Womenstake

Can Women Anchors Break the Glass TV Screen?

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst, 
National Women's Law Center 

With George Stephanopoulos planning to leave his Sunday morning news program, "This Week," for his new role co-anchoring "Good Morning America" on weekday mornings, there is a great opportunity to make the Sunday morning shows look more like America and American politics today. While we’ve broken many gender and race barriers in politics in recent years, the Sunday morning news shows covering politics are still all anchored by white men. ABC could take a major step forward by filling the opening at "This Week" with one of the many women qualified to do the job, such as Gwen Ifill, Soledad O’Brien, Andrea Mitchell, or Michel Martin.

It is extremely frustrating to watch a male anchor discuss with his all-male panel policies affecting women, such as abortion, without any input from women themselves. It is even more frustrating to watch a male anchor fail to even cover critical women’s issues or to watch him discuss issues such as the economy or health care without even mentioning their particular impact on women.

The Sunday morning shows have come a long way in getting more diverse guests and more diverse panelists to debate the issues. But that’s not enough. We need women not only debating the agenda, but helping set the agenda -- deciding which issues to debate, what questions to ask about the issues, and who will debate the issues.

With Nancy Pelosi sitting in the House Speaker’s chair and Barack Obama sitting in the Oval Office, isn’t it long past time to have at least as much diversity among the people sitting at the anchor desk on Sunday mornings?

More Backward Than Forward on Child Care

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst,
and Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy, 
National Women's Law Center  

A new study by the National Women’s Law Center of policies in the 50 states and the District of Columbia reveals that between February of 2008 and February of 2009 more states made cuts than made improvements in their child care assistance programs. This is troubling news for the many low-income families who need help affording reliable child care that allows parents to work and gives children opportunities to learn — particularly since it follows years of stagnation in child care assistance policies and funding.

The study examines four key policy areas — income eligibility limits for child care assistance, waiting lists for assistance, reimbursement rates for child care providers serving families receiving assistance, and copayments required of parents receiving assistance. A majority of states did not make changes in these areas between February 2008 and February 2009. However, of those states that did make changes, more moved backward than forward.

In 2009, a family with an income above 200 percent of poverty ($36,620 a year for a family of three in 2009) could not qualify for assistance in over three-quarters of the states — even though a family at this income level could barely afford to meet its basic needs in the majority of communities across the country.

In many states, families cannot always receive help even if they meet the eligibility criteria. In 2009, nineteen states had waiting lists for child care assistance or turned families away without even adding their names to the waiting list.

A Challenge to States: Building Strong Early Learning Systems

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst,
and Amalia Reiss, Intern,
National Women’s Law Center 

The President and Congress are demonstrating their commitment to early care and education by issuing an important challenge to states: Develop strong, high-quality early learning systems that help ensure children enter school ready to succeed. States that accept the challenge will receive new resources and support to meet this goal, which is essential for our children and our nation. 

An Early Learning Challenge Fund, first discussed by President Obama during the campaign and included in his budget proposal earlier in the year, has now been fleshed out in legislation introduced by Representative George Miller (D-CA) on July 15. The Early Learning Challenge Fund, which is proposed as part of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3221), would provide $1 billion a year over 10 years to states that agree to work toward a comprehensive strategy for improving the quality of their early learning programs, particularly those serving disadvantaged children.

The initiative would make two types of grants available to states: Quality Pathways Grants for states that already have made significant progress toward establishing systems for improving the quality of early learning settings and that can serve as models for other states, and Development Grants for states that have some elements of a strategy to promote early learning but need an extra boost to achieve a truly systemic approach. States would be able to use the grants for several key components of a high-quality early learning system, including initiatives to boost the education and compensation of the early learning workforce, a system for rating the quality of early learning programs and helping them achieve progressively higher levels of quality, parent outreach and engagement, and coordination with other services for children and families—many of the same key components addressed in the Center’s Child Care Agenda.  

Fair Pay for Child Care Providers

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst, 
National Women’s Law Center 

Fair Pay Day is not just about fair pay for women in the same jobs as men—it’s also about fair pay for women in predominately female-held jobs, such as child care.  Child care providers, despite the valuable role they play in nurturing and teaching young children and enabling parents to work and support their families, are paid an average of only $19,670 a year.  And during these challenging economic times, many child care providers are struggling to stay in business, and many child care staff are at risk of having their already-low pay cut.

