Early Childhood Director's Group

Join Your Colleagues at the Early Childhood

Directors Group

Thursday, December 11^th  -  10:00 am – noon

Think Small - 2021 Hennepin Ave. E., Mpls  55413

Holiday refreshments and

cultural celebrations sharing

Discussion Topics:

• Big changes - What’s ahead for the 2015 Legislative Session?
• Hot button center issues
• EC Directors Book Club: Doing the Right Thing for Children: Eight Qualities of Leadership  by Maurice Sykes, introduced by Kyra Ostendorf, Redleaf Press

Early Childhood Directors Group meetings are free

and open to all. 

RSVP to Nancy Johnson – njohnson@thinksmall.org

Visit our blog at: www.ecdirectorsgroup.blogspot.com

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *   

Do you know how to raise your voice for children through social media?

With the legislative session starting early in the new year, MinneMinds will be hosting  a FREE advocacy training on December 10th from 10-11:30 a.m. at Think Small in Minneapolis. The training will cover how to engage directly with legislators on behalf of MinneMinds as well as show members how to leverage social media to amplify the coalition's voice. The training will also be available via webinar. Contact Kat Kempe at Think Small: kkempe@thinksmall.org

 

Federal CCDBG bill is signed in to law

Good news from Washington, DC! In its first action since the November 4 election, the U.S. Senate has reauthorized the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) by a vote of 88-1. This is the first time in 18 years that the CCDBG has been re-authorized! President Obama signed the bill into law on November 19.

 

The next step will be to ensure that it is fully funded during the appropriation process.

 

The bill has a number of positive changes related to supporting parents ability to pay for quality child care, improving the quality of care and increasing safety and accountability.

 

In a divided Congress, early childhood has clearly emerged as a bipartisan issue. Researchers, policymakers and the broader public overwhelmingly agree that investment in early childhood results in better education and improved family and economic outcomes.... and they have demonstrated broad and bipartisan support for policies like this one.

 

A special 'Thank you!' to Minnesota's U.S. Senators: both Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken voted in favor of the CCDBG reauthorization. Senator Franken was very involved during the process, including writing sections of the bill. We also applaud Representative John Kline who was a strong champion in the House. As advocates for Minnesota's children, the Think Small team greatly appreciates your leadership in ensuring a strong start for all children in our state.

Worthy Work, STILL Unlivable Wages

On November 18^th, the research study  “Worthy Work, STILL Unlivable Wages: The Early Childhood Workforce 25 Years after the National Child Care Staffing Study,” by Marcy Whitebook, Deborah Phillips, and Carollee Howes was released. Despite the significant increase in expectations for the early childhood workforce and the wealth of research on early development that has emerged since the release of The National Child Care Staffing Study, early childhood teachers remain undervalued and underpaid today as they were in 1989.

According to the new findings, “despite a nearly two-fold increase in costs to parents for early childhood services since 1997, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, childcare workers have experienced no increase in real earnings since this time.  Those who work as preschool teachers have fared somewhat better; their wages have increased by 15 percent in constant dollars since 1997.  And, as was true in 1989, childcare workers still earn less than adults who take care of animals, and barely more than fast food cooks.”

 

Many in the early childhood workforce worry about being able to feed their families and rely heavily on public supports even though they may have attained postsecondary degrees and certificates.  At every level of worker education, participation in public support programs was higher for childcare worker families than for the families of all other U.S. workers with comparable education.

The four overarching elements of the new paper:
1. Trends in Wages, Education, and Turnover among Early Education Teachers
2. Economic Insecurity among Early Childhood Teachers
3. The Public Costs of Inadequate Compensation
4. Policy Efforts to Improve Early Childhood Teaching Jobs

 

Directors Credential Registration Open Congratulations to 13 early childhood directors, assistant directors and administrators who recently completed their Minnesota Directors Credential: Marie Baker, Lori Coyle, Melanie Eggers, Rebecca Garber, Megan Gates, Kristin Jaquith, Katie Kaszubski, Sadi Laidlaw, Sara Luedke, Tami Mielke, Missy Peterson, Mary Rotter, and Kathryn Wieman. The Minnesota Directors Credential, launched in 1999, has run successfully each year since, with a second 2014 cohort beginning last April, due to growing demand.  Registration is now underway for the ninth cohort to begin in January 2015. Directors Credential information is available on the Eager-to-Learn website, www.eagertolearn.org, or by contacting Karen Foster-Jorgensen at karenfj@optimire.com   What's new in Parent Aware? The new website, parentaware.org, connects parents to an expanded database of more than 12,000 child care and early education programs. Search results feature programs with Parent Aware Ratings. How much does a Parent Aware Rating cost? There is no cost to sign up for Parent Aware. In fact there are many benefits: Ø  Improvement-support dollars Ø  FREE coaching and assistance Ø  Increased access to scholarships Ø  Marketing support Ø  Higher Child Care Assistance Program rates. As of March 3, 2014, programs with a 3-Star Parent Aware Rating can receive up to 15 percent higher CCAP  rates. Programs with a 4-Star Rating can receive up to 20 percent higher rates. Parent Aware Applications now available online  Centers and Family Child Care Providers can now apply for Parent Aware online. Programs that wish to use the online option can get ready by registering their organization at www.developtoolmn.org. This same online data system now houses the Minnesota Professional Development Registry. Parent Aware Rating Renewal Process Ø  Parent Aware Ratings are valid for two years. Twin Cities Metro area programs with a Star Rating expiring this year should contact Carol Stromme at Think Small, cstromme@thinksmall.org Ø  Accredited child care programs should contact Valerie Peterson at Child Care Aware of Minnesota at valeriep@childcareawaremn.org or (651) 290-9704 *107