I’m inspired on this last day of the year to call attention to a place calling attention to child care challenges. Early childhood educators in Southwest Michigan will be eligible for monthly stipends to supplement their salaries though a grant funded by the state and by a local intermediate school district.
The initiative will be managed by Pulse, a program of the W. E. Upjohn Institute, which noted in its press release that 98% of all occupations are more highly compensated than child care workers.
Programs like this don’t fix the problem. Hopefully, though, they will encourage educators struggling to continue to do this important work while the critical work of finding longer term solutions continues.