Re: Big-box child care buys Ontario centres
EXCERPTS
Your excellent article identifies the CEO of the big box company as "rejecting advocates' warnings that corporate child care delivers inferior programs." In fact, advocates' warnings are backed by a significant amount of empirical evidence that is easily accessible.
This research shows that for-profit childcare centres have to cut costs in order to make their desired profits and that a large portion of this cost cutting is directed at staffing costs, which - in a high quality centre - can account for more than 80 per cent of the budget. The result is low pay, high turnover and poor staff morale.
As consistent, properly compensated and unstressed staffing is closely linked to program quality, it is quite clear why corporate child care is likely to produce "inferior" programs. It's all there - look at the research.
Shani Halfon, Early Cchildhood Educator, Toronto
- reprinted from the Toronto Star