ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

The response to this EED is gratifying and yet I want it to be an ongoing dialogue that just doesn't stop. I have file drawers of articles going back to the 1970s and I have many printed reports from prestigious authors and organizations that measure over 12-inches in height. We can't expect an occasional article, even one with a name as startling as this one on the cover of a well-known magazine. I attended the event at the New America Foundation (www.newamerica.net; check out this website and explore their listserve; it could be useful) during which the author of the article spoke and after which 3 very knowledgeable persons commented (none of the five, including the moderator, are ECE folks; there were some gaps and somewhat misleading or ignorant statements made; I corrected some of them! I look forward to Exchange's article. President Obama should get much credit for this article and many others; his State of the Union address in February has generated great interest. We must keep up the work he and others have started, because there will be negative feedback as well. Don't let up!!! Be honest. Be polite. Be informed. Don't back down, don't cloud the issues, don't be nasty. And know your ECE history!!!

It is a very sad truth that the funding for quality childcare is extremely low in the US. Our tution costs are very competitive and lower than many centers around us. Even with the lower costs, CCCAP doesn't cover half the cost of care we charge our families that pay out of pocket.

While we meet licensing requirements and have well trained staff, many with college degrees, I know that many childcare centers do not employee people with these higher qualifications. Sadly, the amout most centers are able to pay is not going to meet the needs of people with higher degrees and more experience in quality childcare. The State of Colorado has pretty high expectations for center staff but the pay doesn't match what it takes to receive the training.

I think that we need a change of understanding of the importance of quality of childcare in the United States. Most people do not understand the important of early child development or the challenges families face finidng and affording quality care.

I often wonder what is needed for people to be able to connect the research, effective practices and the funding needed to ensure young children are in environments where the commitment is to make sure they have what they need to succeed in school and life.

My understanding is we are now about Early Care and Education, mindful of the importance of making sure infants and toddlers have experiences that maximizes the potential wiring of the brain and their potential to succeed.

I think the balance care and education can be perceived as complex. I often wonder what would be the effect of beginning by answering questions about the funds needed to achieve desired outcomes. For example, we have evidence that the educational level of the teacher has an effect on the quality of program for the children. Therefore, would it not make sense to determine what funds are needed to have a teacher with a Bachelor's degree in every room for children, beginning with infants. Next, what is the salary and benefits necessary for the professionals working with the children to meet their needs, so they are able to focus on their interactions with children.

Another question I wonder about is "What changes in culture is needed to create a 21st Century education system, rather than maintain an Industrial model/Farming culture. For example, if K-12 teachers have planning time, what are reasons not to provide this for teachers of younger children. Shifting from the place to the children served.

My hope this article will stimulate actions to update the culture of what education for all means today.

This report I just read is a tragedy, the continuing tragedy is that this story has not created an immediate change in our national childcare situation. Some states mandate education for early childhood employees or professionals but we still need to offer education to the families of children needing childcare. We need to inform families what the indicators are for what a quality program looks like and feels like.

Families need to "pop" in check on their children periodically during the days. We need to educate families what the cost of having children is and having children is a choice not a necessity. Neighborhoods and residents need to be educated on what is quality in childcare so they will watch for indicators of children being improperly cared for or recognize substandard child cares.

Earning a higher educational degree is expensive, either you have the money to acquire a degree or you go into extreme debt to get a degree. Our education in the United States is not FREE or accessible so many people have to settle for substandard jobs that don't support their family's needs. The national views on our young children need to change, we need to recognize the need to offer quality early childhood years to our children. Raising children is everybody's responsibility whether you have children or not. So what if some of your income/taxes go to support early childhood! These are the people that will probably be taking care of you when you are elderly! Wouldn't you want them have the best nurturing possible in their early years so they know what nurturing is and pass it on to you?

Yes some states offer child care subsidies but the subsidy amount only increases once every 10 years when child care rates have to increase every year. The subsidy does not keep up with the rising cost of providing care so more of the cost is pushed onto the parents when their cost of living is increasing every year. Our national society needs to be forced to change instead of "hiding their heads in the sands" thinking these problems will go away.

Immediately our law makers need to consult with Early Childhood Professionals to change state licensing laws and make strict licensing standards for all states. State licensing agents need to be held accountable for quality care. When licensing agents say they "felt" something was wrong and did not look into their gut feeling, they should be held accountable for the deaths of those children.

To reinforce again I believe in EDUCATION FOR ALL, YOUNG AND OLD!

When we finally are willing to "invest" public monies in the care and education of the youngest children, that is when we will see a change. I live in Minnesota and we have begun the Parent Aware voluntary rating system fore licensed providers. Their rating is tied to documented training in child development, safety practices, health practices, curriculum and assessment, diversity training, individualizing for special needs and making a commitment to professional growth. But it is hard to encourage people to enter a career which pays such low wages.

Unfortunately, our youngest children have no voice to protect themselves from the many horrific situations we allow them to be placed In. Over the past year the news has been filled will horrible acts of violence against them and so few will step out and speak for them and when they do so few will listen. Too many people are more concerned about how it will affect them rather than how will it affect the children. Child care is just one of those potential scenarios.

I teach ECE courses and ask my students to consider this one question when making any decisions regarding their job as a child care professional, is it good for the children? Our job is not about what is good for us, but rather, what is good for the children. I just hope this article will help others find a voice for the children.

I debated over and over how to respond or even whether to respond. ECE professionals will read this article and be outraged but what good will it do us? The research has clearly identified that the early years of development are the foundation to all future learning. If we structure the building with a sound foundation many great things can happen in the building over many years. The same is true with our youngest children. If we build the foundation with care and early education these children have the opportunity to reach their highest potential and to positively contribute to their society. According to a new report from Child Care Aware® of America. We Can Do Better: 2013 Update On average, states scored 61 percent, which equates to a D and 20 states earned a score of 60 or less, a failing grade. United States has a long way to go before we really should be considered a world leader.

I am tired of hearing that there isn't enough money for child care. There seems to be plenty of money for Football Stadiums, Corporate Office Buildings, Entertainment, etc.
There is plenty of money in this country. This country doesn't care about it's children.

I am horrified by the situations outlined in this story. Maybe the story will help to shed some light on a daily issue for parents.

I teach Early Childhood courses at a private college and just went back for my CDA certification. I firmly believe in proper training/education for caregivers, better supervision/reporting of centers or home based childcare but also subsidies for families who need them. I am interested in writing an article for your magazine regarding this topic.

I feel we need more of these articles. Yes they are sensationalistic but it seems that is the only thing that moves public opinion and more importantly lawmakers. The research is there- and people with means know the value and they seek out high quality places. This is one more assault on our poor working classes and one more example of how short sighted our social policy decision making is. We are so far behind other countries in providing this not because we lack the money, we lack the will and I agree with the author that we have a very big bias against children being cared for outside the home which is so hard to overcome.

I found this article very powerful and unfortunately containing many issues this American society is not willing to face. As a professor of ECE for over 18 years, I am going to use this article with my students in order to instill a sense of advoacy which our profession needs. While stories like this are unacceptable and shocking, we know this is not the first one of its kind nor will it be the last. Even in a state such as Connecticut which has high standards for early care in education, I constantly come across people without any kind of training or license caring for young children. I will casually be talking with people outside of working situtations and the topic comes up what do they do for a living. When the answer is "care for children in my home", so many of these people are doing so without a license or training nor do they think they need to have such! That is because as a society, caring for children is not a priority! How much longer this can continue is uncertain. But what is certain is that our foundation (our children) is not being "built" with care or thought put into it. And just as a building will crumble when the foundation is weak, what can we expect for a nation? Professor Margaret Dana-Conway

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to control or shape what the press has to say about you, your field or occupation, without employing mega spin doctors and or very expensive media campaigns. Child Care in this country has received a bad rep over the years through negative reports in the press about child physical or sexual abuse and assorted other misdeeds of child caregivers, etc. And, as always, it is difficult to place this into perspective as a extreme minority of staff, and to publicize the wonderful work that goes on day to day in thousand of centers and schools across the nation. This also fits in with what seems like a national attack from the right on public education and teacher bashing that goes on in the media more or less constantly these days.

