Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/the-return-of-child-care/5022238/
For a third year in a row, President Barack Obama featured early care and education in his State of the Union address. But this year was a little different. The President mentioned “child care” eight times in its own right. “It’s not a nice-to-have,” he said. “It’s a must-have.” And it’s a “national economic priority” that is critical to securing the middle class. Well, you know that. But when was the last time a leader so prominently called out child care? Not ‘early learning’ or ‘preschool’ �" both of which you’re familiar with in your program, but which in the public discourse mean something, well, besides ‘child care’? Exactly. It’s been a while since child care has been front and center.Front and Center
In fact, in the Executive Budget presented to Congress after the speech, the President proposed guaranteeing access to this ‘must-have.’ The President’s budget would add $82 billion over 10 years to guarantee access to high-quality child care for every child under age 4 from families earning up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. It also called for extending the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) for families with children under age five, tripling the maximum credit available ...