News, Op-eds, Advisories, and Releases

Alison McCook
The Philadelphia Inquirer

This week, we will reach the edge of the so-called childcare cliff, when the pandemic-driven infusion of federal funds to save the childcare industry runs out. An estimated one in three childcare programs in the country — or 70,000 — may have to close their doors.

In Pennsylvania alone, nearly 3,000 programs are set to shut down, leaving 150,000 kids with nowhere to go. For many families, this may not be a big deal — they make a few calls, find another nearby place that has space for a new child, and after an adjustment period, everyone settles in to a new routine.

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The Editorial Board
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Without federal action, three million children in America could abruptly lose access to childcare at the end of the month, a development that could push many parents — including, experts say, a disproportionate number of women — out of the workforce.

Roughly $37 billion in pandemic-era stabilization grants — which have ensured financial access to childcare for families — will lapse on Sept. 30, leaving families with no guarantee of continued care.

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Eva Wood - Ligonier; Erin Schellenberger - Latrobe
Trib Review

The child care staffing crisis, caused by the sector’s low wages, is rapidly diminishing working families’ access to child care. Unfortunately, programs all across Pennsylvania are closing classrooms and further limiting families’ options as they look for a safe, high-quality learning environment for their child while they work.

Across Pennsylvania there are thousands of families sitting on waiting lists. This impacts the workforce in every other Pennsylvania industry. Child care teachers are the workforce behind the workforce, and we are failing them.

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The Sharon Herald

ALONG with being first lady, Jill Biden is also a teacher, and she once observed, “Teaching is not a job. It’s a lifestyle. It permeates your whole life.”

And it seems to be a lifestyle fewer and fewer young people are willing to adopt.

The United States is in the midst of a teacher shortage, and in Pennsylvania the situation has been described as “dire and worsening.”

There has been a 67% drop in the number of new educators who have become certified over the last decade, and in the 2020-21 school year the number of emergency permits issued to individuals to take teaching jobs exceeded the number of new teaching certifications from in-state programs.

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