The New Republic article is difficult to read, who wants to hear about the negative side of their profession? Admitting to what part of it is true, and then taking steps to change regulations state by state is the only true and proven way to make improvements in the long term. Also key is as in nursing and in K-12 education, it took unionization of a primarily female workforce to create a strong voice for improvement in pay, working conditions, and regulation in order to attract and retain qualified staff for these positions. Child care workers need a stronger voice and will never get one until they organize into a united force for change.

Unfortunately, as stated already, we recognize that this reality does exist. I was a certified teacher-trainer for the High/Scope Foundation, and I saw it all-very disconcerting. I truly believe that a research-validated early childhood curriculum like High/Scope, is our best tool for changing this situation. And the 3 determining factors are H/S trained certified staff, the H/S curriculum implemented, and consistent parent-involvement, which means hands-on learning, and a shared partnership of learning between the children, staff & families. I taught High/Scope, public school 4's and 5's, for 14, and it worked beautifully!
What are waiting for?

First - I did not need to leave my email. I just clicked on the article and the email screen disappeared.

Secondly - We are working to eliminate the term day care as we care for children not days. That will emphasize our task as the important task of caring for children.

I will need to continue to read the entire article but there certainly are horror stories out there. Parents...they need to do their homework - visiting centers, looking for quality signs, contacting Starting Point referral agency, etc.

Reputable childcare centers need to work together within a community to be more visible and to attract the attention away from the centers that are just out for the money. We've created an organization of our child care centers (the ones that see the value of working together).

Communities - our center recently sponsored a successful community visioning event and invited all kinds of people from our community to discuss early care and education in our community.

Everyone....needs to value quality early care and education. Those in the profession need to also get out into the community to emphasize those qualities to everyone.

This article is describing the situation (quite accurately, I fear) and wondering why we let it continue. High quality childcare would lead to better schools and a better society. High quality childcare is very hard to come by. There are wonderful programs, but most are supported by agencies or institutions. Children of less affluent families - who need it more - are less likely to receive it.

This will be impossible to change until the profession gets the respect and salaries needed to attract the type of people needed to achieve and maintain quality.

Janet Sherman

Of course there are many Managers of Child Care programs and teachers who are highly educated, trained properly, and providing environments for children to thrive within. Ca Technologies has seven centers around the work that follow the Association Montessori International pedagogy as well as NAEYC standards. We are lucky enough to be supported by an organization that values quality in everything we do and therefore subsidizes our program to have highly qualified, trained and dedicated staff working with the children.

The sad part of this story is that we know how to do it right and offer a role model for early childhood education. The research and studies are available that show the number one factor in quality is the education of the staff. Staff need to be educated and paid adequately for preparing these children for productive futures. We need to put the resources into making high quality programs available to all children from birth, the earliest ages where we can really make a difference in children's lives. Too many children in this country live below the poverty level and are neglected. Some of it is to due parent struggle and some is due to substance and alcohol abuse.

Unfortunately, you need articles like this to show the worst case scenario to get anyone to listen and pay attention. Therefore, I think this article can assist with getting attention to be paid to our most important assets and future, our children.

Of course there are many Managers of Child Care programs and teachers who are highly educated, trained properly, and providing environments for children to thrive within. Ca Technologies has seven centers around the work that follow the Association Montessori International pedagogy as well as NAEYC standards. We are lucky enough to be supported by an organization that values quality in everything we do and therefore subsidizes our program to have highly qualified, trained and dedicated staff working with the children.

The sad part of this story is that we know how to do it right and offer a role model for early childhood education. The research and studies are available that show the number one factor in quality is the education of the staff. Staff need to be educated and paid adequately for preparing these children for productive futures. We need to put the resources into making high quality programs available to all children from birth, the earliest ages where we can really make a difference in children's lives. Too many children in this country live below the poverty level and are neglected. Some of it is to due parent struggle and some is due to substance and alcohol abuse.

Unfortunately, you need articles like this to show the worst case scenario to get anyone to listen and pay attention. Therefore, I think this article can assist with getting attention to be paid to our most important assets and future, our children.

While I agree that there is often unfair portrayals of our profession, I didn't find this article to be necessarily untrue. I think it shows how important it is for our nation to come together and support quality, affordable care for all children of early childhood age, with fair wages for all providers.

I actually think that the main point of this article is to point out how valuable early childhood education and quality childcare are and what goes wrong when providers and schools aren't properly supported through regulation and resources.
I think that the tragic stories presented in this article shed more light on how important it is to make quality early childhood education and childcare a priority in the United States as compared to other countries, especially for the children and families who are grossly under-served.
Unfortunately, bringing stories like these into the light help bring attention to a matter that may otherwise not be heard so that positive changes can occur in order to avoid further tragedy and hopefully improve the circumstances surrounding them.

I had to stop reading this article after realizing Tata had possibly left the house to go and get something. What made her think it was alright to leave a pan of hot oil on the stove never mind go out. Common sense was certainly lacking here as was taking responsibility but this collective responsibility also fulls to the government and state to ensure quality education and care is occuring and collecting evidence of this is documented for the basic human rights of children.

While I agree the title is very unfortunate, the content (also unfortunately) seems to be well researched. However, I believe when a negative article surfaces we MUST address it AND shed light on the POSITIVE (also personal) stories.
Local centers/agencies could publicize information about what they do to meet/better standards, where parents can find information/assistance, which legislators to contact to demand change. Let the community know what do they need to get better! How could someone/businesses become involved or collaborate? Invite the community IN!
On a larger scale centers/organizations could host a Town meeting on the question - how can we get/better quality child care HERE?! Solicit ONE business, ONE parent, ONE legislator and grow. Respond PUBLICLY, positively, compassionately AND consistently.

I agree with most of the respondents. You missed the point, Exchange. Those of us, who are not removed from the field, know the quality and lack of quality in the field. We are working tirelessly but there is much to do. The article was well-written, and research seemed accurate. We have a long road to travel.

I do not consider this article to be "lambasting childcare" at all. It certainly is bluntly pointing out the problems with childcare in the United States, but it is not a condemnation of childcare. The problems it points out are real, and until the lawmakers of this country decide our youngest citizens are important, not much will change.

I feel a very heavy stillness inside of my being. I know this is a reality, in the world and it has been so ever since people have cared for others children. Every loss is detrimental to the world. We all agree we need to do more and we need to do better no matter where we are developmentally in our work as caregivers, teachers and administrators. We need to do better as a human race, government and society. This is not all about money, but money is a piece of the problem. We always want the best, when see the price tag on the best we are forced to go elsewhere. Some people argue there is a problem with common sense, education of caregivers and the entities making the rules or divvying up the funds for childcare, education support. We all have responsibility in this situation and every situation like it. I grieve families, the caregivers, the administrators, the government agencies and all entities that have fallen short. I want to know that there will be some movement. I don't want to only grieve, I want to us to be empowered to create a movement with one target. Creating safe, quality, nurturing environments for our children. With quality and nurturing caregivers who will be vigilant about safety. With parents who know they have choices and power to make change. With a government who will listen and make the needed changes to the system and delegate funds in the appropriate manner, because they are educated enough to know what to do. I do believe we have high quality child care centers that provide high quality opportunities. I know the many people in the field who stride to educate and be educated. It is not our future we should be concerned with it is theirs. What are we going to do about this?

I read the article with great interest and thought it raised a lot of important issues. I was surprised by Child Care Information Exchange's response to the article. As an educator of early childhood education student in a community college, I visit licensed community child care programs on a regular basis and have witnessed many unsafe, unhealthy, and inappropriate practices in infant, toddler, and preschool programs.
Instead of negatively reacting to the article and responding with a "good news/feel good" take on child care, I hope Child Care Information Exchange provides an open forum for early childhood education professionals to honestly discuss the questions and concerns raised in the article.

