Author: Sue Carpenter

Child care centers struggle with funding, wages

Today, we’re proud to release the results of the 2014 Early Care and Education Survey – a look at trends across the early care field in our community and is the only one of it’s kind in Central Texas. This year’s data show more of the same positive trends we saw in 2012, but also similar challenges.    Teacher education varies widely depending on where you live Our data indicates that teacher education levels in early childhood education centers vary greatly between the regions of Travis County. In Central and West Austin, the percentage of teachers with at least a bachelor’s degree is nearly double the percentage than in other areas: Additionally, part-time centers reported that 58 percent of their teachers have a bachelor’s degree in early childhood development—or related field—versus only 26 percent in full-time, nonprofit centers and 15 percent in full-time, for-profit centers.  The survey also found teacher retention has decreased over the past two years and turnover rates have increased significantly for both full-time and part-time centers.   Parent fees make up the bulk of funding for child care centers – including in low-income areas The survey found that centers, across nearly all regions in Travis County, depend on parent fees for the largest portion of their income. Centers located in East and South Austin use approximately equal percentages from parent fees and public subsidies. This may be part of the reason why the cost of child care is so high – approximately the same as the cost of tuition […]

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Two years in, we’re seeing results for young children

A kindergarten-ready child:• Interacts positively with children and adults• Is curious and loves learning new things• Can focus and pay attention to adults, other children, a book or task• Is generally happy and can manage his or her emotions• Has age-appropriate language, thinking, and physical skills Today, we are releasing the Year 2 Update of the School Readiness Action Plan – a report to the community highlighting the changes we’ve made in the landscape of early childhood services over the past two years. In 2012, our team in the Success By 6 program at UWATX led a strong coalition of early childhood advocates, experts, parents, and business leaders to work collaboratively to transform the early childhood system in Travis County and together, we created and published the 2012-15 School Readiness Action Plan. The plan catalyzed a movement – with multiple work groups, policy advocates, and service providers championing improvements in services for young children and their families. We are proud to present our second annual progress report to the community so that individuals can join our celebration of successes and help us overcome the barriers that continue to impede our work. What we’ve done so far:  1. Provided new tools for parents to get informed To help parents get relevant information about their babies and toddlers, we promoted low-cost electronic messaging systems, like Text4baby and ReadyRosie that send regular messages to parents calibrated to the age of their child. As a result of our efforts, enrollment in Text4baby has increased by […]

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Top ten things to look for when choosing child care

At United Way for Greater Austin (UWATX), we work to ensure every child is ready for kindergarten with our Success By 6 program—and an important part of that is making sure children enjoy quality care early on in life.  To help parents make sure they’re making the right choice for their child, we’ve compiled a top ten list of things to look for:  1. Safe and Secure Safety and security is obviously a parent’s top concern. Look to see if the building and equipment are in good repair. A security system is key—this way only authorized people can come and go, and all entry and exit activity is monitored.  2. Clean and Healthy Cleanliness is also a high priority. Caregivers should encourage children to wash their hands often, especially after using the restroom and before eating. Caregivers should lead by example and follow the same procedures, including after diapering. 3. Warm and Responsive You want to make sure your child is in a kind, loving environment and know that someone is dedicated to attending to your child’s needs. Listen for laughter and conversation between children and teachers. It is important that teachers talk to the children kindly and with respect. Also, look to see if teachers make an effort to talk to the children at eye-level. Infants should be held both lovingly and often. 4. Stimulating and Dynamic Children should be engaged in active learning through play. It is important that the children have interesting things  with which to explore, […]

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Let our leaders know: Austin children are an important investment

In Greater Austin, low-income children are our fastest growing demographic and before they even get to school, they are falling behind. Our community is also falling behind in the level of public support we provide to vulnerable children – investing as little as one tenth of what comparable cities are spending. Right now, UWATX’s Success By 6 team is leading a community-wide advocacy effort on behalf of our youngest and most economically vulnerable children and families. We’ve already met with 9 leaders and plan to visit 3 more in the coming weeks to share our message about the importance of the first years. We’ve created a dashboard to highlight key data about this growing challenge as well as specific policy recommendations for the City and County. Beyond one budget cycle or legislative session, we are working to make early childhood a civic priority for our community. Between now and March 1st, as we meet with City Council members and County Commissioners, you too can lend your voice. Share this post or any of these links with your social networks and tag our community leaders to spread the word. You can also contact our community’s leaders via phone or email and let them know that early childhood matters to you. We’ve crafted this template as a starting point: Dear [NAME] – As a concerned resident of Austin/Travis County, I believe that every child in our community has potential. Yet too many of our youngest and poorest children do not enter Kindergarten […]

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