The CCCC- My Home, My Family

The past month at the CCCC (Community Child Care Center...where I have been a Preschool Teacher for the past 16 years) has been a challenging and heartbreaking month. As a staff, we strive to provide high quality early childhood education at a cost that families are able to sustain. We have been successfully managing to help student families on the U of M, St. Paul Campus for over 30 years with the use of a sliding fee scale- payment dependent upon how many people are in the family along with household income.

The funding which made this a possibility came in large part from the Student Service Fees we applied for and received from the University of Minnesota each fiscal year....upwards of $90,000. We counted on this funding to be able to sustain the sliding fee scale and keep costs as low as possible while not compromising on quality. We counted on this funding because it was decided by the University back in the early 80's that supporting early childhood education on campus was to be funded in this manner. 

We were recently blindsided with the news that we would no longer be receiving funding from the University through student service fees...leaving us no time to find alternate solutions to help our families. We will still be eligible to apply for $25,000 in funding (along with all other U of M student groups that apply), but the requirements for its use have become very strict and do not match up with our needs within the program to pay for staffing and other essential aspects of our annual operations. Tough stuff. We are deeply disappointed that early childhood education is seemingly not valued by the University as an essential part of furthering student parents post-secondary education. As a student parent, it is not a choice to find a place to care for your child while you are taking classes or working in labs and campus offices. It is a necessity! And families deserve to give their children the best education at a rate they can afford. They deserve to find a place where they trust their child will be safe, be loved, be developed and be challenged. We are that place and the recent news of the loss of funding will change the course of our families lives forever- as many will have to choose between furthering their own education or that of their young children. 

It is clear that the new plans made to the Student Service Fees application process will not be changed. We understand that. It has been stated by some University folks that there are plans for a grant program in the works to help families pay for childcare costs as they choose. This sounds great in theory as grants for student families are desperately needed. The problem, however is that the proposed $100,000 grant program will not even make a dent in the increased out of pocket costs that will come with removing the sliding fee scale (an additional $3,000+ annually for some families on top of the fees they already pay). It won't reach all families, will not match the benefit the sliding fee scale provided and the grant money will certainly run out quickly. 

What we desire most is to be sustainably supported by the University moving forward in a way that is not dependent on a yearly application to prove that we deserve it. 

We desire to be seen as a valuable resource to the University and the people we serve. 

We desire to have the University understand and embrace the reality that investing in early childhood education is essential and beneficial- yielding a positive return for the University and the surrounding communities. Children who are given the opportunity to be educated from birth to 5 show better outcomes in their primary education and beyond, their positive social contributions and future employment.

We desire to be respected as highly trained and educated professionals who have the skills to help all children reach these goals if given the support we need to do so.

I am well aware that my little blog story will most likely not make many waves, but a few ripples are better than still waters. I love my CCCC family and have a strong passion for the field of Early Childhood Education- investing in young children matters. It matters. Who's with me?