Browsing: Early Education

Legislative reforms mesh with recommendations in Badger Institute paper Sometimes, the most helpful thing a government can do is to…

The Legislature appears ready to confront one of the primary factors driving up childcare costs in Wisconsin: overregulation. Failing to confront this reality would miss an opportunity to improve the affordability and accessibility of childcare without adding to the budget. Eliminating unnecessary or unverifiable regulations can reduce compliance costs for childcare providers without sacrificing quality — savings that they can pass on to families. Fewer regulations will increase competition among childcare providers, return authority to parents and ultimately make childcare more affordable for Wisconsin families.

The landscape of childcare in Wisconsin faces a problem: Evidence suggests that an overemphasis on quality regulation likely has driven some providers out of the market, resulting in fewer low-income children served by Wisconsin Shares, the state’s subsidized childcare program, and less overall parental choice and higher costs, without measurable improvements in outcomes.

Raising children, as can be fully appreciated only after you’ve done it, takes place in real time. They eat, sleep and grow whether you’re ready or not. So as parents supply children with the most crucial material treasure they ever will receive — a stable, loving home — many rely on some outside help in caring for their children while earning a living.

Early childhood and special education teacher Sheila Noordzy has her hands full teaching a class of 18 3-to-5-year-old children in the Chequamegon School District in Park Falls. She often puts in long hours, partly due to federal paperwork that takes her away from working with the children. Federal requirements in special education are especially burdensome, educators tell the Badger Institute in a survey.

The benefits from phonics and direct instruction