Day Without Child Care Rally

media release: Monday, May 8, is the national Day Without Child Care, and the Goodman Community Center preschool and elementary after-school teachers, along with parents of GCC students, plan to use the day to shine a light on the importance of child care in Wisconsin, and specifically in Madison. Teachers, parents and students will rally outside the Goodman Center’s Ironworks building (149 Waubesa St.) at 4:30pm.

“Child care centers are so important to our community,” said Goodman CEO Letesha Nelson. “At the most basic level, without quality child care, parents can’t work. And if parents can’t work, our local businesses and communities suffer. I’m proud of the work our teachers and parents are doing together to advocate for child care workers throughout Madison and the state of Wisconsin.”

Goodman Center parents will be involved in the rally Monday afternoon. Parents know firsthand how important quality child care is, and in the state of Wisconsin and across the country, access to quality child care is becoming more difficult to find. Raising Wisconsin estimates parents pay up to a third of their annual income for child care for two children.

“As a parent, I can't overstate the importance of dependable, high-quality childcare,” said Marcus Trapp, a parent of a Goodman preschool student. “Without it, we’d all need to significantly cut back on how much we’re working and spending. If we want a society that encourages both having children and having work, we need to invest in childcare.”

Goodman parents were inspired by advocacy work teachers began April 5 when they joined Raising Wisconsin and child care workers from across the state to meet with legislators and advocate for the extension of Child Care Counts, a program introduced in 2020 that provided $300 million in relief dollars to support child care programs across the state.

Goodman has used the portion of these funds it received to cover some operational costs, as well as to pay teacher personnel costs and provide hiring bonuses to help with staff recruitment.

“Centers like Goodman provide structure and intentional learning to help our youngest kiddos build a strong foundation for the rest of their lives,” said Samantha Brown, Goodman Director of Child Care. “We need qualified teachers to craft this environment, and we need to ensure we retain those teachers. The Child Care Counts funding is the first step in ensuring the people who care for our kids are cared for as well.”

The Child Care Counts funding has impacted the teachers who are working with kids in child care centers. At Goodman, teachers shared that the extra income has helped give them a little more flexibility when “life happens.”

“The extra income I’ve received has given me peace of mind that if an unexpected expense comes up, I’ll be able to cover it as well as my bills,” said Emily Heimlich, Elementary Program Teacher. “For example, I was hired in November and received a sign-on bonus just before Christmas. I was able to buy gifts for my two kids and provide a memorable Christmas for my girls.”

It will take more than parents and teachers advocating on behalf of child care in Wisconsin. The availability of quality child care impacts everyone in the state. Goodman is asking community members – including businesses and individuals with children and without children – to reach out to their legislative representatives to show their support on including $300 million in funding to support child care in the 2023-25 budget.

Individuals can find contact information for their representatives at maps.legis.wisconsin.gov. Scripts for what to say when calling representatives can be found on raisingwisconsin.org.

“People who take care of people are not valued in our country,” said Maddie Fagerland, Elementary Program Teacher. “I want people to know we take care of people, and there’s value to that.”