Funding Cuts Would Bite The Hand That Feeds Children

Wed., May 3, 1995

Vincent P. Gerber Special To Opinion

Day care has been in the news a lot lately, because Congress is trying to change the way day cares get food and nutrition money.

My wife, Nancy, has run a day care for 20 years and I have a few thoughts that I would like to share with you. When a parent engages a day-care professional, that person literally becomes a coparent. Nancy starts her day at 5 a.m. when the first sleepy children arrive. The parents depend on Nancy to make sure that their children are dressed and fed a nutritional breakfast, and that the older children are off to their respective schools on time. She assumes the responsibility for the children’s cognitive development, their physical development, their social skills, often their first word, their first step, potty training, and all their needs large or small.

Nancy cares for the children until the parents pick them up after work, sometimes as late as 7 p.m. This means that for the major portion of the day, for most of their development, for their hugs and breakfast, lunch, snacks, sometimes dinner, Nancy is the one who these children depend on, and the one who is always there for them. After hours, Nancy fields calls from parents wondering what to do when their child does this or refuses to do that. Nancy is a true professional, she does it all.

And what does she get in return? Not a hell of a lot! For all the responsibility and dedication she has, she makes less than minimum wage. A doctor earns more in one 10-minute visit than Nancy makes all week, and a doctor only sees the child once or twice a year.

If day care were a male-dominated profession, would the pay be so low, and the benefits so non-existent? What does it say about a society in which a person who washes cars makes more than a trained day-care professional who has the future of our country in her hands?

What does it say about our priorities when residents of state prisons receive more funding and more luxuries than those who are entrusted with the future of our country? The day-care system of today has evolved into a system that ensures that all children will get the care that they need and deserve. Day cares need more funding, not less.

MEMO: Your Turn is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion page. To submit a column for consideration, call Rebecca Nappi/459-5496, or Doug Floyd/459-5466.

Your Turn is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion page. To submit a column for consideration, call Rebecca Nappi/459-5496, or Doug Floyd/459-5466.

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