I read the article, "The Hell of American Day Care" with great interest and was surprised by Child Care Information Exchange's reaction to the article. I thought the article raised some very important questions about the state of child care in the U.S. today.
As an educator of early childhood education pre-service teachers at a community college, I reguarly visit licensed community child care programs. I have personally witnessed many unhealthy and unsafe conditions in the centers I have visited. Here are some of the common "everyday" practices that I consistently observe---moving young children (including infants) from room to room every day to maintain group size and ratios, caregivers warming bottles in microwave ovens, sending preschool children to the infant or toddler rooms as "punishment" for misbehavior, inadequate and/or inappropriate provisioned child care rooms and teachers and caregiver who are not qualified as lead or head teachers but are serving in that role.
I hope Child Care Information Exchange provides an open forum where professionals can discuss the important issues raised by this article instead of dismissing it as "bad pres" about child care.

You asked how to respond to the article...'bad' press can be a good thing if it promotes or creates change. My response is yes we do not value our children. I know sadly that each time a child dies in our state is when improvements are made.
Many parent will read (maybe) the article and think "not my child care".

A problem that is not mentioned in the article is that the people in the field, the regulators are not required to have education or experience in child development.

While the title of this article is less than positive, the article itself does make some excellent points. We don't as a society, value the work of child care or have it as any part of our social system. We should be better regulating our industry if we ever hope to be seen as professionals and gain the respect we deserve. There is a huge continuum of care out there. Parents should not have to choose between good quality care or buying essentials for their families. But the caring educated people who work in care should not be shouldering the burden for the cost of care either and that is currently exactly what happens. I believe in education and professionalism of our work force, but we have to address the issues in cost of care and wages for the work force. So, yes there are many issues in our field and we as a country need desperately to begin to address them.

Much as I agree that the article is unflattering, the facts are that there does
not appear to be any backbone to provide sufficient dollars to correct the
flaws. Because parents cannot pay any more and child care providers cannot
afford to pay more, most of the workers are at not much more that minimum wage.
Because of that, many well qualified chid care workers cannot afford to stay in
the field. I live in Pinellas county, Florida and was in the early childhood education field for over 35 years. For 15 years I worked for the central agency, starting as a program assessor for subsidized care. I saw too many sites that actually did look a lot like those mentioned in the article. And that is with a strong child care licensing agency. The Pinellas County Licensing Board for centers and family child care homes has been a model for the state. In the central agency we were able to drop programs from subsidized care but they could still be licensed. After I became an infant/toddler specialist and met with others from around the state I heard many horror stories. In another county one specialist found an infant room with the door kept open for ventilation - without a screen or any barrier to the cement steps outside. She was not able to get that county's licensing agency to do anything. One center was finally able to be closed but only after raw sewage was running in the yard.

I know we like to think all child care is wonderful - and perhaps those who
follow Exchange are indeed like that. I know some wonderful sites. I also know
those which are terrible. I think that it may take something like this to reach
those who can finally rectify the situation - those at the top of the money
chain like Bernacke of Summers. Finally they are saying what we have been
lobbying for forever. Until enough money is provided for child care and child
care workers can make more money than dog walkers or parking lot attendants, we will continue to get quality only from those who are able to be in the field
despite the low income. Many here qualify for food stamps!

Maybe you could play up that aspect of this problem, and get onboard all the
wonderful child care providers that support Exchange. Maybe you could contact
your licensing or central agency people and get them to share some of their
horror stories with you.

That's me!

This is not a "negative press report". NPR and Fresh Air, which have already responded to this article, are not negative journalists. The article is truthful and balanced. We need to take heed and respond to the needs of children being housed in woefully neglectful settings.
If we do not respond to the needs of the children existing in "the hell of American day care" then, we, too, are complicit in neglect and negligence.

This article tells a very sad truth about our national priorities. While I know many responsible, well-trained and loving early childhood professionals, statistically they are in the minority. (And the poorly equipped childcare workers and programs are not to be blamed.) We must face the fact that quality care is costly -- after all, half the population has always spent large proportions of their time, intelligence and effort (i.e., economic collateral) in raising children. If our economy and democratic gender equity are going to take both parents out of the home as income earners, then we as a society must support this shift by subsidizing quality care for all children with the option of paid parental leave for all mothers and fathers. It's not too costly; in fact it's too costly not to. To have a sustainable economy we have to cover the full price of our choices now; otherwise, we will pay much too dearly in the future. Raising securely attached and happily engaged children is the number one condition for a bright future for America.

Sadly, the information stated in this article is absolutely true. At the time these horrible events took place, Texas Minimum Standards for child care only required providers to have 8 clock hours of pre-service training or education in order to be deemed eligible for employment. Contrast this requirement with that of barbers and hair stylists who must have 1500 clock hours of training! As an early childhood teacher educator I refer to the Jessica Tata story in many of my classes so that these precious babies are never forgotten and in hopes that the crime will NEVER be repeated.

This was painful to read, yet I cannot say it is untrue. Our policy makers must prioritize children in their budgets, but ALL OF US must value children and childhood and work together for changes. Parents should know about quality indicators and choose the best programs, but sadly, many American families can only "choose" with their budget limitations as did this mother. She chose the best option she could afford at that time. As the Director of an NAEYC Accredited program that also offers subsidy for income eligible families, I hope that families will seek out high quality and also research child care subsidy options. Shame on the United States for not doing better for our children and families. I agree with many of the other's posts that this is indeed a "call to arms"!

The article in question is meant to be a wake-up call, and it succeeds at that, even as it unwarrantedly stereotypes the whole profession for a single, defective child care provider. Despite the best efforts of many of us over many years, using solid research and rational analysis, the United States is still woefully behind most of the rest of the world in giving young children and their families the government, employer, and cultural support they and we need for our country's well-being. And the many low-income, other-language and disabled children who need and would benefit most from high quality care usually find it unavailable, while most of the dedicated professional providers are abused by the low compensation and disrespect they/we receive for their/our great services. We all know this. Perhaps the best response to the article would be for someone well-reputed in the profession to draft and submit to the New Republic a ringing call for public responsibility in this area, to bring the United States back to the potentiality of the American Dream.

This is an excellent article that clearly and accurately presents the shameful failure of our society to meet the needs of our infants, toddlers and preschoolers. I have witnessed many of the things described in the article: centers that remain in business even though year after year they are cited for noncompliance with basic health and safety regulations; parents who can barely afford the cheapest child care because even it costs a little bit more than the federal subsidy plus required parent co-pay; and caregivers who sit through trainings with little indication then or later of having absorbed anything that was taught. I also have seen caregivers who provide excellent caregiving behaviors even though they are grossly underpaid. While I hold them in the highest esteem, they should not bear the burden -- society should. Georgia is taking important steps in the right direction, but needs state and federal financial support. The research is clear; we either pay now for quality child care or we pay later for special education, grade retention, juvenile delinquency, incarceration, loss wages, health care, etc.

This article is an excellent wake-up call to policy-makers. As a country, we are not doing right by our young families and our children. We have read and talked about the research on early childhood development for the past 20 years, we have lobbied in Congress and in state legislatures, and "re-framed" the problem to catch the attention of legislators, business, the public. There are early childhood research centers in major American universities. There are "non-traditional" messengers that call attention to the lack of investment in child care.

And here we are. Why can't we get this done?

This article accurately exposes how our national priorities are failing children and families daily. Child care is costly. Good child care is VERY costly. and it cannot be separated from early learning and education. In this country we fundamentally believe in free accessible public education for all, but we wait until after 90% of brain development is completed to publicly fund it.

