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If you have children in child

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care programs, expect tuition

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to go up and a fit.

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I'm sorry, you guys, I was caught

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off guard a little bit when I was

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on.

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If you have children in childcare

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programs, expect tuition to go

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up and availability to go down.

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That's because temporary COVID era

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funding to help providers keep costs

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down and retain staff is

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set to expire at the end of June.

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The childcare bridge payments of

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$110 million took

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up after more robust federal

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stabilization funding ended.

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Results from a new report and

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survey from the Wisconsin Early

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Childhood Association show

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that three quarters of providers

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across the state said they'll need

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to raise tuition and a

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quarter of providers said they're

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likely to close.

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We're joined now by Paula Drew,

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Director of Early Childhood

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Education Policy and Research

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for the association.

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And thanks very much for being here.

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Thanks for having me.

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So with costs up elsewhere

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for food and fuel.

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How are working families

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who depend on childcare

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likely to respond to

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these tuition hikes?

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I think families around the

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state right now are sitting around

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tables like this asking themselves,

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does it make sense for one of us to

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keep working?

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If it makes sense, should we

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work part time?

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Instead of sending our child to

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a licensed child care program down

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the street, perhaps we

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should entertain a grandparent,

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a neighbor, because the

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cost of care is just becoming

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unaffordable to the point where

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those who have the means...

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To access it will and

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those that don't simply will be sort

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of like priced out of the market.

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Because what kind of tuition

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increases could we be talking about

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in general?

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So 75% of child

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care providers answered

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this question. And they said, we

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will have to raise our tuition rates

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at least $25 per

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week.

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And so that's between

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2,000 and $3,000 per year.

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It's already pretty

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expensive. It's all ready I think at

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the point where some families can no

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longer afford it.

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So how meaningful was the original

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childcare counts program that

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used federal emergency COVID funds

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to stabilize the industry?

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The original Child Care Accounts

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program was very meaningful

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and child care providers have been

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on record over and over and

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overstating, this is the first time

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I've ever been able to start a

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retirement account for our

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early educators.

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We are actually accessing

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health insurance for the very first

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time.

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Our early educators are earning a

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wage in which they only have to work

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one job.

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It also kept tuition rates

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affordable for parents.

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How much have Wisconsin providers

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gotten?

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From both programs?

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Hundreds of millions of dollars.

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And so going from

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hundreds of millions of dollars over

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the past six years to

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nothing, it's easy to see

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why your survey results show that

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they will have to make some of these

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very difficult choices.

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That's right.

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For years on end, child care

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providers have been depending on

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this funding to meet

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the gap between what parents can

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pay and what it actually costs to

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provide high quality child care.

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And without those funds,

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most people within the field

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are asking these same very hard

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questions that parents are.

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Should we close?

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Should we let go of some staff?

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Should we lessen the hours of

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operations that we have?

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Stop providing food?

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Stop providing bussing.

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You know, cutting costs, right?

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Both parents and providers are

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trying to figure out how they can

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make the math work.

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So access to child care

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is, my understanding is that it's

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already difficult,

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but how stunning is it that

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a quarter of providers

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might have to close their operation?

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It's very dramatic, and I think when

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we dig into the numbers and we think

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about 25%

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of providers, now 25% percent

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of group providers, that's

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a really significant amount of

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child care seats available in the

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state, right, so.

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Family child care providers can

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serve up to eight children at a

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time, but group programs can serve

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hundreds of children.

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So we're thinking about, you know,

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when you just think 25%, it's

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not just like across the

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board in terms of how many seats we

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have.

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And I think that's going to be

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really stark. And I also would

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estimate that that number is

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likely going to be larger than

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it was when the research was

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done.

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Is there any prospect that the

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state would replicate this

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funding?

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I would love to see this program

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be codified into law.

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I think we have seen

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examples from all over the country,

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states, red, blue, purple states,

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making significant investments in

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the childcare sector and seeing

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really big returns on

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that investment.

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Anything's possible when you

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prioritize it.

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And yes, we would love to see the

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program continue.

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It had all the components that I

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think are needed

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to hold together this market.

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It is, for some policy

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makers, does that kind of

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funding smack of an entitlement?

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It can, and I think it's

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because the childcare sector itself

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is made up of for-profit,

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non-profit family childcare

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providers operating out of their

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homes, large group programs.

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It's hard to sort of wrap your mind

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around it versus like

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a K-12

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system. You need a teaching license,

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you need a certain amount of

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education to meet that teaching

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license. That doesn't mean

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that that's not also required in

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early care and education, but it's

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not what you think about because of

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the the fabric of

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these providers in the state

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look different.

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But I would argue a

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wage and career ladder for early

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care and education based

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on experience and

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their own education is

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the same that is in K-12

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schools, right?

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And which is publicly

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funded.

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We see that as a public good.

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What's happening over here is the

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exact same thing, but it's

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entirely funded mostly by parent

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fees.

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Alright, well Paula Drew, thanks

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very much. Thank you for having me.

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For more on this and other issues

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facing Wisconsin, visit our website

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at pbswisconsin.org

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and then click on the news tab.

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That's our program for tonight.

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I'm Frederica Freiberg.

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Have a good weekend.

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Yeah, I had three kids in childcare.