Reply to So Many Preschools Have Closed/ No Spots!

Forum Index » Preschool and Daycare Discussion

Reply to "So Many Preschools Have Closed/ No Spots!"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's really bad. I'm a parent and stunned by posts on DCUM complaining that providers are "giving themselves a raise" with reduced service. They are operating on less money and with more restrictions. Nobody should be surprised when they close. We needed more public funding for child care before the pandemic, there was already a shortage, and it's just getting worse.

https://www.naeyc.org/pandemic-surveys
[quote]
The essential yet chronically undervalued child care sector has sacrificed and struggled to serve children and families since the start of the COVID pandemic. NAEYC’s newest survey, completed between November 13–29, 2020, by more than 6,000 respondents working in child care centers and family child care homes shows that the crisis facing child care is as consistent and devastating today as it was in March and in July. With 56% of child care centers saying they are losing money every day that they remain open, programs are confronting an unsustainable reality, even as they are taking desperate measures - putting supplies on credit cards, drawing down personal savings, and laying off staff - to remain viable for the children and families they serve. Yet despite the steps they are taking to save themselves, the math on their bottom line does not work, and federal relief is needed to stabilize and support this essential sector. [/quote][/quote]

I don't disagree with you but I think the explanation for posters complaining about the costs of childcare that costs a lot while not providing them with what they need is that parents are suffering right now every bit as much as providers. That's the problem with a government that has focused exclusively on other sectors of the economy and ignored the vital needs of the childcare sector (while also shutting down schools and thus driving up demand for childcare, including among people who did not budget for it because they assumed their kids would be attending public school!).

This really is on the government and to some extent on employers who just decided that working parents would absorb the loss of childcare themselves. And when I say working parents, we all know I mostly mean women. And it's no accident that the childcare sector, which is heavily dominated not only by women but by women of color, was also not prioritized by the government at any point as an essential service that needed to be supported to get through both forced closures and loss of revenue due to people pulling kids from daycare and preschool.

This is why Elizabeth Warren and others keep beating the drum of "childcare is infrastructure." It's infrastructure when done by public schools, it's infrastructure when done by private centers, it's infrastructure when done at home. It's essential. And throughout the pandemic the mostly women who have provided this essential service have been expected to do it for less or no pay. It is disgusting. The entire sector needs a real bailout and we should literally just be sending checks to people with kids to pay for childcare. [/quote]

I totally get the stress - we went 4 months without child care and it was horrible, I mean there was something nice about being with DD all the time but I was about to have a nervous breakdown by the time our center reopened. My shock towards parents is when they literally claim providers are taking advantage. That just leaves me speechless.[/quote]

To be fair, I don't know that it is that many posters who are saying this.  I haven't heard any parent say this IRL- but then, our daycare has been fairly transparent about their troubles.  If providers are not being communicative about the reasons for reduced services while charging full tuition, I could see how people might start making assumptions.[/quote]

I also just think people say things in the heat of the moment when under stress. Sometimes you are just mad. And it likely depends on the relationship with the childcare provider to begin with. I love our current PK, but I absolutely did feel "scammed" by our prior provider. I know a lot of their choices were driven by difficulties with making ends meet, but I also felt that they chose to sacrifice child safety without being transparent with parents, and transparency is a big trust thing with me. I do think in the end we all (families and providers) got screwed by the government. But some people/providers handled it well and others didn't. For all we know, some of the frustration towards a particular provider was merited. It just depends.[/quote]

I'm not saying nobody should ever criticize their provider. Just be aware, they're NOT laughing and jumping on piles of money because they now operate for fewer hours. They're trying to comply with regulations and make ends meet. If they do that poorly, fine, but to say that they're being greedy? That's just. No.[/quote]

DP- well, my former family daycare provider was absolutely taking advantage of the situation (more than just the hours), and if anyone on here was grousing about them it was 100% justified.   But I expect that was a rare case and not representative of the vast majority who are just trying to get by.[/quote]

What were they doing?[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics