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How Ontario’s Budget Hurts its Poorest Citizens
Source: Globe and Mail, March 28, 2012
Excerpt: "It’s one short line in the Ontario 2012 Budget that sounds fairly innocent: “The government is not proposing any increases to social assistance rates at this time.” While the media has focused on wage freezes and collective bargaining in the public sector, I have not seen much concern for those who rely on social assistance. Perhaps most people don’t care.... Just like wage freezes, welfare freezes result in a real reduction in living standards if the inflation rate is positive. Those experiencing wage freezes will need to cut back on luxury items. Unlike public sector wage freezes, those experiencing welfare freezes will need to cut back on basics like food. "
Austerity Budget Punishing Ontarians for a Deficit They Didn't Create: ETFO
Source: Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, CNW, March 27, 2012 (news release)
Excerpt: "Ontario's austerity budget is punishing average Ontarians for a deficit they didn't create by reducing the public services available to meet everyday needs, according to the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO). "Whether you're working or not, or whether you're unionized or not, ordinary Ontarians are being asked to take a hit that many economists say is not necessary," said ETFO President Sam Hammond. "It is investments in public infrastructure, communities, and public services that have always helped put this province on the road to economic recovery." "With spending curtailed to below the rate of inflation, you can be sure that Ontarians will pay more user fees and encounter more eligibility barriers to social and public services than ever before," said Hammond. "
Ontario Budget 2012: Welfare Rate Freeze Really a Cut, Activists Say
Source: Toronto Star, March 27, 2012
Excerpt: "For Sharon Norman, Ontario’s budget plan to freeze welfare rates this year is proof the McGuinty government was never really committed to cutting poverty. “What was the point of all of those meetings and consultations on a poverty reduction strategy anyway?” she said Tuesday, referring to the province’s 2008 plan to cut child poverty by 25 per cent in five years. The welfare freeze means Norman and some 880,000 other adults and children living on Ontario works and the Ontario Disability Support Program will be squeezed even more by inflationary increases in food, rent and other necessities. With the latest Consumer Price Index pegged at 2.9 per cent over last year, the freeze is, in fact, a cut, anti-poverty activists say."
Ontario Budget: Parents Decry Lack of New Child Care Funding
Source: Toronto Star, March 27, 2012
Excerpt: "Child care advocates were shocked there was no lifeline in the budget to chronically underfunded daycares, now scrambling to serve younger children as 4- and 5-year-olds enter all-day kindergarten. Advocates had been calling for an immediate infusion of $287 million and a new funding model pegged to inflation. "With half of the children in full-day kindergarten programs starting in September, we will literally see hundreds of child care programs at risk of closing," said Andrea Calver of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care. "Parents tell us Ontario needs more child care, not less.""
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Early Years Could Launch Long-Term Improvement
Source: Winnipeg Free Press, March 27, 2012
Excerpt: "A little learning could go a very long way for toddlers in one of Winnipeg's more progressive daycares. On Monday, the province and the Lord Selkirk Park Housing Development unveiled a new child-care pilot program to help tots from low-income areas get a head start on literacy. The program is one of the first of its kind in Canada, the province said..... The Abecedarian program, based on an American study on early-childhood learning, will be used to enhance the development of 16 infants and 16 preschool-aged children at Lord Selkirk Park's bright and colourful daycare. The province will study the kids' progress in areas such as literacy and social interaction. Currently, children from Lord Selkirk Park lag behind peers from wealthier neighbourhoods in those areas, according to provincial indicators."
Families Across Ontario Worried About Closures of Licensed Child Care Centres
Source: Child Care Matters to Me, CNW, March 26, 2012 (news release)
Excerpt: "Hundreds of families across Ontario have e-mailed their MPP over the last four weeks, urging them to stand up for high-quality, licensed child care in Ontario. With the provincial government's continued focus on implementing full-day kindergarten, licensed, non-profit child care centres that serve Ontario's youngest children are facing imminent closure in communities across the province. "Families in Ontario already face a daunting task when it comes to finding high-quality, affordable child care. With a 15-year funding freeze, and the removal of thousands of children from the child care system, families now face much more expensive - and fewer - child care options," said Paula Roy, parent champion for Child Care Matters to Me."
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Families First? What it Has Been, What it Should Be
Source: Vancouver Sun, March 26, 2012
Excerpt: "Which brings us back to a dominant problem for people under age 45. Their relative lack of interest in politics means many don’t call for political solutions to the fact it has become harder to raise a family. Nor do many boomers seek a better deal for their kids and grandkids. I think the problem rests partly with policy wonks like me, keen to describe what "Families First" should mean in terms of policy reform. I routinely talk about New Mom and New Dad Benefits, $10/day child care services, and a shift from 40 to 35 hour weekly employment norms as part of a transition to shorter work years in exchange for longer work lives. For most, such talk doesn’t inspire. People want to know how policy reform will influence their daily lives. So let me describe "Families First" differently...."
