Missouri the worst when it comes to child care?
Today’s metro page article chronicled the state’s current efforts to revise its 17-year-old licensing standards. Stephen Zwolak argued that the standards represent the bare minimum for safety and quality, and don’t address teacher training, pay or current research in child development and the lifelong benefits of quality child care and early education.
Here are some statistics specific to Missouri:
Missouri ranks 50th in the country in its reimbursements to centers caring for low-income children; 46th in its eligibility requirements for low-income parents to receive assistance to pay for child care; and 50th in pay to child care workers.
The stats come from Andi Schleicher of the Child Day Care Association of St. Louis which spearheaded a Step up for Kids Rally yesterday at St. Louis City Hall demanding that candidates on the election trail put the well-being of kids first on their legislative and budgetary agendas.
Nancy Cambria is the Children and Families reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She writes on a wide variety of topics pertaining to the well-being of children and family issues. She posts on children and family policy in The Grade blog and on general family and parenting issues in the Parents Talk Back blog located in the lifestyle section. 
Why would any any government be involved in baby sitting, for the poor, the middle class , or the wealthy is beyond me. Creating irresponsiblity is not purpose of government at any level.
Let’s go back to the days when moms took care of their children until they started school. Some of these people are only out for the mighty dollar, they don’t give a hop,skip, or jump about the safety of our children. You can hire Joe blow off the street in some of these day cares.
veggie girl: Let’s do go back to the good old days. Wait, aren’t many/most teachers these days mothers themselves? Hmmm, wonder how much our taxes will go up when we have to start paying family-breadwinner wages to Men/DADS who’ll become elementary school teachers. What about single moms (widowed, divorced or otherwise)? What becomes of their families?
johnh: I could extend your argument to other areas — Bridges across the various rivers (I cross zero bridges on my way to work. Therefore why should MY tax dollars pay for them?), Hospitals (haven’t set foot in one in years, why should MY tax dollars pay for inspections, regulations, etc.), Public Schools & Universities (don’t attend, why should I pay for the education of other peoples’ kids?)
The fact of the matter is that we live in a civilized society and part of accepting the benefits of such a society is also accepting the burdens that come with supporting a few others enough so we can all reap the benefits to some degree.
There is a large difference between “babysitting” and state funded early education education centers. Here there are qualified teachers and volunteers that work on the fundamental skills that children need to be able to succeed in school for the rest of their lives. Research consistenty shows that the economic benefits alone of these centers, when run well, far outweigh the costs. Children enrolled in these programs are far more likely to succeed in school, graduate, and go on to college. Do you know how much it costs to fund a preschooler’s education? Do you know how much more it costs to incarcerate an adolescent or adult criminal in prison, because he dropped out of school, had no skills, and committed a crime?
MiddleClassMom: I couldn’t agree more! It’s an argument I’ve had many times over…WHY should I pay for public educaiton when I don’t use it??? But no matter, I suck it up and pay for it, then some idiot comes along with a comment like Johnh’s. All I can say Johnh is GET EDUCATED.