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E2SHB 1648 is an important bill that addresses key challenges in meeting child care workforce education requirements while maintaining high standards of care. This bill incentivizes existing staff to stay in the field while assisting recruitment efforts by removing barriers. The Problems This Bill Addresses: 🔹 Risk of Diminishing Quality by Losing Experienced Child Care Staff: By allowing work experience…

Washington’s child care sector is in crisis. Chronic staffing shortages, fueled by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) child care licensing regulations, are pushing experienced providers out of the field and making it difficult for new educators to enter. But there’s a solution on the table—Substitute HB 1648—and it has overwhelming support from child care owners, directors, teachers,…

In the early 1990s, I was part of Seattle’s Worthy Wage Movement for child care providers, fighting a battle that felt urgent, if not quite apocalyptic. Back then, the Worthy Wage Campaign staged one-day closures across 30 states, calling for “Rights, Raises, and Respect” for those who keep the foundation of society intact. Each year, Kids Co. and other Seattle centers closed…

Addressing Poverty: The Key to Positive Child Outcomes When we talk about creating positive outcomes for children, we often emphasize the role of high-quality educational programs. In practice, this often looks like government-funded early education programs provided for free, or at a reduced cost, to income-qualified families. While these programs do help children achieve greater academic success, they do not…

In the realm of education, few voices resonate as deeply as Sir Ken Robinson’s. Renowned for his groundbreaking ideas on education and creativity, Robinson’s insights have left an indelible mark on how we perceive learning. One area where his vision finds a powerful reflection is in the domain of child care. The principles he advocates align seamlessly with the nurturing…

In the world of education, the “3 R’s” – reading, writing, and arithmetic – are the pillars of academic knowledge going back the 1830s when Horace Mann began to advocate for the creation of public schools. These fundamental subjects are the building blocks of knowledge, but there’s more to a child’s education than just academics. Enter Social and Emotional Learning…

Child care is not just a matter of necessity for parents; it is a crucial cornerstone of a thriving society. The well-being and development of our youngest generation hold the key to a better future. There are a multitude of reasons why accessible and reliable child care is not only beneficial for parents and children; it also plays a vital…

In a significant move that underlines its commitment to early childhood education school-age child care and the well-being of its workforce, the City of Seattle has awarded $13.5 million in direct investment to child care workers in Seattle. The most recent investment of substantial financial support will be awarded to over 3,700 child care staff. This initiative seeks to bolster…