By: Andy Chow Access article A group of business leaders and child care advocates are calling on lawmakers to reverse course on a change proposed in the state budget bill.
The coalition argues against the Senate budget proposal that would eliminate the five-star Step Up To Quality program used to determine which child care facilities kids who get state assistance can go to.
Lynanne Gutierrez with Groundwork Ohio, a child advocacy group, says that program allots taxpayer money to facilities that can show they provide a base-level of early childhood education.
"This is about the willingness to make an investment in what matters and what we know can produce outcomes with public dollars versus making a short sided decision to try to solve a long-term spending problem at the expense of all of our youngest children," says Gutierrez.