Child Care Funding
Dear Editor: On behalf of the Early Childhood Coalition and Child Care Now, a group of 35-plus parents, educators, partners, and industry professionals in Sitka, we would like to extend a big thank you to Sen. Bert Stedman for his work in bringing $7.5 million dollars in funding to the state operating budget, specifically earmarked to increase salaries and wages for teachers and staff in the early childhood education and childcare industry.
Without his work and leadership on the Senate Finance Committee, this would not have happened, and we are extremely grateful. We would also like to thank Rep. Rebecca Himschoot for continuing the advocacy for this funding when the budget got to the House.
Sitka has approximately 7% coverage for infants in licensed child care facilities, and 12% coverage for toddlers. These numbers are alarmingly low. This is a workforce issue. Employers in Sitka are trying to hire, and part of the reason they can’t is because people need child care; lack of it is preventing people from participating in the workforce.
The Southeast Alaska Business Climate survey for Sitka reflects that very clearly: two-thirds of Sitka business leaders say that local child care availability is a barrier to their businesses, and increased availability would allow their businesses to expand. For too long, child care has been treated as a personal matter for each family to solve alone. But the reality is, child care drives our economy, making it a very public matter.
We are grateful for the advocacy and work of our elected leaders on this issue. This is government working on our behalf and we look forward to working together to continue to grow the workforce and accessibility of the child care industry in Sitka.
Lauren Wild, Kari Sagel,
Annette Evans, Lisa Hodges,
Laurinda Marcello,
Early Childhood Coalition and Child Care Now
