- Third Street Alliance has added three new early childhood classrooms by converting its old swimming pool
- Parents are struggling to afford child care
- Day care facilities are unable to attract and retain workers because of low pay
EASTON, Pa. — Local and federal officials gathered Wednesday at the Third Street Alliance for Women and Children in Easton to celebrate a classroom expansion project. The organization transformed an old swimming pool into three preschool classrooms.
Easton Mayor Sal Panto said early childhood education gives kids "a helping hand."
But a roundtable table discussion with leaders of Third Alliance, policy experts, parents and Congresswoman Susan Wild highlighted the struggles parents and child care facilities face in finding and providing care for kids.
Andrea Rincon is a parent whose child has attended class at Third Street Alliance for three years. She said she had been a teacher before her baby was born, but she couldn't afford child care on her income.
"I had to stay home and be with my daughter and quit my job for the first two years of her life because I was making too much money but not enough to afford child care."Third Street Alliance parent Andrea Rincon
"I had to stay home and be with my daughter and quit my job for the first two years of her life because I was making too much money but not enough to afford child care," she said. "And I had to start making less money so I could be and a lot of the programs that the state offers and Third Street Alliance offers."
Nicole Recker, director of the Learning Center at the Third Street Alliance, said low salaries are one of the biggest reasons that daycare facilities are unable to attract enough workers. Higher-quality early learning state programs pay a little more because workers are required to have a bachelor's degree and certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, she said. But school districts are recruiting them away.
"They are taking the ones that have their certs for school," Recker said. "But at this point in time, I know that they're even taking teachers that just have only their bachelor's degree because they're so short-staffed as well, unfortunately."
Recker said she has a long list of families with two-year-olds waiting for a space but doesn't have a teacher for that classroom.
Congresswoman Susan Wild said the federal government gave states $24 billion during the pandemic on child care. But the deadline for spending that money is Sept. 30th. Wild said she and fellow colleagues are asking the Biden administration for an additional $16 million. She is also sponsoring legislation that would cap childcare costs at 7% of a person's income, but it's unlikely to be voted on before the 2024 election.
Wild said without additional federal dollars, she's worried the fiscal crisis in child care will grow more dire.
"We're going to be right back where we started from before the American Rescue Plan where people are on waiting lists - we already have waiting lists," she said. "They're going to get worse and we're going to have fewer and fewer child care workers."