This is a crime against ALL of us - against those of us who want to WORK (child care), those of us who want our children to succeed in school (education), and those of us who want EMPLOYEES capable of reading, following instructions and making decisions in the future (see the Heckman Equation: www.heckmanequation.org).

Unfortunately, I also worry that this article and others like it will cast a negative light on all family child care. Just like everything else, there is good FCC and bad FCC. The key is a regulatory licensing system that prevents things like this happening.

I thought it was a fair article. We all want excellent childcare, just as we want excellent education and universal excellent health care.
It requires political will. It is a choice. Other countries have made that choice.

This article makes some important points that our lawmakers, policy makers and the general community need to know. For too many families and far too many children, child care is "mediocre at best" and tragic like this story at its worst. When will our society get over the irrelevant argument over who should be caring for the children and do all that we know should and must be done to ensure that all caregivers (parents and paid caregivers included) have the knowledge and resources to provide children with care that is growth-promoting and not damaging?

I thought the article was a fair indictment of a system that is failing our children. We don't have uniform national standards for safety and monitoring of early childhood programs. Our state standards vary widely - unfortunately my state is ranked 50 out of 52 by Child Care Aware America. As a country we have failed to invest adequate resources in our young children.

Let's not think of this as a story that fosters a negative image of our profession. The writer didn't cast the early childhood profession as the problem, but rather the lack of a system that doesn't have the means to ensure children's safety as the culprit. Instead, let's see this story as a call to action to strengthen the early care and education system with adequate funding and more stringent background checks and safety requirements. Let's make sure we don't leave our children to chance and that we don't put our youngest children at risk.

The article while dire, did make us respond and react to the situation that many children and parents face in this country regarding child care. Certainly quality standards and inspections should and could be completed on a more timely basis. Parents need to be educated on the difference between a licensed facility and a non-licensed one. (although this doesn't always mean quality is there), but at least there is some oversight. The tragedy that occurred will never be forgotten, for the families and for the individual who was supposed to care for the precious children. I am an advocate for safety, following rules and education of not only our children, but parents and teachers as well. I only wish we could provide a better pay scale for many of the wonderful teachers and assistants that we have. Our government needs to help the small businesses and the parents so they can afford quality care.

This article was heartbreaking in the context of today: that still American government cannot find a way to support the child care field. I've been in this field for almost 20 years now and reimbursement rates have not increased, head start slots have been sequestered!, pay remains low, and even as WA state is working extremely hard to improve standards AND accountability the process has alienated many providers and frustrated many State child care trainers. I urge folks to continue to fight for kids and the providers who love them to find a way to provide high quality care at a rate families can afford and with compensation that will keep and draw wonderful folks to the field.

I truly believe that the root cause of the current situation in early care and education is that the decision-makers in this country have lost touch with the reality faced by most American families. Mothers must enter the workplace to ensure a reasonable standard of living for their families; divorce, separation and desertion result in an ever-increasing number of children being reared by single parents; unemployed workers struggle to find employment that will pay for childcare costs and leave enough to cover food and shelter for their children.

As professionals on the front lines of this enormous conflict, we need to become activists and educate our political representatives about the huge human toll this is taking on our children. We need to speak out at every opportunity about the effect of this societal neglect, and we need to ensure that every childcare provider is well-trained and educated, and paid a living wage. For the welfare of future generations, we must not be complacent or accept the current reality of life for far too many of our children.

Sadly, I see a lot of truth in this article. I'm from North Dakota. Our state (one of the richest, by the way) invests little to nothing in early care and education. We are one of the few states that does not give a dime to Head Start or a universal preschool. There is some money given to increase the quality of childcare, but it is not enough. Over 80% of ND mothers are in the workforce! Unfotuntely our representatives decided they need to spend money to fight the Supreme Court, rather than invest in our children. Our future.
Licensing in this state is not up-to-par. Almost anybody can open and in-home daycare. They are required to get some training hours each year, but a lot of providers do not take it seriously, as was the case in the article. All they have to do is put in their time to recieve their certicficate.
I hope I live to see the day when our federal and state governments finally "get it". We need to invest in early childhood education. NOW.

Yes, the concerns highlighted in the "New Republic" article are not new. They are far too old, actually, because we have known about these problems for years. The base is that our country has not made a firm, knowledgeable, and concerned effort to increase the quality, affordability, and access to what we know and can show to be the best child care. What will it take? That's a question for all of us to answer. We know how to do it. What we don't know is how to get our society to act in order to implement what we know.

We can't be upset about how this author criticizes American early child care and education. While there are high quality centers, it's true that many states have deplorable minimum standards despite years of research on the effects of high quality early childhood education. We are long overdue to heed the warnings and advice of the researchers. Our politicians need an education on the importance of taking care of our youngest citizens.

After working on child care at the local, state and national level for many years, I find the article paints a true albeit incomplete picture of the landscape. Unfortunately, many parents do not have good choices. The care available and affordable to them isn't optimal for their child's health, growth and development. We have AMAZING child care programs all over this country staffed and/or run by individuals who work very hard, know/do what is best for children and support families every day. But the landscape is uneven. Well intentioned efforts to improve quality (i.e. QRIS, professional development systems) are often successful but aren't reaching enough providers to impact quality in any uniform way. Until we grapple with the TRUE cost of high quality child care and determine how much of the cost should be born by parents, government, and the business sector, we'll continue to have great programs for some children and poor quality for others.

This is clearly written to dramatically highlight problems - but the truth is that we know there are major problems in this country's treatment of young children. Once you get past the platitudes of "our children are our future" there is very little of substance done for young children. Economists have proven how highly the investment in young children pays off, yet we invest far more in correctional activities like GED and job training and incarceration than we do in early childhood. Young children don't vote, so there is no AARP to ensure a safety net for them. Until the people and policy-makers of the US decide to pay what is needed to set high standards and make ECE pay enough to attract educated, flexible thinking teachers, the quality of care will remain largely mediocre with a few exceptions that are truly awful and a few exceptions that are truly wonderful.

Let me begin by saying I did not read the entire article. It seemed to focus so much on one event as it's example. Since I can't be sure all of the data that it presents is accurate I won't even try to comment on most of it. However, there is one overriding theme that cannot be disputed.
QUALITY CHILD CARE IS EXPENSIVE.
There are more than an adequate number of studies to suggest that quality child care can be beneficial to most children. Money seems to be the issue. If we want high quality child care and early education for America's children then there needs to be a financial infusion from some source other than parent income. To achieve this high quality we need to require high levels of education along with plenty of supervised experience. How can we expect those entering the field of ECE to continue on this path when the income they will receive will be so low. We get what we pay for.
Beyond money, there definitely need to be background checks, follow up checks, rules and regulations to ensure children's safety. Maybe something more standardized than currently exists between states. But that is an issue for another response.

While no situation can ever be completely safe, there are many things that can be put in place to insure that safety is the paramount concern when dealing with any child (even one's own). As to institutionalized settings, careful oversight, proper staffing ratios, EC training, and scrupulous inspection by govenrnment representatives (DOH, DOE, ACS, etc.) will go a long way towards keeping kids safe. As the article points out, this is costly, and our current system doesn't fund these measures adequately. Until we value our youngest enough to provide safe and effective care arrangements, many children will be losing opportunities for quality care, or worse (injury and even death as this article points out). It was refreshing and encouraging to hear President Obama's speech, finally a nod to our little ones. Now let's put our $$ and actions into those intentions and provide a safe and wonderful learning environment for each family that seeks it.

I remembered that story, and re-visiting it, somehow hoping the outcomes would be different, was difficult on many levels. The reality is one that we must confront - we are not as good as we wish we were - likely not even as good as we think we are. Few of us are aware that many other countries invest far more into early care and education - in terms of funding, policy, professional development... California has a licensing system so poorly funded that a child could spend his entire early childhood in licensed care that was never inspected. The reality is that America values not children, nor childhood, nor parenting. And we, as a profession have contributed to this by our silence - electing to be nurturers and caregivers even when the children and families (and ourselves) need us to be advocates and malcontents, leaders and protesters. Even in a better financed universal preschool vision, early childhood will lose out to push-down curriculum and standards given our lack of will to fight for what we know and believe in. I'm disappointed in the lack of public support for early care and education, sure. But I'm even more disappointed in us, in the truly selfless and wonderful people I work with every day, who nevertheless remain silent.