Study Finds Public Political Discourse Misses the Mark on Child Care Issues
Source: Ryerson University, March 23, 2012
Excerpt: "Ann Rauhala, of Ryerson’s School of Journalism, and Patrizia Albanese, interim chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and a professor in the Department of Sociology at Ryerson, are lead authors of a research paper examining public discourse on child care in four of the country’s largest daily newspapers. The researchers found the public political discourse on child care to be uninformed and disengaged from the real issues facing Canadian families. Based on their research, both Albanese and Rauhala found that federal political parties used child care as a political talking point to differentiate themselves from one another, rather than an issue that they were dedicated to resolving."
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George Brown College ECE Degree Program Trains Leaders for Child-Care, Family Agencies and Policy Development
Source: Toronto Star, March 22, 2012
Excerpt: "Cooper had been working at child-care centres since graduating from George Brown College in 2009 with a diploma in Early Childhood Education. She discovered through the Internet that the college had just started offering a bachelor’s degree for ECEs looking for leadership training.... The degree program, which began with 15 students last year and jumped to 40 this past fall, offers early childhood educators a baccalaureate credential, with time spent both in class and in the field. The idea is for graduates to take on supervisory and managerial positions at child-care centres or nursery schools, family and parenting centres, agencies that serve families, or in early childhood policy development."
Full-Day Kindergarten Students in Ontario Fare Better in Reading, Writing and Even Drawing
Source: Toronto Star, March 21, 2012
Excerpt: "Kids enrolled in Ontario's full-day kindergarten are better at early reading skills and math--even drawing--than those who are at school half days, say initial findings from a longer-term study of the province’s youngest students. The study, to be released Wednesday, found senior kindergarten students were ahead in vocabulary, knowledge of the alphabet, phonological/letter sound awareness, reading and even "produced more complex drawings than control group children and included more details on characters' faces and bodies," says Janette Pelletier, principal investigator for the study and a long-time kindergarten researcher."
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All-Day Kindergarten Gets High Marks in Ontario
Source: Globe and Mail, March 20, 2012
Excerpt: "Children in Ontario’s full-day kindergarten program are getting a leg up in the classroom, especially in reading, vocabulary and phonetics, according to preliminary data collected by researchers at the University of Toronto. Students in all-day senior kindergarten scored significantly higher than their half-day peers on tests relating to literacy, numeracy and fine motor skills. The findings, which have yet to be published, come at a time when Queen’s Park has been advised to cut the full-day program entirely in order to help the province cope with a $16-billion deficit. "These results were pretty dramatic,” said Janette Pelletier, the lead investigator and professor at the University of Toronto. “This is seeming to suggest that the program is having great effects but it’s very preliminary.""
SK: Child Care Spaces Urged
Source: Leader-Post, March 20, 2012
Licensed child care spaces are still in short supply in Saskatchewan but the government has to add more spots in a way that's sustainable, Education Minister Donna Harpauer says. Harpauer's comments came as the NDP used question period Monday to accuse the Saskatchewan Party government of failing to address a "looming child care crisis" in the province as families face long wait lists for daycare. .... While Harpauer said she agrees with the Opposition that more child care spaces are needed, she laid much of the blame on previous NDP governments. Harpauer said the Saskatchewan Party inherited a child care "void" after forming government in late 2007. The province had just 8,800 spots at that time, compared to about 26,000 in Manitoba, she said.
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Stephen J. Lye, Marla B. Sokolowski to lead U of T's Institute for Human Development
Source: OISE, February 15, 2012 (news release)
Excerpt: "Professor Stephen J. Lye will serve as the inaugural Executive Director and Professor Marla B. Sokolowski as the inaugural Academic Director of the University of Toronto’s newly established Institute for Human Development IHD).... "The Institute will take on the big issues in human development important in Canada and around the world. Increased understanding of these issues, and the development of effective interventions early in life, will have enormous benefits to individuals and peoples everywhere," said Deans O’Sullivan and Whiteside late yesterday."
Childcare Conundrum Worsening: Tabuns
Source: Town Crier (Toronto), March 14, 2012
Excerpt: "“So there are transition issues here that have to be addressed and, as far as I can tell, the minister (of education) is not even following the issue.” Minister of Education Laurel Broten could not be reached for comment by press time. Premier Dalton McGuinty has said the full-day kindergarten program will continue to be implemented despite recommendations in the Drummond Report that the program be cut in order to save money. According to Tabuns, cancelling the program now would cause even more problems."
