Classrooms Reopen

The Pennsylvania budget finalized passed enables CSC to reopen 12 of the classrooms we delayed, affecting 233 children. Unfortunately, the delay means that the school year will fall far short of its 180 days to merely 160. With fewer days, these children who typically begin the year far behind their middle class peers in all areas of development will have a greater hurdle to master before kindergarten.

The budget delay has additional impact across the entire 13-county area where CSC provides some of its services. The Regional Key, which provides professional development and quality improvement services to 900 child care providers reports continued issues with many who had to curtail their programs while Harrisburg kept child care subsidies for the 100-day ordeal. With fewer hours in some cases and outright closures in others, thousands of parents scrambled to find alternatives. Many had to quit jobs or school. Providers themselves scrambled to find the cash to keep their doors open as long as possible, some taking mortgages and running up credit card debt. Many child care workers took pay cuts or went without pay all together.

It’ll be a long time before the misery caused by the delay dissipates.