Signed Petitions

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Annette Gentry Creative Day School PO Box 9220 Greensboro, NC 27429 336-294-9990 [email protected] March 23, 2011 NC Child Care Commission Members Via email RE: Proposed Rules .0102, .2819, .2820 and .2822 Dear Members of the Child Care Commission, I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules. I believe Certification, in its current form, will increase education requirements on an already heavily burdened workforce. As the rules are proposed, they are extremely confusing and include hidden increases in education required for certain levels. We already have education requirements in place in the rated license which have worked to improve and increase the education of staff statewide. Why do we need more rules and more confusing regulations? The industry cannot afford any additional requirements that will increase the cost of child care. We are currently pricing quality child care above most middle income parents reach and with more costly rules parents will simply withdraw their children and place them in unregulated child care arrangements. Please stop and reconsider the far reaching impact of certification being placed in the child care rules on the child care industry. Thank you for your time, Sincerely, Annette Combs Gentry cc: NCLCCA via email ([email protected] )

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These are all the signed petitions

Transcript of Signed Petitions

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Annette GentryCreative Day SchoolPO Box 9220Greensboro, NC [email protected]

March 23, 2011

NC Child Care Commission MembersVia email

RE: Proposed Rules .0102, .2819, .2820 and .2822

Dear Members of the Child Care Commission,

I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules.

I believe Certification, in its current form, will increase education requirements on an already heavilyburdened workforce. As the rules are proposed, they are extremely confusing and include hiddenincreases in education required for certain levels.

We already have education requirements in place in the rated license which have worked to improveand increase the education of staff statewide. Why do we need more rules and more confusingregulations?

The industry cannot afford any additional requirements that will increase the cost of child care. We arecurrently pricing quality child care above most middle income parents reach and with more costly rulesparents will simply withdraw their children and place them in unregulated child care arrangements.

Please stop and reconsider the far reaching impact of certification being placed in the child care rules onthe child care industry.

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Annette Combs Gentry

cc: NCLCCA via email ([email protected])

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To Whom It May Concern,

In this field there are many qualified persons who are not getting the pay that is deserved for the workthat is done. Some of these teachers have already obtained a degree and year to year the level ofeducation has not changed. We are moving in a direction that is begging to limit more and morepersons from working in this field.

The decision that the legislators are attempting to make pertaining the yearly recertification is obtuseand needs to be thought out truly. Many of these teachers are already doing enough to barely makeends meet. What must we do to have our legislators think this decision out more carefully? What willhappen to the children who are in the care of these great teachers that are now having more financialburdens upon them year to year? There are more tasks at hand that need the legislator’s attentions.Here are some examples.

1. Increase in fuel prices.2. More fathers walking around owing child support3. Increase in the number of underage pregnancies4. Increase in the number of children in the public school systems and decrease in the number of

teachers.

Just to name a few…

M. Brooks HughesTraining Director2508 Lawndale DriveGreensboro NC, 27408

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The Sunshine House #1476533 Hopper Rd.

Fayetteville, NC 28314910-867-9388

March 14, 2011

To Whom It May Concern:

I have never understood the whole purpose of the certification levels; it has caused nothing butconfusion in the child care field. This is a costly program that is causing degreed teachers toleave the Early Child Hood profession. It seems that education is falling at the bottom and it hasturned into a dollar amount, so I ask that you please reconsider the certification so we cancontinue to keep good qualified teachers and provide the quality of service to our children andparents.

Thank you,

Carolyn Pettaway-Director

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Debora K. JonesYoung Children’s Learning Center

184 Council StreetMocksville, NC 27028

[email protected]

March 23, 2011

NC Child Care Commission MembersVia email

RE: Proposed Rules .0102, .2819, .2820 and .2822

Dear Members of the Child Care Commission,

I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules.

I believe Certification, in its current form, is just another way for the State of North Carolina andthe Division of Child Development to pass on extra cost to the providers. The $50.00 perperson to process the certification is astronomical. With 15 employees, well, you do the math.

Then there is the cost of the CEUs. Right now our class hours are being offered by our localSmart Start at no cost to staff or providers. The CEUs will not be offered by the local SmartStart, (what happened? did the local community colleges vote for the right people or what?) Ihave struggled with getting my employees educated or to hire staff with education, now I will bestruggling with getting their CEUs.

The star ratings are enough of a joke, FYI. I lost a point in my toddler room because thechildren have to step up 1 inch instead of ¼ inch.

Enrollment is down and we are struggling to keep our head above water. We’re losing Subsidy,TEACH, Wages, and our local Smart Start.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Debora K. JonesOwner

cc: NCLCCA via email ([email protected])

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Cynthia Denise RhodesThe Sunshine House

3806 Country Club RoadWinston Salem NC

[email protected]

March 23, 2011

NC Child Care Commission MembersVia email

RE: Proposed Rules .0102, .2819, .2820 and .2822

Dear Members of the Child Care Commission,

I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules.

