday during a meeting hosted by the Middlesex Children’s Coalition at the deKoven House about the possible impact of each piece of legislation.
Coalition Executive Director Izzi Greenberg moderated the discussion.
Prior to the November election, the state Senate had an equal number of Democrats and Republicans —18 — which led to a fiscal impasse that caused state budget negotiations to draw out for four months. On Nov. 6, Democrats claimed five more seats, increasing their margin of control 21-13.
One reason why these bills have a chance at passage is because of the number of new legislators this year, Gay said. “There was a real sense we’re going to change things. I describe the first month or two as ‘freshmen exuberance.’ We had a bunch of new committee chairs, everyone was going to change the world, but we didn’t have a new budget yet.”
One such leader is state Rep. Bobby Sanchez, D-New Britain, who attended Connecticut’s first Head Start class in 1965. Later, he became a Head Start teacher, married one, and now works for the National Fatherhood Initiative, which administers the program.
“He is completely steeped in early childhood. He believes these teachers don’t get the respect they deserve or pay raises for their important work,” Gay said.
Parents, many of whom are having difficulty paying for day care because they are Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed — or ALICE — as designated by a Connecticut United Ways report. The income of 40 percent of Connecticut households fall below what is needed to pay for the basic necessities of food, health care, housing, household bills and transportation, according to the report.
“Parents need custodial care so they can work, but we know the difference between custodial care and high-quality programs is significant and has lasting impact,” Gay said.
The “paradox” is parents can’t afford child care, and early childhood educators don’t get paid enough, Gay said.
Afamily of four on average needs an income of $57,000 annually to cover basic needs, and, on top of that, $20,000 more for child care, Gay said.
“This is a big cycle of issues that we are facing. We have (proposed) loan forgiveness, which makes such a huge difference in quality,” Dubay said. “Teachers are striving, and want to take more courses to improve their teaching, and they struggle financially because of pay. Just paying their loans contributes to the stress in the day-to-day challenges of their job and not being able to pay their bills.”
Many parents who apply for Care4Kids have had their applications and redeterminations repeatedly vanish from the state’s 25-year-old computer databases. This issue has delayed Care4Kids vouchers for at least four months, Gay said, causing significant hardships for these families.
Precious Price, director/community organizer at the Middletown Racial Justice Coalition, shared a story about her sibling, baffling many in the room. Her sister applied four times to the state for a Care4Kids voucher. Each time, she was told her request had not been received.
“She calls every day, and every time she calls, somebody else tells her to apply again. It’s ridiculous,” Price said. “They sent the paperwork back to the house four different times, and said, ‘We don’t have your address.’ Then how did you send this?”
Those gathered burst into laughter at her telling that part of the story.
Meanwhile, her sister is struggling to pay $450 a week for child care, finding herself caught in a far from uncommon predicament.