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Legislation introduced
for a Maine child advocate
(February
2008 Issue)
By Elinor Nelson
Speaking about early childhood education programs, Maine Majority
Whip Sean Faircloth (D-Bangor) says, "It's the best economic return
for the state because children will develop easier and need fewer
services." Not investing in young children, he adds, is "totally
lacking in vision for our society." Even with a $90 million Maine
budget shortfall, Faircloth points out that every budget has "some
new money for something" and he's hopeful that even business conservatives
will review the data and "understand that this is where our money
needs to go."
Faircloth has been co-chairing the bipartisan Commission to Develop
a Strategic Priorities Plan for Maine's Young Children, which planned
in January to issue a unanimous report to the Legislature calling
for $700,000 to create a Child Advocate's Office to explore the
types of investments and services the state should support. In response
to critics who charge that the money would be wasted on yet another
government bureaucracy, Faircloth says that the state needs a "business
plan specific to the area" to assess the number of children in each
age group throughout the state who requires child care, as well
as an economic analysis of whether tax credits or subsidies for
parents, child care providers or businesses would be most effective.
The Child Advocate would also create a coordinated children's budget
for the state; at the moment, there is no mechanism to assess statewide
spending on children. Part of the $700,000 would be earmarked for
"scholarships" for child care provider education.
Faircloth says it's time to change priorities in Maine, where 46,000
children under five live in homes with two working parents, but
only 24,000 child care slots are licensed. Maine Department of Labor
statistics show that Maine pedicurists are paid more than child
care workers and Maine animal trainers are paid double.
Faircloth hopes that legislators and private industry respond to
studies like those conducted by Nobel prizewinning economist James
Heckman, who concluded that while job-training programs offer a
good return, they pale in comparison to the dramatic results gained
from early childhood programs. Faircloth hopes that Maine will follow
in the heels of Minnesota, which developed a strong plan for children's
expenditures and was successful in encouraging major corporations
to help fund the initiatives.
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