On March 23 the US Congress is due to vote on the FY2018 budget. This will happen when they vote on the Omnibus Bill, an all-encompassing one that includes requests to domestic programs such as the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) . The CCDBG program assists low income parents in securing child care for their children while they work or are in school or job training. It is especially important for families in Mississippi since over 60% of our children 6 years of age and younger are living in low income households.
Through a three generation educational opportunity provided by CCDBG funds, parents improve their earning power, child care providers receive additional training and an opportunity for job promotion with an increase in salary, and the young children in programs receiving the funds gain the skills needed to be successful in school.
Currently, the Omnibus Bill contains a $2.9 billion increase for FY 2018 and, as a result of a bipartisan deal struck, an additional $2.9 billion increase promised in the FY2019 budget bill that will begin to take shape as soon as the FY2018 is final. Confusing? Yes. Good for our children? Yes.
The passage of this budget signals that, in cases where both political parties can agree, the well being of children benefits. It would be a great day if our state legislature could take a lesson from this action and try to do the same. The longer we delay as a state to increase funding to education programs, including programs serving young children, the more jobs in the state will be looking for people. Eventually, employers will move to Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana or Arkansas where qualified workers reside.
We are not a state comprised of ignorant people. Sometimes we tolerate ignorant actions because we are too disconnected from the advances other states in the region are making to rise up and use our voting power. Sometimes we are misled by information issued with a political slant that paints one picture while, in reality, the canvas hasn’t even gotten a brush stroke on it. No, we are not a state of ignorant people, but perhaps we are too trusting on one hand about government reporting and on the other hand too skeptical.
How opinions are usually formed from experiences that swayed us to one train of thought or ideology. The question remains, are we bound by the one experience for a lifetime? Experiences are part of daily living and if we are open minded enough to embrace new lessons from social science, brain science, and educational research, we will grow as families, communities, states and as a nation.
Every year we delay funding for education and programs serving young children, we are increasing the likelihood of continued employer exodus and inability to recruit new businesses. Corporate tax credits are the popular course chosen by the legislature for now to recruit employers. Wonder how that will work in the next 2-4 years when jobs remain unfilled and the state does not deliver on its promises of a well-trained workforce?
by Dr. Cathy Grace