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Edleun Acquires Eighth Ontario Centre
Source: Canada News Wire, March 13, 2012 (news release)
Excerpt: "Edleun Group, Inc.... the leading provider of quality early childhood education and care in Canada, announced today the acquisition of an eighth Ontario based child care centre, located in Burlington just west of the Greater Toronto Area, along the Lakeshore West commuter corridor. Edleun is purchasing this centre, currently a successful operating child care centre, for $475,000. The centre is located in premises leased from a third party under a long term lease. The Company intends to increase the number of licensed spaces from the 49 spaces currently in operation to 75."
$22B Plan Would Help ‘Generation Squeeze’: UBC Prof
Source: Waterloo Record, March 13, 2012
Excerpt: "He calls them “Generation Squeeze.” They’re today’s parents, squeezed for time, money and services like child care. They’re forced into a vicious cycle, working longer hours in trying to provide the best life they can for their children, and spending less time at home in the process. And it begs an important question, said University of British Columbia professor Paul Kershaw. “Does Canada still work for all generations?” According to a report produced last year by Kershaw and colleague Lynell Anderson, the simple answer is no. Kershaw is bringing his findings to communities across Canada. On Tuesday, he spoke at the YMCA Ontario Early Years Centre in Waterloo."
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How to Finance a New Deal for Families
Souce: Vancouver Sun, March 5, 2012
Excerpt: "According to the poll, more Canadians think it is a "good idea" than a "bad idea" to re-consider increases for medical care. Their point is not to reduce government spending, but to make room for other investments. For those unwilling to compromise on medical care, the poll also shows that more Canadians think it is a "good idea" rather than a "bad idea" to increase taxes to pay for new priorities. One root of these poll results is widespread concern among Canadians about our commitments to family time and responsibility."
Quebec’s Challenge is to Make Daycare Even Better
Source: Montreal Gazette, March 7, 2012
Excerpt: "International Women’s Day has become a day for taking stock of how well, or how badly, women are faring at home and outside of the home, in Canada and in other countries throughout the world. In Canada, a wealthy democratic nation, women have made extraordinary gains in the past three decades..... As for mothers, the 233-per-cent increase in their employment rate between 1976 and 2009 has been called nothing short of a revolution.... Less encouraging has been Canada’s effort to develop a support system for working mothers. Canada lags significantly behind other member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in providing high-quality, affordable child care."
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Canada Among the Countries Where Women are Left Behind: Lack of National Policy on Child Care Seen as a Barrier to Entering Business Ventures
Source: Montreal Gazette, March 6, 2012
Excerpt: "While life has improved for millions of people around the world over the past century, women still seem to be getting left behind.... There are a few key factors that restrict the ability of women to advance economically and the biggest is unfair distribution of labour. Surprisingly, Canada is not a nation to be emulated.... "So, obviously, a government like Canada's (which) has been heavily criticized by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development for not having a national child-care program is actively impeding women from being able to even think about moving into a business or that type of entrepreneurial activity.""
AB: Full-Day Kindergarten Pledge Falls Short
Source: Calgary Herald, March 6, 2012
Excerpt: "Alberta parents shouldn't expect to see the full-day kindergarten promised by Premier Alison Redford this fall, but the province's education minister says as much as 50 per cent of Alberta kindergarten spots will be in full-day programs by the beginning of the 2013 school year.... Under questioning by the Alberta Liberals in the legislature on Tuesday, Lukaszuk said the Redford government's commitment to full-day kindergarten stands, but more classroom space will be needed to house what he said is essentially a new grade."
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Ontario Budget: Hundreds of Daycares Will Close Without New Money in the Spring Budget
Source: Toronto Star, March 5, 2012
Excerpt: "Hundreds of Ontario daycares will close if there is no new money in the provincial budget this spring, advocates warn. At least $287 million in emergency funding is needed this year to stabilize the system, say parents and child-care operators who are taking their campaign to Queen’s Park on Tuesday.... Chronic underfunding and the poor implementation of full-day kindergarten for 4- and 5-year-olds have left daycares with no money to re-tool for younger children who are more costly to serve. New funding is critical this year because in September, half of the province’s public and Catholic schools will be offering full-day kindergarten."
Does Preschool Matter?
