Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/searching-for-a-solution-to-the-child-care-trilemma/5011757/
Every day we read about child care crises: Parents cannot find adequate care. There is not nearly enough quality child care. Qualified teachers are leaving for public school jobs where they can increase their salaries by 20-30%. Staff turnover is at 30-40%. Research tells us the majority of care in the United States is mediocre at best. All these issues point to the trilemma of quality, accessibility, and affordability that has been nagging at American child care for at least the past decade or two.A solution to the trilemma equation in child care of quality, accessibility, and affordability has been difficult to address. In their campaign for adequate compensation for early childhood staff, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has documented the loss of the most highly qualified early childhood professionals to public school early childhood programs and to other professions. Because of low wages, early childhood staff cannot live on their teaching salary alone without supplementing it with other forms of employment.
This is an impassioned issue because so much is at stake - staff-child ratios, ability of parents to afford child care, and availability of sufficient care. Staff-child ratios, for certain, has been one of the sacrosanct ...