This article is speaking truth about an incredibly sad situation. Most child care is damaging to children. That is an awful statement to make, yet it is thr truth.
However, this is a systemic CULTURAL problem-- not only a problem within the world of child care.
Culturally, we value children almost not at all.
There is almost no organized support system for parents of young children who face real and challenging decisions abut how to make a living while making sure their children are cared for.
Once parents somehow make their way through this phase of life (often by hook or by crook, cobbling together family, friend, and formal care situations) most breathe a sigh of relief and never think about early care and education again.
Certainly the problem of finding child care is one that few, if any, legislators have EVER struggled with -- first, because most come from means and can either afford whatever care they choose -- or have the ability to have a full time stay at home mother. Even if they DID experience this struggle, it was almost certainly many years ago.
We seem to view child care as a private, family matter. Even the K-12 school system has remarkably little interest in what is happening to children before the age of 5.
I hope this article DOES galvanize attention on the sad reality of child care in the US.

This article highlights the worst but it is a reminder that licensing agencies need to be vigilant . The profession, and it is one, needs to also police itself better. No family daycare should stand alone.Center based care should always be their critical friend.

This is indeed a horrible story, but I believe it has been misrepresented in some ways. Reading down through the article it articulates why we are in this state, and the absurdity of our politicians who continue to live in the social confines of the 1950's. It is totally uncalled for and we need to VOTE OUT all politicians who continue to believe that funding for young children's programs is not critical to the future of our nation. If women organized to make this a priority above all else, funding would happen and laws would be enacted that support the social structure we presently live in. We would have laws that demand quality for ALL our children in care. Organizations that are tightening their financial belts would not view child care as an easy target for slashing funds. This is a political issue and we can't afford to ignore the results of our votes. Demand to know where your representatives stand!

This article underscores the deplorable state of care for our most precious commodity--our children. While the death of children grabs the headlines, the emotional health of our youngest is maimed in the day-to-day existence when they are with caregivers who have too much to do and minimal or no training to meet children's emotional/social needs.

Head Start and Early Head Start funding has improved the higher education requirements of staff and provides ongoing monitoring and training for teachers. In most communities this is the best there is for low income families. These programs meet most of the needs of working parents. It does not include evening and weekend care.

I assess Head Start teachers and coach them using CLASS, a leading national program that focuses on relationship-based teaching for all ages. In my city, Head Start programs, I find good to excellent quality preschool care in most cases. In Early Head Start I find medium to low quality toddler care (we are not yet using a tool to assess infant care).

Every program or home-site must have ongoing supervision and a basic knowledge base of child care. In other words, supervision is for everyone who cares for other people's young children All caregivers must have training in child care for the basics of health and safety, the development of young children and program and curriculum for young children. No home day provider should be licensed without this basic training.

This article can be the focus for the alarming situation in child care and for gaining attention on need for supervision and training as well as:

1) Expand Head Start through a national funding push.

2) Increase subsidies for child care for low income families.

3) For the public, especially to parents, expand the information on quality
care for young children, 0 - 5.

Unfortunately, the state of day care in the U.S. is very poor. As this article stated, there are some excellent places for children but even some of them are closing due to lack of funding. Having lived in Europe for 6 years and observing child care under a communist government, I can see the lack of concern we have for young children. We need to push our legislators into centers and child care homes so they can see first-hand how our children are being cared for. Too many of those legislators never had to deal with child care and don't have much interest in it. However, the future of our country depends on how our children are raised - from day one!

Sherman Oaks is part of LA City. The article hit home because The Nurtury tries to make quality childcare available to all working families, including single moms. This is becoming more and more difficult. The state highest subsidy for low income families does not come close to meeting our cost. Our scholarship fund is limited and even though we do a lot of fundraising, it just helps keep us maintain a low ratio and well qualified teachers for the two parent working families.

So articles like this generate some guilt. The Nurtury is a non-profit but we are committed to quality which cost money. Getting grants for operating expenses is pretty much impossible.

While there are some important, and disturbing truths revealed in this article, there is also a lot of sensationalism.

Most telling to me is looking at the website's About: "New Republic subscribers are some of the most educated and influential people in the country. The median age is 51, with a household income of nearly $100,000 and over half have graduate degrees."

The people who read this article are able to pay for private child care in pristine conditions. They have no relationship to the choices that the majority of families must make to keep a minimum wage job; including choices that may not be the "best" care. Rather than condemn the lower quality child care, why not ask and write a more revealing article about why the US does not subsidize or support child care on a grander scale? I can't find the source, but I saw something this morning that the US spends 50% of its budget on the military and defense, and less than 3% on education.

I shared this article with my students last week and asked them for
solutions. We had none. Until the government invests in our own
children, we are doomed.

Even though reading this article is painful nothing reported in it is new. That probably is the most hurtful. Early childhood education has been my profession and passion for 40 years. The same arguments are always raised for why we need high quality childcare this country. But, those arguments are not listened to or acted upon. While there are many wonderful places and people that care for children the statistics show that there are many more who are doing a hap-hazard job. It is always interesting to listen to news reports that support the understanding that even very young children (infants, toddlers) understand the emotions and relationships that surround them. But this is usually lip service. When it comes to spending the dollars there is always something else that needs it more (roads, dams, weapons, etc.). How can we, as professionals, help to shine a light on the action that is needed to make the youngest in this country truly respected? Because if we, as a nation, respected children we would walk on a bed of hot coals to help make each child's life the best it can be.

I live in Texas and was horrified by the events that took place. I'm still horrified and have been working to try and change things. It's not easy when childcare is not treated like a profession, the pay is low, little to no training is required... I could go on and on. We need to work together to come up with solutions to this national problem.

The story of Mire and her daughter is indeed heartbreaking, but it seems like your presentation of this article is a little misleading. The article goes on to point out the ridiculous lack of support and funding for child care in our nation, and the inappropriateness of lawmakers who still want to live in the 1950's while our families are on a totally different track. Women (and men for that matter) need to stop voting in politicians who don't understand why funding is important for young children's programs. That would certainly get the attention of lawmakers quickly. We also need more stringent regulations in many places in our country to force the issue of quality care so organizations that are looking to cut their funding can't make childcare an easy target. Though I don't agree with all of this article, and especially the sensational title, it is well worth reading.

From the teaser in the email, I opened the article expecting falsehoods and trumped up nonsense, but the article is factually written and, I think, fairly outlines the problem. Because finding good care for infants and toddlers in this country IS a problem. And frankly, I don't think it goes far enough. It is easy to point to un-licensed facilities with un-trained staff and the horrors that unfold therein. Certainly, and unequivocally, these tragedies must be prevented. But what about the "good quality" (and expensive) centers that still don't meet children's physical, emotional, and cognitive needs?

The problem is articulated in the article: the standards in Texas are better/average than most...and the owner MET them by simply showing up. I'm not saying more regulation is necessarily the answer, but accountability? Education? Absolutely.

It is indeed a devastating article, but SO important. Childcare is something every family struggles with. We're getting it wrong, and our society is paying for it. This needs to be a national conversation.

I very much appreciate the two previous comments. We need more people who think like that.

I have been in the business of childcare since I was 16 years old. I have taught, run, visited, and trained homecare, centerbased care and public and private school teachers. The good homes and centers and schools are exemplary. The bad ones are horrendous. While inflammatory, the article has good information and statistics. It reflects much of what I have seen over the course of 30 years. It is why I support national, state, and city monies spent in Early Childhood. We ALL benefit when the children do.

