Rep. Pettigrew strengthens early learning with quality child care

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 27, 2009
For Interviews: Rep. Eric Pettigrew (360) 786-7838

OLYMPIA – In an effort to increase quality child care and strengthen early learning services, Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D-Seattle) introduces House Bill 1329. Pettigrew's bill addresses the need to prepare children for the future by providing them with a top notch education from the start.

“My motivation for sponsoring this bill is about one thing, and that is about children,” Pettigrew said during today’s public hearing in front of the House Committee on Commerce & Labor.

HB 1329 creates an opportunity for child care directors and workers to collectively bargain with the state over matters within the state's purview to improve the quality of child care for Washington families.

Low wages and lack of training persist among child care centers statewide. Pettigrew said that the state has helped low-income families pay for child care for a number of years, but the cost of that care is now double the reimbursement amount. For child care centers with high percentages of subsidy recipients, surviving can be near impossible. “They are often in a position of trying to make ends meet through a number of ways that are inappropriate and, I think, effect quality over the long haul,” Pettigrew said. Some child care centers resort to refinancing their building and some staff even go without salaries he said.

Megan Price, a teacher at the Learning Ladder in Mount Vernon, testified about a co-worker who had left her job to earn a higher wage at Chuck E. Cheese. “The history of the state as it relates to these reimbursements hasn’t been something that I think all of us could say we’re proud of," Pettigrew said.

HB 1329 facilitates a new relationship among early learning providers and encourages them to work together to improve standards in their profession and expand opportunities for educational advancement.

Last year, a similar version of Pettigrew’s bill passed the House, but it was brought to a halt in the Senate. A number of notable changes are included in this year’s HB 1329. One significant alteration is that the bill requires the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to adjust subsidy rates for all child care centers in a DSHS region in order to match the rates reached through collective bargaining agreements for the same region. This means that even facilities that don’t participate in collective bargaining negotiations will still receive the negotiated increase subsidy rates.

This year, sponsors of HB 1329 include more than thirty representatives. In the Senate, Sen. Chris Marr (D-Spokane) has introduced SB 5572, which also provides collective bargaining for child care center directors and workers.

“When we talk about quality and we talk about invests we’ve made as it relates to early learning, an inconsistent system is not the way to go,” Pettigrew said. “This legislation actually provides us with an opportunity to create a more consistent system and close the gap between what we provide in dollars and what high quality learning actually costs.”

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Contact: Rep. Eric Pettigrew (360) 786-7838; Pettigrew.eric@leg.wa.gov

Downloadable photo: http://leg.wa.gov/documents/House/Members/Photos/pettigrew.jpg

Staff Contact: Jamie Badilla (360) 786-7255; Badilla.jamie@leg.wa.gov

Radio and TV News Directors:  To obtain broadcast-quality audio on these issues, or to arrange for TV or radio interviews, please contact House Democratic Caucus Broadcast Coordinator Dan Frizzell at frizzell.dan@leg.wa.gov  or (360) 786-7208.