DC now requiring day care workers to have college degrees

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a person trained in child development or education is a bad idea? I don't follow you. What standard is "good enough" for your kids then?

Because I'd hate to see this city have a system like VA where any illiterate redneck trailer trash can have an unlicensed operation with up to half a dozen kids.

If people are better qualified, then it will cost more, yes. I'd call that worthwhile. I'm sure there are other expenses in your household budget that you could re-evaluate and decide if it might be worth eliminating some things to put that money towards better care for your children.

Seems like a no brainer to me. I'd want the most qualified person there was watching my kids. I work from home, and we have a nanny, too, but I can't see how this would upset people. I don't get it.

Yes, it's a bad idea to require people who make $8-13/hr to go back to college. Is the district going to pay their tuition to get the AA degree? Is it going to provide paid time off to attend college classes? If not, how to you expect people who are in the bottom 25% of the pay scale to attend?

Also, if you expect them to have an AA, then you will need to pay them more. If you pay them more then daycare costs go up. There are many people struggling now with the cost of early childcare and you want to increase that?

You reek of being a 1%er who is out of touch with reality. You can afford a nanny. You realize that you pay your nanny more than the average daycare worker earns. And yet you expect them to afford college classes and time off from work from an hourly position where "no work"="no pay". Many daycares are only barely profitable and you want them to afford to pay higher wages to more educated employees? The costs will have to be passed on to the parents, many of whom are already stretched thin. You are entitled and clueless. You have a typical first world rant.

+1

If you think the cost of day care is high now, just wait until this goes into effect.

[Anonymous]

I'm really upset about this requirement. They can't just throw MAJOR new occupational requirements at a sector that is already stressed to the very margin in terms of price and availability. If DC authentically wants to improve access to quality childcare, they should be providing training themselves, or financial supports. This is just a lazy way for bureaucrats to feel like they are "doing something."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a person trained in child development or education is a bad idea? I don't follow you. What standard is "good enough" for your kids then?

Because I'd hate to see this city have a system like VA where any illiterate redneck trailer trash can have an unlicensed operation with up to half a dozen kids.

If people are better qualified, then it will cost more, yes. I'd call that worthwhile. I'm sure there are other expenses in your household budget that you could re-evaluate and decide if it might be worth eliminating some things to put that money towards better care for your children.

Seems like a no brainer to me. I'd want the most qualified person there was watching my kids. I work from home, and we have a nanny, too, but I can't see how this would upset people. I don't get it.

Yes, it's a bad idea to require people who make $8-13/hr to go back to college. Is the district going to pay their tuition to get the AA degree? Is it going to provide paid time off to attend college classes? If not, how to you expect people who are in the bottom 25% of the pay scale to attend?

Also, if you expect them to have an AA, then you will need to pay them more. If you pay them more then daycare costs go up. There are many people struggling now with the cost of early childcare and you want to increase that?

You reek of being a 1%er who is out of touch with reality. You can afford a nanny. You realize that you pay your nanny more than the average daycare worker earns. And yet you expect them to afford college classes and time off from work from an hourly position where "no work"="no pay". Many daycares are only barely profitable and you want them to afford to pay higher wages to more educated employees? The costs will have to be passed on to the parents, many of whom are already stretched thin. You are entitled and clueless. You have a typical first world rant.

+1

If you think the cost of day care is high now, just wait until this goes into effect.

And not just the cost - the number of available slots is going to go down too. This is going to result in more unlicensed, underground providers that are completely unregulated. SMH.

[Anonymous]

This will basically put many women (who are already on the short end of the stick in terms of propensity to live in poverty) out of jobs.

They can't afford school. They can't take time off from work to go to school and study because then their already low income would be even lower. My toddler needs someone with endless patience, lot of kid songs and rhymes to sing, and a love a children. Not someone with a degree in early childhood psychology. SAHMs don't need degrees to care for their children. Are these useless bureaucrats saying that SAHMs without degrees aren't qualified to raise children?

[Anonymous]

Adding one thing - the cost of daycare in this city is not due to the wages paid to the workers. It's due to high rent. There is nothing anyone can do to lower the market rate rent of spaces that are suitable for daycares, unless the Fed is willing to subsidize the rent for all the centers since most of the centers re downtown. Which isn't going to happen. So you're left with wags to the workers being the only factor that can really change. When a center in a federal building, used by federal employees, so generally speaking not the people who can afford nannies!, already exceeds $1800/month for an infant and is creeping up on that for a toddler, three's a finite amount of blood you can get from a stone so to speak.

Not to mention, presumably, if all these women could obtain degrees, they would likely move on to be an ECE at a DCPS or charter, which would at least pay better. So then what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the prospect of an increase in the cost of daycare is enough to cause people to panic, then maybe that's an indication that their priorities about where they're choosing to live are misguided.

DC is a premium location, and frankly, it's not for everyone. So if daycare costs are causing undue budgetary hardships, then perhaps you should consider living somewhere more affordable.

This isn't hard to figure out

So I am going to assume you aren't a troll. Just someone who lives in a bubble.

Please understand that poor people just can't move b/c of budgetary hardships. The process of moving is not cheap.
Also remember many of DCs poorest people were born here. Their family and support system is here so again people just can't move.

[Anonymous]

This has been a long time coming. Administrators were made aware of the upcoming change years ago. First it was the need for an AA degree. Then, they upped it to a four year degree. But, we're seriously talking about almost en years ago that this was first discussed with the intention of implementation.

UDC had a free program for childcare providers to help with the new policy. Then it was gone. I don't know why that happened? The need certainly didn't go away. Defunded, more likely.

This is not an individual issue. Funding should be made available and classes scheduled at local community colleges to help fill this need. Too many talented caregivers will lose their jobs because of this. It's a huge community issue.

[Anonymous]

Once they have their degrees, they will go work for the schools.

I understand they want quality care for the kids, but a degree is not the best solution.

[Anonymous]

I think it's a wonderful idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a wonderful idea.

+1, we came from Wisconsin, and it's crazy out there how little regulation or enforcement action there was in daycare. At home operations run by people with almost zero training in anything. Scary.

It's better here, but a degree requirement would make it even better. You really can't skimp on this kind of thing. There's ways to save, keep your car a few years after you pay it off, whatever, but it's worth it.

[Anonymous]

My niece is in at a daycare where one of the teachers has Down's syndrome. Definitely doesn't have a high school degree, but is the most caring and loving teacher there. It doesn't take intelligence to raise good kids.

[Anonymous]

What's best for a baby has very little to do with a college degree. Most moms know this already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a wonderful idea.

Agree. Everyone in the world should have college degrees! How beautiful would that be.

Also, more daycares should have once-a-year unicorn days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a wonderful idea.

+1, we came from Wisconsin, and it's crazy out there how little regulation or enforcement action there was in daycare. At home operations run by people with almost zero training in anything. Scary.

It's better here, but a degree requirement would make it even better. You really can't skimp on this kind of thing. There's ways to save, keep your car a few years after you pay it off, whatever, but it's worth it.

Sweetie, no. Day care in DC is plenty regulated. We probably pay more for day care than your annual income.

You might want to head back to Wisconsin. Not sure you can hack it here. Especially if you have kids.

[Anonymous]

I'd rather a uniform standard of licensure, similar to what people obtain to become a paramedic, or a cosmetologist. Child care workers should have to meet some minimum standard as determined by the state, in the interest of public health and safety.
A 4 year degree is ridiculous.
Cosmetologists require somewhere between 1000-2500 hours of study. That's over kill.
Surely we can come up with the needed skills and information within 25-100 hrs of training.