Source: Wired Magazine, March 5, 2012
Excerpt: "Why is preschool so important? The answer is obvious: The young mind is wonderfully malleable, able to develop new habits with relative ease. Furthermore, the benefits of preschool are not equally distributed. Rather, they seem to be particularly essential for those kids from the most disadvantaged households. A new paper in Psychological Science by Elliot Tucker-Drob, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, helps explain why this is the case. He wanted to tease out the relative contributions of nature and nurture, genes and environment, in the improvement of academic skills during pre-kindergarten education. His data set made these questions possible: Tucker-Drob used a national sample of 1,200 identical and fraternal twins born to 600 families of various incomes and ethnicities across the United States in 2001...."
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Confessions of a 'Bad' Teacher
Source: New York Times, March 3, 2012 (opinion)
Excerpt: "Teaching was a high-pressure job long before No Child Left Behind and the current debates about teacher evaluation. These debates seem to rest on the assumption that, left to our own devices, we teachers would be happy to coast through the school year, let our skills atrophy and collect our pensions. The truth is, teachers don’t need elected officials to motivate us. If our students are not learning, they let us know.... Worst of all, the more intense the pressure gets, the worse we teach. When I had administrators breathing down my neck, the students became a secondary concern...."
ON: Province Gets an Earful on Funding for Full Day Kindergarten
Source: Toronto Observer, February 29, 2012
Excerpt: "What started as a community meeting to discuss child care quickly turned political, with a lone Member of Provincial Parliament on one side and a Toronto city councillor on the other. And the city councillor had one clear message: unless the province ponies up for an extra $74-million, some 7,000 full-day kindergarten spaces will be lost."
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The Genetic Ripple Effect of Hardship
Source: Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2012
Excerpt: "Our experiences in life don't just affect how we learn and behave, they can also mark our genes and influence our children, a growing body of research suggests. Stressful events and drug use appear to alter how and when genes are turned off and on. Some environmental influences create such long-lasting and significant biological changes that they can be passed on to affect the health of the next generation, studies have shown. They don't appear to alter the genes themselves."
ON: Heated Daycare Battle Creates "Balanced" Model
Source: Cambridge Times, February 28, 2012
Excerpt: "The heated battle over childcare in schools was a worthwhile one because it produced a new model that could make the region’s public school board a leader in extended daycare, contends the school board’s chair. The divisive debate that polarized parents, non-profit daycare providers, trustees and even local politicians, resulted in a more “balanced” approach to providing before- and after-school daycare, according to Catherine Fife, head of the Waterloo Region District School Board. It was worth the hard work to arrive at the new vision, she insisted."
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ON: Public Board Approves Before-and-After School Care Program
Source: Waterloo Record, February 27, 2012
Excerpt: "Public school trustees approved a before-and-after school care program that will see a board-run program in schools where there is no care and allow for third-party operators to continue in some schools where they exist now. At a marathon meeting Monday night, trustees approved the staff recommendation of offering an extended care program at $25 per day.... The "customized community" model will see board-delivered care for four- to seven-year-olds expanded to schools without care, while allowing for third-party service at current sites where there is appropriate daycare space."
New Contract for Quebec Daycare Workers
Source: CBC, February 27, 2012
Excerpt: "Quebec's striking public daycare workers will soon be voting on a tentative agreement with the government. Union delegates from about 360 Centres de petite enfance (CPE) have approved the deal, reached after weeks of rotating strikes.... The deal provides wage increases between six and 10.5 per cent over five years, and new provisions for vacations and benefits. Wage increases are on par with cent salary gains for other Quebec public sector workers."
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Best Possible Start to 2012 for Australian Children
Source: Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), January 1, 2012 (news release)
Excerpt: "January 2012 marks the start of a new, national approach to quality improvement in early childhood and school age education and care services.... Changes include: a new public rating system for all services against seven national quality areas; the chance for outstanding services to apply for a national Excellent rating and help lead improvement in their sector; gradual increase in the qualifications required for all early childhood educators; a higher ratio of staff to children in many services (note: some services already meet these ratios and will not need to change); nationally consistent requirements and information for all Australian families and services; the inclusion of out of school hours care and family day care in the same quality system as long day care and preschools/kindergartens."
Survey: Consultation on Vocational Standards for ECA and ECE Programs
Source: Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, March 1, 2012
Description: "The electronic consultation surveys are now open for your review and input and will remain open from March 1 - 15, 2012. You have the opportunity to respond to one or both of two (2) surveys at the following links:
Early Childhood Assistant (Certificate)/Early Childhood Education (Diploma) Programs>
The Early Childhood Education - Resource (Graduate Certificate) Program>
It is estimated that the surveys will take 40-50 minutes each to complete. Once you have started the survey, you will have the option to stop at any point and return to complete the survey at a later date. Look for the "Save and Continue" tab in the survey for instructions. I am attaching .pdf copies of the survey questions for your information. Please note however, that your responses must be submitted electronically on the consultation surveys through the above links.
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