This is a good article, frightening but very accurate. I especially appreciate how the writers identify reasons for "Dickensian" child care quality, especially under-funding, poor regulations and equally Dickensian wages for child care workers. I have one recommendation. The New Republic needs to empower parents by letting them know what they can do to improve these abysmal conditions. Can Child Care Exchange give the New Republic a list of advocacy organizations, both national and local? As we know, advocacy for child care quality has existed as long as the field itself. Parents need to learn how to connect with it.

This article points out the problem nationwide with childcare. Workers are paid too little, the profession is looked down on, many people think anyone can do childcare. The primary criticisms were of home-based, non-regulated care. Sadly, few states ensure that home child care even meets basic safety standards, and few home care providers are even known by the state child care agencies.

Regardless, this article pointed out the need for movements like Verrmont's STARS system - a guarantee that the childcare a parent seeks is competent, child-focused and developmentally appropriate.

This is a helpful article for everyone in the early childhood field. It brings some accountability into the discussion of the quality of child care. We should all want bad child care driven out and excellent child care rewarded. Unfortunately, this does not happen as much as it should. Until parents and the broader public understand the realities of child care, there will be little public pressure to make changes. The only way there will be fundamental changes that will improve the quality of child care is more government support. That won't happen until parents demand it. Articles like these can only help in that effort.

I believe Margaret is absolutely correct in saying that states and local governments do not want their rights usurped. In fact, individual families need to have the opportunity to choose quality environments for their children.

Most importantly, many states are making inroads to aid in measuring, improving, and stabilizing the quality of child care, and give parents tools to seek out quality care in their communities. None of these were mentioned in the New Republic article.

The original article was sensationalized, and centered around one of the most horrifying news stories I've encountered in years. What happened in Jessica Tata's home was an atrocity I cannot fathom. If the state agencies in Texas charged with regulating child care are at fault, that is horrific. I do not believe that every state fails at regulating child care, and there are, in fact, independent measures that share which states have strong oversight. I would wish for regulating agencies to look to that data in working to change how they regulate child care settings.

Please, balance the story with some of the good things happening around the country to improve child care and early childhood. Don't rush to think that universal pre-k will solve the problem, even as you complain that state agencies are failing to regulate. More government control will not improve the lot of children.

There are several issues that need to be addressed.
The title is misleading because not all child care is hell for children. The story about the fire in the Houston day care is an isolated incident. Texas needs to establish new guidelines and regulations for child care. The story only sites specific "hellish situations in child care" in Texas. There must be very few lobbyists representing child care in Texas. Child care is part of our life. The sad news is that if you are poor you don't have many choices where you put your child. The bigger issue is that we still don't value early childhood education because we don't see young children as being capable and competent. Research supports this statement yet many of the people working in child care still treat children like they are babysitting them. I rarely see caregivers excited about what they do. We need to change the way we see the people that take care of our children. We need to use the word teacher or as Magda Gerber said, "educarer". Early childhood education needs to become part of our educational system.Education doesn't start at kindergarten. It starts at birth. I also see parents struggling to survive in a society where the divison of class has become wider. All children deserve the best care available regardless of income. If we could pass universal preschool in the U.S. we would have a better chance of regulating the system as well as setting up educational requirements for teachers and caregivers. We need a grassroots effort in every state for better child care. I also think we need to stop using the words day care and use early childhood education to raise the awareness and to raise the bar for all child care environments, whether they are home based or center based. We have got to invest in our children's education. It is vitally important that we value our children and their capabilities and provide a kind nurturing environment for all young children. This is not a difficult task when you consider that doing things in a positive way takes less effort than in a negative way. It can even be fun teaching children.
The people that let Ms. Tata run her day care should also go to jail for not closing her down. Those people gave her the permission to do whatever she wanted and they should carry the burden of what they did because it was inexcusable. Texas should be embarrassed about their system of child care. Isn't it ironic that she read bible stories to the children but couldn't follow the message of taking care of the children and keeping them safe. Perhaps taking religion out of the situation and focusing on some health and safety laws could have prevented the fire and deaths.

I support President Obama's proposal for a universal pre-kindergarten because it is a positive step for early childhood education. We need to start somewhere and the federal government hopefully will do a better job than Texas.

There are good stories about good child care centers in the U.S. We have to start allowing the positive experiences to influence how we view child care and we have to work at improving early childhood education one family day care or one center at a time. It can be done and there are many good people out in the field that are doing good work as teachers and caregivers.

I began work in this field after my baby was left in a hot car with the windows rolled up by a family day care provider. I didn't know, first of all, that she was going to take the children anywhere in the car, and when I arrived to pick him up early (following my gut instinct to leave work early that day) he was drenched in sweat, sleeping in the back seat of her car while she put groceries away. I had a Bachelor degree in a related field, and took more courses to qualify as a director of a child care center. Over the past 25 years, I have worked to improve the child care settings where I have been employed. Currently, our center is accredited by NAEYC, and has plans to meet the 5 star rating system that is new to our state. Our teachers have Bachelor and Associate degrees in Child Development or Early Childhood, and we have a community of support through the church where the program is housed. There are nightmare situations out there, but there are a great number of people working very hard to educate child care workers and to pass regulations that will protect our children. The government MUST be involved. Families cannot afford to bear the financial weight of high quality child care. Our Bachelor degree teachers are making between $9 and $10 per hour, and our non-profit budget is barely able to squeak through each year with a balanced bottom line. We recently had to close our infant program, due to the high costs. We were unwilling to sacrifice quality (cheaper, lower trained caregivers and more babies per adult) for the sake of the budget. State funded public preschool programs are becoming part of the public school, but those teachers are also paid much less than other teachers.
The article was shocking, yes, but maybe that's what it takes to get the "powers that be" to listen. Child care centers must be included in the recent push to improve early childhood programs for our young children. Parents and children need us. We are working very hard to be accountable through accreditation and other evaluative measures. If the evidence shows the high quality of our programs, the government should be ready to support this essential service to our society.

Like my colleague above, this is indeed heartbreaking AND totally preventable. Our country has deemed investment in so many "things", ie lassoing an astroid (in the national budget this year), at the expense of investment in its youngest citizens. Altho, interestingly the child care for families in the military enjoys subsidy to insure quality.

First and foremost, priorities for children in this country must be aligned with what research has confirmed. The early years are those that create the architecture of the brain for success and lifelong learning. There are systems in place for national accreditation that not only evaluate for safety but also the quality of program.

Second, let us all agree, we care for children not "days"! Whether we are caring for infants, toddlers or preschoolers....early care and education is an investment in the future of our country. Child CARE IS education at its most fundamental level, it is here that significant adults provide children and families tools that will last a lifetime.

There are no new ideas! Only ideas that are tried, true and proven yet ignored. We know what works, scientific research has supported these strategies but children and families and those that work in the early care and education field continue to suffer from the blatant disregard.

I do not feel that this story "casts doubt upon the value of our work." Indeed, I believe that to put forward that idea is to do a great disservice to the children of this country.

This article clearly articulates the value of quality early care and education. What it is attempting to do is to call attention to the fact that what we have is a poorly organized, minimally acceptable system of early care in the US. It is attempting to shock and sadden (it succeeded) in hopes that by doing so early care and education will become a priority among policymakers in this country and all children and families who need child care will have QUALITY care available to them.

It's time for America to step up and look at the reality of life in the 21st century. The 1950s, when most moms stayed home, are long gone.

Fortunately I took the time to read the entire article, not just the title. The author makes very valid, sound and important points. He highlights the problems that those of us who have been in the field for many years continue to see, and long to see change. The societal attitude towards child care in this country is still so negative. With better understanding and support through communities (like in Reggio Emilia, Italy) and the government the standards, practices and professionalism of Early Childhood could be recognized and improved. President Obama has made this move towards respect and highlighting the importance of early learning.
I wish the article had continued to point out the differences in child care centers and home child care. One of the most important differences being the number of people on site at any given time in a center. I believe having more individuals present helps to make sure children are safe and regulations are followed.
The sensational nature of the title and the inset boxes were not productive and it is upsetting that many people will only see that. I feel the author should have highlighted other aspects of the article in the title and inset boxes.

