GREENBELT, Md. — It’s barely 10 a.m. on a Wednesday, however the day at Greenway Learning Center is well underway. Story time is completed, jelly sandwiches have been eaten and the children have been divided into the preschoolers and the “twos”, with infants in one other room. Because the preschoolers review their numbers, the 2-year-olds play with brightly coloured blocks.
Ashleigh Proctor, who works nearby as a facilities manager, dropped in to see her son, Ahmad, who’s been attending the middle since he was 8 months old. Proctor said being around teachers and other kids has helped his development and the middle has come to feel like family.
But she’s undecided how for much longer Ahmad can stay. Proctor is one among hundreds of thousands of families which have had help paying for child care because of $24 billion in pandemic-era funding Congress passed in 2021. The funding is about to run out on Sept. 30, and The Century Foundation estimates that 3.2 million kids within the U.S. will lose their spot in child care.
“The scholarship has helped so much. Without the scholarship, I do not think he will likely be in day care. He’ll probably be at home because that is probably essentially the most feasible option,” Proctor told CNBC earlier this month. “But the expansion here has been good for him.”
While most business affected by the pandemic have bounced back, child care hasn’t. An estimated 65,000 child care jobs have been lost between February 2020 and August 2023, in line with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And more are more likely to shut if the funding ends. The Century Foundation estimates 70,000 day care centers will close without the funding, resulting in a subsequent $10.6 billion in lost tax and business revenue.
Standing next to a large dollhouse and shelves filled with books, Patti Smith, the director of Greenway Learning Center, said the funding throughout the pandemic was a “lifesaver,” however the economics of kid care were “broken” long before then. Teachers in child care centers are required to acquire specific degrees and certifications but are paid lower than jobs that only require a highschool degree.
“In case you raise tuition to pay your staff what they’re value, then parents cannot afford it,” Smith said. “It’s really a no-win situation.”
Smith said a couple of quarter of the children at Greenway receive assistance through the scholarships. If their parents cannot cover the associated fee of tuition on their very own, she won’t give you the chance to supply their kids a spot.
“We worry about children going into unregulated child care or having parents leave the workforce which shouldn’t be good for the economy in any respect,” she said. “If we do not have full enrollment in the lecture rooms, then I actually have to let teachers go and I don’t need to try this. And I actually don’t need to show children away.”
A gaggle of Democratic lawmakers is in search of $16 billion in funding passed for child care centers before the tip of the month, but time is running short. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), who helps lead the push within the House, said she hopes to connect to the funding to an $44 billion emergency supplemental request from the White House, which currently includes funding for Ukraine and disaster relief for Maui, amongst other items.
“The emergency supplemental is for emergencies,” Bonamici said. “And if this funding ends, and children across the country are losing their child care slots, that is an emergency because people won’t give you the chance to go to work if there is not any secure place for his or her child.”
That additional funding seems unlikely as Republicans are pushing for reduced federal spending. Two key groups of House Republicans are pressing for an 8% cut in domestic discretionary programs not related to the military or veterans. Even items the White House requested, like aid for Ukraine, are facing opposition by some Republicans.
