The Raising California Together coalition brought child care to the capitol…literally! The coalition erected a mock child care outside of the State Capitol to showcase the important work family child care providers do. Family child care providers Pam Sharp and Nancy Gray brought their classrooms to the capitol and shared early learning strategies that demonstrate how important quality child care is for working women and their children.
In addition to the pop-up child care center, providers participated in a series of lobby visits at the Capitol to call for Governor Brown’s signature on SB 548 (De León). Parents, providers and advocates know that SB548 represents an important opportunity for hard-working women in California and must be a top legislative priority.
SB 548 would allow child care providers to collectively bargain for improvements to a child care system in crisis. Early educators who provide care through the state’s patchwork child care system are paid an average of $4.98 an hour, destabilizing a workforce that has lost 30% of the state’s providers since 2007.
Today, one million children lack access to the early learning that builds their brains and prepares them for success in K-12 learning and beyond.
