Published in the Sacramento Bee on Sept. 18, 2011
By Tonia McMillian
Tonia McMillian, a licensed child-care provider for 17 years who lives in Bellflower, is responding to the Sept. 8 editorial “Baby sitter bill deserves some adult supervision,” which states that the “measure would allow small-business owners who provide child care in their own homes or the child’s home and – this is key – who care for children who receive state child-care subsidies to unionize.”
I am not a “baby sitter.” I’m a proud, licensed child-care provider. My work gives others the ability to get and keep their jobs, to become productive, contributing members of our society.
For example, by providing a loving, structured environment for her children, I helped one young mother on CalWORKs become a self-supporting lab tech at a hospital. Another had a child at the age of 14. She was still in high school. I took care of her son from when he was an infant. He is now in second grade. His mom is self-supporting and works for an accounting firm.
So when The Bee’s editors diminished what I do, calling me and tens of thousands of my peers “baby sitters,” yes, I was offended. To say our care amounts to what a teenager does while you go to the movies shows the editors’ ignorance.
How many baby sitters watch 11 children, including infants, from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; study child development; or teach foreign languages, sign language, preparation for reading, math concepts and colors?
In reality, child care is a profession, an important one. Without us, hundreds of thousands of parents wouldn’t be able to keep their jobs. We add $11 billion to California’s economy every year.
And then there are the things you can’t put a price tag on: Most of my kids go straight to the advanced group when they enter kindergarten; one of my former kids is now attending Spelman College.
Assembly Bill 101 is needed because our child-care system is a mess. Child-care providers have been fighting to fix it but aren’t being listened to. I personally know dozens of child-care providers who were put out of business or who lost their homes because they weren’t paid for months or their pay was arbitrarily reduced. Every time a child-care provider closes up shop, up to 12 families have to scramble for a replacement.
I’ve talked to hundreds of my colleagues about getting a seat at the table by having a union, and I can tell you it’s not about the money. It’s about fixing the broken system, and it’s about respect.
Gov. Jerry Brown knows families in this economy need all the help they can get. One way to do that is to fix our child-care system by giving providers a real voice.
I was celebrating my 52nd birthday recently and reading your editorial saddened me.