State program helps kids, workers

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, June 2, 2001

Gov. Gary Locke has single-handedly put a major focus on improving the quality of child care in our communities with a solution that stems high staff turnover and low morale of our child-care workers.

The state’s Early Childhood Education Career Development Wage Ladder Pilot Project, which has received only modest public attention, has had a huge and lasting impact on 15,000 children and their families in our state. As an administrator for a non-profit housing agency that owns and operates one of the 124 childcare centers participating in this statewide pilot program, I can tell you firsthand that the quality of care and the level of teacher morale are both up sharply since the start of the project. Teachers are more motivated, creative and committed to childcare than in the past. They are returning to school in record numbers, and for the first time, I am hearing about long-range plans for a career in child care. The benefits for our children are evident every day, and the lasting benefits of a well-trained, caring staff will become more evident as they grow.

I want to publicly say thank you to Gov. Locke for helping so many working families sleep more soundly at night without worrying about child care. He has taken to heart the often-said, but seldom-heeded idea, that our children are indeed our future.

Housing Hope

Everett