News You Can Use

Submit a Proposal for the NAEYC 2011 Annual Conference and Expo

Dear Colleague:

The proposal submission process to present a session at the 2011 NAEYC Annual Conference November 2-5 in Orlando, FL has begun, and we hope you're one of the many people who have already begun preparing a proposal. All criteria and a link to our online submission database can be found on our website:

http://www.naeyc.org/conference/proposals

Please note that the proposal submission deadline has been extended through Monday, January 17, 2011. Our offices will be closed on January 14 and January 17 for the holiday weekend. Any technical questions can be directed to Sierrabay Technology Group at support@sierrabay.net. We will be reviewing the proposals in the coming months and notifying proposal authors of their status in May.

Best wishes,

Jerlean Daniel, Ph.D.
NAEYC Executive Director

Monique Cabiness
NAEYC Director of Meetings & Conferences

The Lowly Child Care Worker

Sue Shellenbarger, from the Wall Street Journal's The Juggle Blog, has written "The Lowly Child-Care Worker." This latest blog entry focuses on the demands of being in the early childhood profession and the lack of wages, salaries and benefits associated with it.

"Child-care center directors' median annual pay is only $34,233, according to Payscale.com, and child-care workers themselves make only $23,437, barely exceeding the federal poverty threshold for a family of four. The mean hourly wage for child-care workers is $9.73 an hour, falling short of coatroom attendants and short-order cooks, and barely outpacing dishwashers and burger flippers, say child-care advocacy groups such as the Center for the Child Care Workforce."

The Blog asks the following questions for readers to respond to:

"Readers, do you think child-care workers should be paid higher wages, or would it take too much of a hit out of your pocket? Would you ever want to be a child-care worker?"

We encourage you to respond and post your comments to her blog.

CCW/AFTEF has been fighting for Worthy Wages since 1991. Yes, that's correct. This year's Worthy Wage Day will mark the 20th Anniversary of the Worthy Wage Campaign. Twenty years of advocacy, but yet our wages are still low and our benefits are often nonexistent. It's time to speak out and make our voices heard! We have posted several Worthy Wage Tales on our website to help get you started in thinking of possible activities to mark Worthy Wage Day this year.

We look forward to a year full of advocacy efforts for the early childhood workforce. Please take a moment to post your thoughts on this subject to The Juggle Blog.

Disappointing News Despite Great Work

It has been a disappointing week as most of you know by now. You did an amazing job contacting your Senators about the importance of an omnibus appropriations bill with significant increases for child care, Head Start, and the Early Learning Challenge Fund.

However, through no fault of your great work, Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, pulled the omnibus bill from the floor early Thursday night because it did not have 60 votes to break a filibuster. One major reason given was the bill's earmarks. Ironically, many members had indicated that they might have voted for it because of the earmarks, but the Republican leadership sent its caucus a loud message that they must stick together and vote "No" on the omnibus.

Congress and the Administration are now finalizing a continuing resolution (CR) that will last until March 4 and that does not include the ARRA child care and Head Start/Early Head Start increases or the Challenge Fund.

The word from the incoming Congress is that deep cuts will be on the table. It is going to be one of the most challenging times we have all faced as advocates. We did an incredible job working together to move the ARRA child care and Head Start increases and the Challenge Fund through the budget and appropriations process this year. We will be tested in the months ahead and will need to work not just with our early childhood colleagues but with a broad Coalition of groups to stave off deep cuts in spending.

Please stay tuned and mark your calendar for an upcoming conference call on Thursday, January 13 at 3pm ET, to get the latest information and discuss what's next for early childhood in the new Congress. More details will be forthcoming.

Thank you again for making your members of Congress understand the importance of early learning. This is just a big bump in the road, but we will do all we can to smooth it over for the children and families who benefit from high-quality early learning experiences.

Email Your Representative and Senators Today!

Child Care Spending Needs to Be Increased to Ensure the Safety of Our Children.

Take Action! Contact your Members of Congress now!

Education important to Florida's economic success

By Kate Stowell
December 6, 2010

Gov.-elect Rick Scott recently named two advisory groups tasked with helping him with his 7-7-7 jobs plan. Families throughout Florida are counting on Scott not only for jobs now, but also to make smart decisions that enhance job retention and improve our future economic prosperity by improving outcomes for our children.

The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/fl-rick-scott-forum-20101206,0,6011063.story

Visit South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com at http://www.sun-sentinel.com.