Fed economists say that fully funding good early childhood programs yields very high returns. In fact, it is one of the best investments that government can make over the long run.
Even over the short run, the availability of quality day-care options saves us money by keeping low-wage workers in the work force and not as dependent on transfer payments and additional social services.
Also proven valuable are home-visit programs to teach young moms about parenting, child-development and school-readiness skills, and about social services available for the child.
But what was one of the first things Republican Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and his Legislative Budget Chair Sheila Marcotte cut into when they took office? You guessed it—child-care subsidies for low-wage workers and staffing levels at the Department of Social Services. In other words, they attack the weakest in order to claim—falsely—that they’re keeping costs down. So reading the recently unveiled Trump budget is just déjà vu all over again for those of us who have watched our County budget come out every year. This has got to be stopped and reversed at ALL levels of government!
I’ve got some family and close friends who are teachers, and we get pretty passionate about this subject.
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