Dear Senator Kohl-Welles,
During my testimony yesterday you indicated that I wasn't addressing the bill. I apologize for being inarticulate and not well spoken. To make amends and provide clarity as well as identify other pertinent pieces of information I submit this as further testimony on Senate Bill 5572:
I copied below in italics relative portions of the bill for which I provide testimony based on being an expert in child care licensing and having been a child care licensor for 13 years.
Senate Bill 5572: AN ACT Relating to improving quality, access, and stability of
child care....."
Family child care providers in the state have recently been given a similar opportunity, and the results of their efforts have improved standards and quality for that segment of the child care industry.....
The legislature intends to address these problems by creating the possibility for a new relationship between child care center directors and workers and the state...."
My testimony was and is that there is no data to support these words in the bill.
The 10 hour requirement of annual training was taken out of the family home WAC in 2004. SEIU while sitting on the WAC revision committee for the last two years did not request an emergency WAC be adopted to return that training requirement to WAC. I calculated a possible loss of 16,000 hours of training in the last four years.
The SEIU contract called for DEL to provide training on licensing WACs for all the SEIU members covered under the contract during the period of the agreement (which ends June 30, 2009). That hasn't been done and will not be done. I called a DEL manager yesterday; and DEL doesn't even have a list of which providers are covered by the contract to comply with that agreement. I calculated a possible loss of another 8,000 hours of training. Total the two and you get a possible loss of 24,000 hours of training.
SEIU requested to meet with Washington Parents for Safe Child Care. That meeting happened February 4, 2009 at SEIU offices. I participated in that meeting. Kurstyn and Karen Hart were polite and courteous. They are not experts in child care.
SEIU claims they provided training for 700 out of 10,000 providers. 300 of those were "in-home" meaning for example, a grandmother, who is taking care of her grandchildren. Those 300 got paid $600.00 for taking 10 hours of training. They could not tell us who gave the trainings provided, although, from Nancy Gerber's testimony she is giving some of the trainings. There is no training link on SEIU's website.
To summarize SEIU claims to have trained 700 out of 10,000. With the loss of the annual 10 hour training requirement, as well as, DEL and SEIU not putting together the training on the Licensing WACS 4000 out of 10,000 providers could have received training; and they did not.
DEL doesn't know which providers are SEIU to even pull together the licensing WAC training. Another DEL manager thought the 10 hour annual requirement still existed. After I walked her through it she said, "Well, I guess we'd better get it put back in."
I calculate that in the last four years 24,000 hours of possible trainings were lost; yet the drumbeat continues that education and training equal quality.
The SEIU website when it did announce the meeting dates for the Negotiated Rule Making Team (it is no longer there) advised that those attending could only be the selected SEIU rule making members. SEIU did not announce to their rank and file this was a public meeting and by law all could attend and speak.
I see today on their website that SEIU no longer makes the statement that they have 10,000 family child care providers. In one document dated November 2008 they report having 2,145 members.
I see further information that SEIU has violated their contract with the state. The contract reads "Issues involving licensing of providers (including but not limited to denial, compliance agreement, suspension and revocation) are not subject to the grievance process."
I see since I called them out after the last legislative session whereby they were calling for SEIU members to take concerted action against representatives and senators who weren't being subserviant (my word) to SEIU; that that statement was taken off the website.
More and more is coming out about SEIU nationally that behooves all citizens to review and research. Start "googling" and the information is there to be read.
Although, SEIU gave millions to Barack Obama, I believe, President Obama will not consider himself bought by SEIU. I believe the members of the Washington State Senate, also, will not consider themselves bought by SEIU; and will vote no on this bill.
Washington Parents for Safe Child Care's bill written by Senator Kohls-Welles' staff regarding pre-service training in licensed child care is being dropped today. That bill drafted with the assistance of a number of experts in child care area has great potential to addressing the training and quality issues; as well as safety issues.
The $1 million plus taxpayer money just to set up the needle to be inserted in the taxpayers' arms to pump money directly into the SEIU's money bag is too much ever and especially in this economic crisis, please vote no either in committee or let the bill die in the full Senate.
Thank you for your time and consideration in reading my testimony.
Margo Logan
Child Care Consulting in Washington State
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