I was troubled by the wording of your piece about the New Republic article.
My goodness--four children died in this fire--and you are concerned about
the "negative image of our profession" and that "stores such as this are many times more likely to catch someone's eye than a story about the benefits of early care and education." You are concerned that we need to be able to "respond, rationally and productively, to stories that cast doubt on the value of our work."

This article is positive about the need for child care, and critical of the lack of commitment by the country, to providing support that would ensure quality. This article is NOT an attack on the "profession." I think someone at ExchangeEveryDay needs some remedial work in reading comprehension. The comments of the ExchangeEveryDay will do more to undermine child care and "the profession" than anything included in the New Republic article. Shame, shame, shame on you!

While this article did have negativity to it, it' s not far off on quite a few of the places that market themselves as "childcare" Sadly in our profession we do have people who are just out there to make money and don't care about taking the time to learn about child development and what would be the best for the children in their care. Then you do have those places that do put emphasis on this and most people that need that care can not afford it. So where does the link come that we make centers more accountable and more affordable? How much are we willing to let government in to regulate and help? What do we do when there are families out there that truly love their children and want to do the best for them, but have no choice but to send them to sub-par care because if they don't they may end up homeless? What does it require of us who do care and want quality, and are infuriated by people like the woman in this article that left the children and went shopping or the ones who ignore the children in their care so they can talk to each other, or even more still the ones who neglect the children because they are simply there to get through the day and make a paycheck and are just bothered by these small children around them who are only doing what they should be doing in their stage of development. It sickens me all around that this happens and that it is allowed to happen. When will we truly start standing up for the rights of America's children and families to have quality care?

This was a difficult article to read, painful, but a good opportunity on many levels to address the ongoing issues about child care.
The article mentions the key ingredient is many staff people - but it also mentions that child care is one of the most poorly paid careers! We've known this for a long time. Working families pay for child care, and young working families are just starting careers, mostly do not have generous salaries, and are striving to make their way in a challenging economy. The article links child care with the development of a welfare state in the U.S. - and I disagree. I believe working families are not looking for handouts, just a little help to get over those very expensive first 5 years!
The authors commented on systems in other countries, such as France. Yes! There are better systems out there, but they are not perfect,either. However, we can learn from them, and incorporate the better parts of those systems for child care here in the U.S. The military programs understand that quality care means soldiers will be able to concentrate on the job at hand, a necessity in combat. We can apply that lesson to the rest of our child care programs! Many states are currently using, or developing, some type of quality rating system. We need to continue this trend.
One paragraph mentions little official data - but there is quite a bit of data available. It is not at the federal level, for the most part, because we do not have a national system for child care. Each state has developed its own regulations and systems, and much of the available data is tracked by the states, and by the annual Kids Count data survey.
There is also a mention of nannies, linking them to home child care as if they are one and the same. There is a great difference! Nannies are unregulated, are "household employees", and are not part of the process of state-regulated child care programs. We do not do a great job nationally in ensuring the license-holders have had criminal background checks. Perhaps this is a wakeup call for us to look closer at those who watch our most precious assets, our children, educate parents about quality care and how to find it, and to finally give the early childhood workforce a raise in pay, status, support, and education. We can do better, and to leave this call unheeded is to put our future, our children's future, and the future of our national workforce in jeopardy - because the workforce of 2032 is entering preschool today.

My heart goes out to this young mother. The story is hearbreaking. I am however, glad that this mother is willing to tell her story because America needs to stop looking the other direction. We need to stop pretending that this isn't a huge problem for working families. It is time to put politics aside and stand up for what is best for children. I believe this is an issue that the federal government needs to take on and put real regulations in place for the health and safety of children. We have allowed states the chance to regulate child care and they have failed on many levels because politics continues to get in the way of logical regulation of these facilities. Stand up America! This is everyones issue- not just working families. Our future depends on quality, educational child care and that education begins at birth.

As a full-time child care health consultant, I work with many child care facilities (mostly centers, but am familiar with several excellent home day cares, as well). Professional child care providers love their children and follow recommended practices, primary of which is that children are never, ever, left unsupervised. There are so many wonderful child care arrangements available, if parents take the time to shop and get to know the places available to them. Regional Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies are located throughout the US & provide free guidance to families in need of child care; they're a good place for new families to start the search for care. But I agree that the US needs to recognize how vital quality child care is to our nation's future, and get on the bandwagon with Europe. Military child care & Head Start/Early Head Start are a beginning - we need to make it financially feasible for all child care arrangements to follow their quality lead.

This article - despite the sensational opening story - has some very solid research woven into the points it makes. It does raise a serious question as to why, given everything we know, our country still does not support quality in early care. As Nina Tottenberg said yesterday on public radio, while discussing the impact of sequestration, Head Start children don't have the kind of influence to push the need to spare their program (my paraphrase). So we spare air traffic controllers, because heaven forbid our congressmen get stuck at the airport, and let our little ones continue to suffer in the mediocre care that we know exists in most communities.

This article makes me very sad. The story of Mire and her daughter is heart breaking, but beyond that the grim reality is that the problems the article stresses are all too real. Worse, I do not see any easy way to fix them. They run around on each other; we hire people who will work for low pay, and do not have the skills we want. But individual centers cannot afford to pay staff higher wages because parents can't afford higher fees. Parents look for places they can afford, often with no idea what quality care should be like.

Universal pre-k is a good idea, but it will not solve the day care crisis. I think a set of national regulations, or even guidelines, covering things like adult:child ratios, group sizes, and staff qualifications would be great. But the states don't want their "rights" usurped, and the present climate in Washington is not conducive to getting legislation passed, let alone setting up any sort of new program aimed at child care. The French Ecole Maternale, and the Italian Scuola Materna, in effect change child care to education. Both take children in schools for a full day. We know that good programs for children, whether we call them day care, or preschool, should be the same in terms of what children do. Is that what we should do? Extend free public educations down to age 3, and provide full day programs for parents who want it?

Hope someone else has some new ideas!

While the tone of this article is gloomy and defeated, the situation that I've seen is largely as portrayed. The lack of regard for our children is astonishing.Many providers truly intend to provide high-quality care, but lack the resources to do so. Parents are forced to choose between quality they can't afford, and convenience. Because of the service industry jobs that dominate in lower income families, the lack of non-traditional child care hours means patching together some subsidized daytime hours with relative, friend, and neighbor care that changes every shift. How is a child to develop the relationships that foster healthy development?
Seeing the industry with its weaknesses and failures makes those voices who advocate for quality that much more compelling, and brings a renewed urgency to supporting change. This article showcases a shameful reality, but there is hope.

As the director of a Child Care Resource & Referral agency in Appalachian Ohio for 20 years, and a former child care provider and center director I know first hand that it's an unfortunate reality of our field to hear such stories. Sensational, yes, however, the message is a very positive one for our field if one reads between the lines. It's asking that we as a nation take a stand, same as we are right now in the massacres of children at school; the bombings in Boston, 911, etc. In our country we tend to take action as a result of tragedy; child care is no different, EXCEPT, historically we allow those who know the least about the field to dictate what does and does not happen for the children. We let it become a political matter rather than an economic issue.

It's up to us to tell the real stories, with the valuable data that paints the true picture of the industry. Without legislation and financial supports, the field cannot and will not gain ground on these issues. We need to step up to the plate and use every opportunity to advocate, locally, in our states and in our nation! Call your representatives today and urge them to support the reauthorization of Child Care & Development Block Grant this year; tell them to end the sequestration cuts to Head Start and other child serving programs; tell them to fully consider the president's budget as well as the house and senate versions to get funding into Early Childhood at a level that will bring quality to the field. Why wait another hundred years on the same issue!

