AUGUSTA, Maine (WABI) – More than 10 early childhood education centers throughout the state either partially or fully closed Tuesday, as educators held a strike in the face of proposed budget and program cuts.
Over 200 took to the State House to oppose the Governor’s biennial budget alongside the strikes.
“Childcare providers are striking against the budget cuts that Janet Mills proposed in her upcoming biennial budget that cuts a salary supplement program that they receive monthly in half, and it also eliminates the program that provides childcare for childcare providers,” explains Morgan Tolin, Co-Executive Director of Maine Association of the Education of Young Children, who organized the ‘No Cuts to Childcare’ rally.
Protestors say childcare workers are under valued and under paid as it is and cutting budget and programs would have disastrous effects on entire communities that rely on the work of early childhood educators.
One childcare center fully closed Tuesday was Seedlings to Sunflowers in Gorham.
Program Director Charlotte Jacobs says while they understand the inconvenience the strike puts on parents; a strike is a momentary setback compared to the damage the cuts would cause: “50% of our staff will leave if these cuts go through. We would have to close our doors, which then would affect 230 families.”
“I don’t know how to keep doing this,” describes Nichole Johnson, the owner of Blue Hill’s Golden Sun Childcare, of what would happen to her business if the budget were passed. “It’s already a week-to-week business. I have 15 employees, I’m state and federally run, and my business brings in only $40,000 a year. These would drastically impact me to the point that I worry that I would close, as well as 362 providers all said that this could lead to them closing.”
Fueled by the uncertainty of the future for Maine childcare, Johnson created a petition to raise awareness last month.
After gaining traction online, signatures in support of early childhood educators soared from 715 to over 3,500 by Monday.
While Gov. Mills has argued tough cuts had to be made to fix a steep revenue shortfall, childcare workers say this is critical funding.
“For me, I just find it really sad because we want to give the kids the best education that we can and if we’re not able to have that amount of funding, we can’t give them all that they need,” says Kaylie McPhee, 20, a floating teacher at Seedlings to Sunflowers.
Currently, McPhee has been boosting her skills in early childhood education through Seedlings to Sunflowers’ training program.
“Taking them away or reducing them by half will definitely make child providers rethink their careers,” Tolin explains of the cuts’ impacts. “I think we’ll see providers leave the field and then to make up for that difference, we’re going to see childcare programs have to increase the cost of childcare for families. Tuition’s going to go up and it’s going to be harder to find childcare.”
The proposal in the Governor’s biennial budget are scheduled to be voted on Wednesday by the Health and Human Resources Committee.
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