Still, there are currently several promising strategies and opportunities for helping child care providers improve their compensation and education.  In 13 states that have authorized home-based child care providers to organize and negotiate with the state, child care unions are working to secure improvements in pay and working conditions for the family child care and family, friend, and neighbor care providers they represent.  Twenty-one states have adopted the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Project, which provides scholarships and raises or bonuses to child care providers who complete a specified amount of education and commit to continue working in their child care programs for a set period of time.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides funding for several programs and initiatives that can be used to support professional development opportunities for child care providers and other early childhood educators. 

On this Fair Pay Day, we need to consider how to build on these efforts to support the child care providers who are providing such essential support to children and families.

See who else is writing about workplace fairness for women on this Equal Pay Day.

The Budget Resolution: Who's Really Looking Out for Future Generations?

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst,
National Women’s Law Center    

The budget resolution being considered by Congress this week supports important investments in health care, education, and sustainable energy that will strengthen our nation’s economy in the long term. Yet some opponents of the budget resolution are charging that the measure amounts to “generational theft” because they say it would add to a budget debt that will have to be repaid by the next generation. 

The long-term debt is a legitimate concern, but these critics would be more credible if they had been as concerned about the debt when they were voting to steal from the next generation of low- and moderate-income citizens to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy of this generation (including the wealthy investment bankers who helped bring about our current economic situation). Instead of responding to proposals for tax cuts heavily slanted to the wealthy by crying, “Thief!”, they instead shouted, “Aye!” It would also be easier to take these critics seriously if many of them weren’t the same politicians voting against programs that would help the next generation, such as children’s health care and early care and education. Or if they weren’t objecting to proposals that would pay for these investments by closing tax loopholes, reducing tax breaks for the very wealthy, and ending wasteful corporate subsidies.

We need to make sure that the children we raise today are healthy and well-educated so they can contribute to the economy of tomorrow and can help their own children prosper and thrive. Making wise investments now isn’t stealing from the next generation—it’s strengthening future generations, and strengthening the economy they will inherit.

Wish Fulfillment

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst
National Women’s Law Center

I was recently talking with my niece about what her bat mitzvah will be like—we’re both looking forward to it, although it’s still four years away.

When Flo Wish has her bat mitzvah in a little over a week, she’ll have her own niece there to support her—as well as her grandniece. Flo is 90 years old. She will celebrate her bat mitzvah, the Jewish coming-of-age ritual that usually occurs when a girl reaches 12 or 13, alongside eight other women in their 90s, and one woman who is a mere 89 years of age.

When these women were 12 or 13, girls did not have bat mitzvahs. It was only boys who got to have bar mitzvahs and be welcomed into the adult Jewish community as full members. But much has changed and in most Reform and Conservative Jewish congregations today, women are accepted as equals. These women’s experiences chart the progress we have made over the past century, in both religious and secular communities, and make us stop and appreciate where we are today.

This group of 10 women have been studying hard to prepare for their upcoming bat mitzvahs. They are proving something to themselves, and they are proving to the rest of us that it is never too late for anything.

Show Me (How to Spend) the Money

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst
National Women's Law Center

States will soon be receiving something that they have not seen in a long time: new federal funds for child care. The recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included $2 billion in additional funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant. This presents states with a tremendous opportunity, but also a tremendous challenge. States are expected to get the money out quickly, so that it can start helping our economy as soon as possible, while at the same time keeping a careful eye on how the money is spent. States are asked to use the funds effectively and efficiently to address the most pressing needs, but without any assurances that the funds will be there in the future—making it essential that states spend the money now in a way that will enable them to make the case for future investments.

To assist states as they manage this difficult balancing act, the National Women’s Law Center and the Center for Law and Social Policy have collaborated on a memo and a conference call that offer guidance for states on implementing the child care provisions of the ARRA. 

