From Corrine Hendrickson

New Glarus

To the Editor:

On September 14, as I listened to Republicans in the State Assembly provide justifications for the bills they have presented to “fix” our child care industry, it became abundantly clear to me that they have no respect for child care providers, parents, and children, and do not see us as people who matter or contribute to Wisconsin’s economy in a significant way.

One of the most striking — and insulting — justifications Republicans provided for voting in favor of lowering the minimum age for an assistant child care teacher to 16 years old, by Rep. Rozar, was centered around the idea that the American Red Cross offers a babysitting and child care class for children as young as 11-years-old. I respect babysitters and the important role they play in our communities, but child care providers are not babysitters. We are teachers, business owners and professionals who create environments for children to thrive and set policies to keep children safe and growing. Child care providers allow parents to go to work and provide for their families and children to begin their education journey.

The slate of child care-related bills that were passed in the State Assembly seek to loosen critical regulations that would harm child care providers and children. The bills are not at all what child care providers and advocates have been stating is needed over the past months, which I suppose is not surprising considering nearly all of them have refused to meet with us. Child care providers have asked time and time again for Child Care Counts to be funded, but we have been ignored.

It is clear the Republicans in the State Legislature do not value our opinions or the essential work we provide for a fraction of what it is worth to our economy. Child care providers are a key component to the engine of Wisconsin’s economy — we are the workforce behind the workforce — and we need predictable, public investments to keep our doors open.