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Opinion piece in @Politico’s @Morning_Edu raised many questions for our #earlyed team at @NewAmericaed this morning. 1/ https://www.politico.com/news/agenda/2020/07/31/parents-need-child-care-just-not-the-kind-congress-is-funding-389004
The author seems to misunderstand how #CCDBG is currently used & implies that vouchers guarantee quality options. They do not! He wants flexibility for families (I agree), but not at the expense of denying care to youngsters who need it most & sacrificing the #childcare industry
The author uses “pre-K” incorrectly to refer to children too young for elem. school. In reality, pre-K serves 4s (sometimes 3s) and is often part of public school system. Pre-K is mostly funded at the state level, although #HeadStart and #CCDBG can both serve preK-aged students.
He says that “House and Senate leaders are focusing on pre-K funding,” but there is NO set aside funding for #HeadStart in the bill & barely mention of pre-K. There is however, set aside funding for child care (Check out @ALoewenberg’s overview: https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/congress-negotiates-next-covid-relief-bill-will-child-care-be-prioritized/)
#Childcare usually refers to ages 0-5 & #CCDBG allocates funding to states to support low- and middle-income families. Depending on how states use CCDBG, $$ can go directly to providers to offer subsidized child care slots or directly to parents in the form of a voucher.
Both the House & Senate bills call for more #CCDBG $$. But the author says Congress has it wrong by 
child care funding & that “It’s school-age children who most need flexible and high-quality child care in the coming months.” BUT states can already use CCDBG for kids under 13.
child care funding & that “It’s school-age children who most need flexible and high-quality child care in the coming months.” BUT states can already use CCDBG for kids under 13.
Most #CCDBG funding goes to families with young kids bc they have the most care expenses! School-aged kids may need quality care this fall, they don’t need it MORE than infants, toddlers, and pre-K. While not ideal, many school-aged kids can navigate remote learning on their own.
In fact, whether we are talking about infants, toddlers, pre-K students, or K-3, we need to prioritize our youngest learners this fall. ( @LBornfreund & @LisaGuernsey have more on that here: https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-the-pressure-is-building-to-have-learners-back-in-school-this-fall-heres-how-it-can-work/)
Side note: He also claims that Democrats "see child care as a coherent institution, not as the patchwork of formal and informal arrangements that most families actually use" which is far from true for anyone familiar with the #ECE advocacy community.
TL;DR -- The #childcare industry (specifically providers serving 0-5), NEEDS a federal bailout to stay afloat. Thousands of programs will permanently close without $50 billion! #SaveChildCare #NoChildCareNoRecovery /END
