ALERT!!!

Minnesota Private Childcare to Become Public  

Parent Aware Component Pushes Tax Payer Subsidizing of Private Business

 Great Start & Senate Clones Do the Work of the Constitutional Amendment

Is it just possible that the Parent Aware system has been the catalyst to do away with non-public childcare and preschools in America? Remember that the Parent Aware system (QRIS) is a federally-devised program which our state adopted.  The optimum 4-stars were automatically given to the public schools venues and big chain centers immediately. No questions asked. (Read HF 1, Great Start, Article 2, to see the similarities between the Great Start and the Constitutional Amendment at the bottom of the article.)

The home-based and small centers were put on the slow path, receiving immediate 2 and 3 stars and forced to wait a few years for a better rating. Can you imagine? We’ve seen the damage to the private childcare industry with our own eyes as it declined 37% from 2012 to 2017. Truth is, they’re not hiding it anymore!

Within HF 1 and SF 3606 – Sens. Nelson, Relph, Wiger – some legislators apparently desire a complete takeover the private childcare market. The legislature has announced we have a “crisis,” which is one of their own making! The legislature now moves to “fix it.” Do you see how this works? (Sen. Nelson’s SF 3606 will be heard in Sen. Abeler’s, Health & Human Resources Committee, Monday, March 16^th.) Let us hope forward motion on these bills slow down!

 New language clearly demonstrates that the legislature is locking down Parent Aware as a permanent fixture here in Minnesota. But why? Here you see Parent Aware is no longer a framework but a permanent, established program.

 124D.142 QUALITY RATING AND IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM

• Subdivision 1, System established. (a) There is established a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) framework, known as Parent Aware, to ensure that Minnesota’s children have access to high-quality early learning and care programs in a range of settings so that they are fully ready for kindergarten by 2020. Creation of a

As parent aware becomes a permanent program, additional components of the system are also made permanent. Here is the language that will INCREASINGLY remove private childcare in our state. What is the meaning of “increase”? Will this occur quickly and how quickly? Regardless of the timeline, this is NOT a good measure.

• (2) (3) a tool to increase the number of publicly funded and regulated early learning and care services in both public and private market programs that are high quality.;

PUBLIC SCHOOL will be increasingly the ONLY OPTION available to parents and kids in the early learning and care services.

 The legislature moves to “INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PUBLICLY FUNDED AND REGULATED EARLY LEARNING AND CARE SERVICES IN BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE MARKET PROGRAMS.” This is a takeover of the private market.

 Taxpayers, this is you!! You are going to now fund (increasingly) all of the private childcare market as well as the public!

If the private childcare market is transformed into public childcare, can we assume that K-12 might not be too far away? In the end, EDUCATION BECOMES ALL PUBLIC! In the end, EDUCATION IS WHOLLY OWNED BY THE GOVERNMENT!

I. Do you remember that the Constitutional Amendment embedded a fundamental right to make all education high-quality public education?

 What else would become permanent? Direct statements from the federal Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (2011) grant. Article 2, Subd. 2 (2), Line 3.19, pg 3.

• (2) a framework shall be based on the Minnesota quality rating system rating tool and a common set of child outcome and program standards and informed by evalution results;

This “common set of child outcomes and program standards” refers to the Common Core Standards for birth to 5.

 II. Do you remember that the Constitutional Amendment embedded the “achievement standards” which are the Common Core Standards? Are you connecting dots?

 What else?

If a childcare business voluntarily chooses to participate in Parent Aware, their families can access CCAP and Early Learning Scholarship monies. But if you’re not in Parent Aware, nope! Parent Aware is just that important.

 Under the guise of a “high-quality” rating system, Parent Aware is being used to embed the Common Core Standards into our Minnesota Early Learning Laws and increasingly transform all private childcare to public. What effect will this have on homeschoolers?

(4) voluntary participation so that if a program or provider chooses to participate, the program or provider will be rated and may receive public funding associated with the rating. The state shall develop a plan to link future early learning and care state funding to the framework in a manner that complies with federal requirements; and

Line 3.25 and 3.26 includes some language they are striking re: our state’s federal compliance.

At what point must all childcare small businesses have a 3 or 4 star-rating for families to receive grant money?  2022! It was supposed to be this year. That day is coming!

EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY

• Subdivision 4 (2) beginning July 1, 2020 2022 have a three-or-four-star rating in the quality rating and improvement system.

And?

Tracking! Article 2, Subd 2 (5), Line 3.27, pg. 3

• (3) (5) tracking progress toward statewide access to high-quality early learning and care programs, progress toward the number of low-income children whose parents can access quality programs, and progress toward increasing the number of children who are fully prepared to enter kindergarten.

What are they tracking? The increase in the number of low-income families enrolling their children into Parent Aware programs AND the increase of all families in Parent Aware programs.

The legislature wants to track increases in Parent Aware -enrolled programs which evidently will all be public shortly.

 III. Do you remember that the Constitutional Amendment requires that all schools must offer a “high-quality” public school education? What if a child or parent purports their education experience to be less than “high-quality”? The schools and quite possibly the teachers will be sued!

House File 1 and Senate File 3606 (Great Start) are very dangerous bills that remove private childcare increasingly replacing with public education.  Additionally, this section seeks to embed Common Core Standards into the Birth to 5 realm, track the increase of families enrolling in Parent Aware childcare

Neither the Amendment nor Great Start will close the achievement gap. HF 1: https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/comm/docs/2e8fc33f-0ee3-446e-b702-59fa503de770.pdf

SF 3606: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?f=SF3606&b=senate&y=2020&ssn=0

Whether taking the accelerated route by adopting a Constitutional Amendment or taking the near-accelerated route with Great Start, some Minnesota legislators are making it clear, “We seek to remove educational options and We’re coming for your children!”