By: Andrew Welsh-Huggins Access article The proposal to eliminate the quality mandate stunned advocates for the public funding. They say meeting the regulations is not as burdensome as it’s being described, and reducing quality standards hurts the same minority residents who can’t afford unsubsidized day care.
They also criticize a Senate proposal to bar federal pandemic aid dollars from going toward assisting child care staff or administrators, or helping centers improve their quality ratings.
“This proposal fails to give families the quality child care they need to work and the enriching early experiences that children need to succeed, all while undercutting the classroom teachers who are the unsung heroes of our fragile system,” Lynanne Gutierrez, assistant director at Groundwork Ohio, an early education advocacy group, told Senate lawmakers Thursday.