The top priority for states in spending the economic recovery funds should be to assist more low-income families with child care costs. States with waiting lists should serve families on those waiting lists and states that are currently serving all eligible families should make more families eligible by raising their income eligibility limits. With these measures, states help parents afford the child care they need to work and reduce parents’ financial burdens during these difficult economic times.

Early Education Makes a Cameo Appearance in the President's Address

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst
National Women’s Law Center

In his address to Congress last night, President Obama laid out the three components he believes are key to the future strength of our economy and our nation: energy, health care, and education. And he made clear that a critical component of his agenda on education is early education:

“…it will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education—from the day they are born to the day they begin a career.  Already, we have made a historic investment in education through the economic recovery plan. We have dramatically expanded early childhood education and will continue to improve its quality, because we know that the most formative learning comes in those first years of life.”

By making early education part of his plan for rebuilding the economy, he demonstrated that he recognizes that early education is essential for the workforce of today and tomorrow. And by highlighting early education in his first major speech before Congress, he indicated that it is an issue that will receive attention and resources throughout his presidency.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with $2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, $2.1 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start, and other early childhood investments, is a down payment on the President’s commitment to ensuring access to affordable, high-quality early care and education for children and families. We now wait to see the President’s budget—the outline of which will be released tomorrow, with the comprehensive document expected in April—for details on how he will continue to carry out that commitment.

A Big Win for Early Childhood and Young Children

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst
National Women’s Law Center

Today, President Obama will sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. There have been many twists and turns in getting to this point, but the end result is legislation that will make a big difference for children and families in many areas, including early care and education. The legislation provides significant investments in programs that help increase access for families, particular low-income families, to high-quality early care and education options. The measure includes $2 billion in new funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (including $255 million for quality improvement, with some of this explicitly targeted to boosting the quality of infant and toddler care), $2.1 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start, $400 million for IDEA Preschool (Section 619) Grants for preschoolers with disabilities and special needs, and $500 million for IDEA Part C grants for infants and toddlers with special needs. In addition, $13 billion in new funding is provided for local school districts under Title I, and some of this can used by local education agencies to support early education.
 
While early childhood advocates did not win 100 percent of what they might have hoped for, they did win about 95 percent—and about 1000 percent more than they’ve won in the past eight years or so at the federal level. But the hard work is only starting. As significant as these new investments are, they are only sufficient to address a fraction of the need. So every new dollar available will have to be used as efficiently and effectively as possible, to maximize their reach in helping children, families, and early care and education providers. We’ll be closely watching the implementation of these new investments to ensure that the funding is used wisely, in a coherent, coordinated way to enable more families to afford the early care and education they want for their children and to bolster the quality of early care and education programs.

Early Education and Economic Recovery: What's the Latest and What's Next

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst
National Women’s Law Center

Today, the Senate passed its version of an economic recovery package  by a vote of 61-37. Like the House version, it includes substantial investments in early care and education — investments that are necessary for children trying to get a strong start, for parents trying to work and support their families, for child care providers trying to keep their jobs, for child care programs trying to keep their doors open, and for economic recovery and future growth. The House and Senate now head to conference to negotiate on a compromise bill that both can approve.

It is important that the Senate retain the full $2 billion increase for the Child Care and Development Block Grant in the House bill and in the original Senate bill. This decision indicates that members of Congress recognize what is happening in their states and communities — parents straining to afford child care and unable to get help with these costs, child care providers scaling back their hours or losing their jobs, and child care programs struggling to stay in business. A broad coalition is urging Senators and Representatives to maintain this funding level in the final bill in order to provide child care assistance for parents under tremendous financial strains, jobs for teachers and others working or seeking to work in child care programs, and safe, stable, nurturing care for children.

The news for Head Start is less encouraging. The bill passed by the Senate provides $1.05 billion, which is half the amount provided by the House bill.  We would like the final bill to include the full amount included in the House bill ($2.1 billion), because Head Start and Early Head Start are investments that will help our economy in the short and long term. These programs employ teachers, directors, and support staff—many of whom are lower-income women.  They assist parents in finding and keeping a job or getting job training. They help children get a strong start on a path to a productive future. Head Start and Early Head Start, with their focus on low-income children and families, are particularly important as the economic downturn causes more families to slip into poverty. Why would we help only half as many of these teachers, children, and families as we could?