I operate seven, nationally accredited centers in Rocheser NY. At least 60% of the enrolled children live in low income households. I am not offended by the article as I thought the authors did a decent job of pointing out problems in the system. They did not bash our profession but, in my view, pointed out some of the gaps in how child care is regulated and where we are need, as a society, to do better. We should always be open to discussing what is necessary to do better for every child.

While I operate center based and not home care I do think the author could have given one or two paragraphs to describing a quality home care program.

Too long for me to complete the article before work. But more than 30 years ago, I did family day care in a licensed home that was also networked or affiliated with a licensed child care center. I think that was a model that should be followed although it is no longer in business.

Pitting the home care provider against centers is not beneficial to either form of child care especially because individual children thrive in different environments. It is the same reason to avoid lambasting home schooling versus private school versus public school. Each serves a different purpose.

Licensing and standards are steps in the right direction although as a NAEYC member who works at a NAEYC center, I also think many standards are redundant and filled with too much minutia.

I like Exchange Everyday for its short and timely tips provided.

The message has enormous validity but the format is more suited to a scandal-sheet than a serious forum. Scare-mongering at its finest. I hope it raises the profile of this issue, one that ECE professionals have been expressing their concern about for years now.
I respond with this...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21784716

Unfortunately, this article is full of uncomfortable facts about early childhood education in the United States. It is a fact that child care is frequently unregulated and even more frequently under-regulated. It is a fact that in most states anyone over the age of 18 and with a high school diploma can care for children with little, if any, oversight. It is a fact that less than 10% of all child care in the United States meets standards for high quality. In the end, our country has not embraced the other facts that are constantly reinforced by research - the first five years of life are critically important to the healthy develop of every person. We must do better and we must expect more from those working with young children. And, yes, we must have better funding. But while we're waiting on better funding, we can't continue to accept harmful, poor quality or even mediocre work from those in the field. I wouldn't accept that from doctors and nurses at the hospital - and high quality early childhood education is absolutely a matter of life and death.

Despite the somewhat harsh sounding title, I wholeheartedly agree with the points raised in this article. For those of us working in centers that all in the top ten percent tier of quality, it is easy to turn a blind eye to the poor quality centers that exist for those families that cannot afford quality care. We have a real problem in this country. Until childcare for working parents becomes affordable and easily accessible, this problem will not go away. Funds and assistance needs to come from a federal level and monitoring needs to be stricter on state levels. If change doesn't happen, the scenario is only going to worsen. Obama talks the talk, and now he needs to walk the walk.

The idea of a failing child care system is not a new one. Of course the article
focused on the negative (which was the goal of the writer), but it was well written and full of hard facts. Previously a center director, I saw it all the time...the teachers with the best resume walked out of the center laughing at the pay scale we could offer them. My husband asks why I chose a profession that would never pay me enough to even afford repaying my student loans. Most high stress, no room for error positions have a hefty salary with it...think flight traffic controller or nuclear weapons handler. There are very few "excellent" facilities out there, but they do exist. They are also privately funded. The only way I could see responding to this is by saying yes this is true, but let us show you the studies that have been done and the growth we have made. "Modern cynics and skeptics see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those whom they entrust the care of their plumbing." --John F Kennedy. And still nothing has changed.

1. The article lumps licensed centers with home operations highlighting home "events" while generalizing working centers into the conversation. In my opinion, home childcare facilities should not be allowed! That may sound harsh but in reality, working from home always allows for lax. Don't put children in that situation!

2. I will admit that things can be better in the center world as well. It comes down to understanding that behind every childcare center there is a business that MUST be successful in order to support the resources required to provide "excellent care".

In our world it seems to be taboo to talk about money or business in the context of children. However, if centers received the subsidies, or tax breaks, money could be put back into the system to ensure quality resources, specifically the most unaffordable for the childcare "business" - the caregivers with proper and extended education in the field.

I have owned a center for 6 years. We are licensed for 232 children, have a 12000 sq ft facility on 2 acres of land. We are not a franchise but privately owned. Overall our operation is a good one. We aspire to always do things right. We have had our ups and downs, recently being sited a second time for a child being left alone on the playground. Regardless of proper training, provision of all the resources our teachers need to do their jobs, and a no tolerance attitude toward fulfillment of our policies, most teachers we "can afford" do not have the persistence to maintain our standard because they have little in the game. On any given day, regardless of the quality of our operation, we are at the mercy of any teacher "having a bad day" who decides not to carry through with a policy or procedure.

Its not about being cheap! Its about what you can afford in our business. If you want childcare to be better, you have to help the business of childcare to succeed. Sure, regulate the heck out of it. Hold owners accountable to the highest standards. I am all for that! But structure it so that they can afford the teachers with the skills. And allow them a profit for the risk and liability they accept. Structure some tax breaks for early educational facilities and eliminate "home care". Subsidize the schools, not the parents. Help the "business" reach the quality desired, and the parents will come. This year alone all my profit went to taxes (over $30K). I am starting to think " with all the liability I carry, whats my incentive as a business owner to stay in this business?".

Thanks for highlighting and addressing the article. I hope there is an opportunity for someone like Terry Gross/Fresh Air NPR News to interview "our side" of the story. I actually heard about the article because of her interview with the article's author. Getting "good press" and visibility in National Public Radio will be good to educate the public. Thanks.

I was really pleased that this article was published and I'm surprised that you framed it in a negative way. Clearly the article was attempting to shine a light on the very concerning aspects of our field. There IS bad child care out there, and that IS a public health issue. This isn't because we are bad people, or we don't care about children. It is becuase of the infrastructural financing challenges within our field, which results in terrible wages for early childhood teachers, and the resulting uneven quality. In the end, our field languishes from lack of public support and understanding, and so our children are at risk.

We need the general public to understand this, so that we can advocate for support for early education and care in the United States. The article was an attempt at proposing systemic change, and they used a dramatic hook to capture the attention of a citizenry which, thus far, is completely clueless about the challenges confronting young children today. It was clear to me that the goal of the article was to foster positive advocacy. They even used the brain research language from Harvard's Frameworks Institute. Don't we all want systemic change for this field?

I find the language of your article strangely provocative. Perhaps you expected that many of us would be offended? I'm not offended at all, and I've worked in nearly every sector of ECE - public school integrated preschool teacher, Head Start Director, community based center based teacher and director, and now lab school director. I've seen it all, and something needs to be done. I cheered when that article came out.

We've come a long way in the profession. Amazingly, I am disappointed that it is still being called day care. We refer to it as child care these days.

These types of articles, while highly disappointing and sad, continue to shape society's image of child care in the home. Unfortunately, negatively. Jim Stockinger once said, "Why is it that child care providers are constantly having to prove themselves?" We aren't allowed to just focus on our profession, we also have to focus on constantly trying to change the image of society.

Being a mentor teacher, I have gone to centers and mentored center-based teachers. Just because children are in a "center" doesn't mean they are receiving better care. Seeing some of these, makes me proud that my standard is higher.

It's time we stop talking about preschool as a "building", and start talking about preschool "education". It doesn't matter what the location is, it's the quality of care received. Sadly, it can be costly, but it is also costly to run them.

When I tell people I do child care/preschool, they act like I'm lower than them. It's a preconceived notion that society has, that here I go, have to prove myself again. Then I proceed to brag about my education, my mentor teaching, my experience. And perhaps, I might change the image of a child care provider, one adult at a time. But more importantly, the attitude of a child as they become future adults.

Allow me to begin by saying that I am in the Early Childcare field, after retiring from 35 years in Public School Education. I read the entire article and now am puzzled by the title of your article. To me the New Republic article is well done. It presents accurate facts, important historical information regarding legislation, comparative data and personal stories. If anything, this article is a "call to arms" for America to step up and do something groundbreaking and lasting for America's most important asset, our children.