County Supervisor John Cook slams the middle class
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Anonymous
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The Board of Supervisors in Fairfax wants to raise SACC rates...for some of us. Others will see their rates go down.
The largest fee increases will apply to families making $83,000 a year, who would not be able to buy a garage in my very unglamorous, non-Metro-accessible neighborhood with solid school pyramids. Fairfax Supervisor John Cook (Braddock) stated: "We should be charging full market rate for people above some level. We're subsidizing the middle class at the expense of people who are hurting in bad economy." He and Supervisor Michael Frey (Sully) also stated that these families should be charged more because otherwise the county is undercutting the private sector. Deputy County Executive Pat Harrison, apparently the only sane person on the board, noted that it's not an "apples-to-apples comparison" because the private care providers and SACC differ so widely in the services they provide. Also, SACC's overhead is greatly reduced because their facilities are the public schools. I know it's trendy to pile on the one-percenters, but this is the first time I've seen the middle class--the class that the Post recently warned us is disappearing--be told they owe the rest of the county. Best case scenario, they drive those in modest circumstances out--worst, we shift into the lower tiers that the middle class is now supposed to support. Letter-writing campaign starts tonight. I only wish they'd made their views known before November so I could have campaigned against them. |
Anonymous
| I'll admit I don't know much about the SACC program because our family doesn't use it (our oldest child is in K this year and I'm a SAHM), but this is total crap. If they want to use a sliding scale, they should use one similar to Early Intervention--there are many more income brackets and no way is $83k considered "high income" with regard to Fairfax Co. WTF?! Also, OF COURSE SACC is going to undercut the private sector if they can offer after school care for $15 per month to certain families in facilities that have been safety-checked, etc., especially in light of recent horror stories about in-home day cares in Virginia and whatnot. The WaPo has been running stories lately about the huge costs of childcare for working families; why doesn't FCPS expand SACC if there's such a demand for it? It seems like they could definitely hire more people to fill the positions, including people who maybe had to close down their in-home day cares because of the new state regulations. |
Anonymous
| How is Fairfax County subsidizing the middle class in SACC? Did he talk about this? What is the actual cost per student? I assume that anyone paying the top amount is paying the full amount that it actually costs if not more to subsidize those on free and reduced lunches (of which everyone that I know on that program actually makes more than they say but doesn't declare it). They should not be subsidizing the middle class, but they also shouldn't be charging them more than the actual cost per student. |
Anonymous
PP, you need to understand that FCPS does not run SACC or do any of the hiring or supervision of SACC. It is run completely by FC government and only uses FCPS space. When a school is built or renovated, there is space set aside for SACC. It is not as simple as "let's just hire more people..." Where would it go? FCPS currently has kids in hundreds of trailers for their regular instruction. SACC requires its own dedicated space. |
Anonymous
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Please, what does SACC stand for?
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Anonymous
School Age Child Care It's before and after care provided at FCPS elementary schools. The program is run by the Fairfax County government. |
Anonymous
| So families using this program can pay different amounts based on income? Really? Wow. In our county, the before/after school programs are only run by private companies and you pay what they charge or your child cannot attend. |
Anonymous
| No subsidies, charge more so the waiting list gets smaller |
Anonymous
| It is ironic that those who don't have the convenience of having their child in SACC also have to pay more for outside care. Seems to me it would be fair to have everyone go to square on every year. |
Anonymous
| Sacc has a sliding scale based on income already. I don't use it currently, but I thought the full rate charge started at $75kish. So, it sounds like that isn't changing all that much, although maybe he's increasing the rates for the full charge clients more steeply than the other brackets? |
Anonymous
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http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/ofc/saccschoolfee.htm
SACC currently tops out at $54K. The monthly fees must be quite steep for someone with a HHI of $54K. My kids go to an outside after care (used to be in SACC), and the price is comparable to the SACC top end rate. |
Anonymous
He wants to do the opposite. Increase the subsidies and increase the waiting list. No other neighboring school system even has government funded aftercare. I think it's time to go through a private company. There is no reason the govt. should be subsidising aftercare to begin with. |
Anonymous
it’s baby-sitting. Before work and after work. below market rates for parents who work and often have good incomes but can’t get home early enough to pick their kids up after school. I agree with the supervisor. Charge market rates for tis service. |
Anonymous
| The title of the thread is very misleading. He wants the county to stop subsidizing the baby sitting costs for those who can afford to pay the going market rate. |
Anonymous
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I thought Arlington had some version of aftercare at school, but maybe it has changed?
Low income families need subsidized care. And I think having a sliding scale based on income is the most fair way to do this. Sacc was only slightly cheaper than aftercare at an in home daycare in our neighborhood. |