I believe that the Certification, in its current form, is a financial burden to teachers in the childcare field.Due to the current average wage of a childcare worker it is a burden to afford for teachers to go toschool to get the CEU classes. At this present time teachers are required to get in service training andthey send their transcripts into Work Force, this is enough. At the current rate before a teacher caneven start they must have a TB ($50.00), Physical ($75.00), Background ($25.00), Fingerprinting ($25.00),one copy of transcript ($5.00), and this is even before you add getting another transcript to send to thenew purposed Educator Certification Program, which will add additional $50.00 on top of everythingelse. Let’s not forget that we have teachers that are underpaid and have not had a raise in several yearsdue to the state of the economy. We already have enough bureaucracy; we have licensing, sanitation,fire inspection, Smart Start, Environmental Rating Scales, More at Four, etc. This is double the work forall of our Office Management teams to deal with.

WE SAY NO TO CERTIFICATION!

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Denise RhodesCenter Director

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To Whom It May Concern:

There are many unknown items in debate in regards to the teacher certification process and allthat it involves. Our staff both old and new are required to pay for this certification uponemployment, and in our opinion this causes a financial burden to the staff member before theyhave even received an employment check from the school they are working for. In today’stough economy it seems a bit much.

There are also many unanswered questions regarding how employees are certified, what countsand what doesn't, who has access to the transcripts (do they go to workforce and you pull theinformation from them or can they come straight to you and workforce may have access), andwhat exactly each certification covers. I have heard that it is undecided as to howadministrators will be certified. Also the time line for getting certifications back seems to be aback log causing some issues.

I am all for teachers having their education as it provides better opportunities for our children,however I disagree that an outside agency should dictate what level you are at and if you don'tcomplete "X" number of college hours before recertification period you may lose yourcertification.

Please take into careful consideration the impact that these items are having on our schools andteachers before deciding their place in our business.

Sincerely,

Donna ArgoRegional [email protected]: 910-426-7466cell: 910-527-8047

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Linda PiperNCLCCA

Linda,

I have been trying to keep up with the proposed changes that the legislators are trying tomake concerning the certification of our staff. We have staff that have their BS degreesin early childhood education and we thought that was great. Now they are telling us thatthe degree is not enough. Do you realize that certified teachers in our public schoolsystem are not held to these same standards? In many cases staff can not afford to evenpay the fee to be recertified much less to take on more college classes to keep their job.What can we do to let our legislators know that they are on the WRONG track? Many ofour staff are mothers who work full time. Some are single parents who are doing the bestthat they can. What will happen to these qualified teachers when they loose their jobsbecause of the changes we are about to make.

This will be a financial burden for all. When we have to pay them even more to getbetter qualified that will force us to raise our rates hurting everyone involved includingthe families that we serve. We need to get the message out there that this will not helpthe children of NC but will hurt them instead.

Any thing that you can do will be greatly appreciated.

JoAnne WhaleyCenter DirectorThe Sunshine House4955 Samet DriveHigh Point NC 27265

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Lynda TurlingtonSolid Foundations Inc.

PO Box 100Olivia, NC 28368

[email protected]

March 8, 2011

NC Child Care Commission MembersVia email

RE: Proposed Rules .0102, .2819, .2820 and .2822

Dear Members of the Child Care Commission,

I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules.

Let me begin by saying that as an early childhood professional I am pleased to be able to seek out Certification as anindividual however, as a child care director I oppose making Certification a licensing rule for the following reasons:

* The cost associated with this certification is another added burden to people entering the early childhood field. Whenwe hire staff they must have a TB, a health physical, a criminal history check and fingerprints. This adds up to become alarge amount of money spent before we will hire anyone. With the Certification as a law this would add an additionalcost burden to entry level staff who will only make $7.25 - $8.00 per hour.

* As a 5 star More at Four program that is working toward NAEYC accreditation we already are trying to seek out highlyeducated staff. We are already mandated by More at Four to hire individuals with B-K license as teachers and AssociateDegree individuals as Assistant teachers. As a program that is of high quality we already have in place a point systemwithin the license that requires us to have a highly educated staff. We have the documentation needed (transcripts) toprove that they meet the requirements. Why then would we have to have a child care rule that adds another form ofdocumentation?

* We hire many support staff that may currently view this job as "babysitting" but that quickly changes because as aprogram we have the following motto "Equip, Educate and Empower." This takes time as we grow professional earlychildhood educators within our program. We offer WAGE$, TEACH and our own incentives to encourage professionaldevelopment. As a program we would push for staff to seek Certification, why then must this become another rule thatwe will be penalized for if it is not met?

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Lynda Turlington, Executive Director

cc: NCLCCA via email ([email protected])

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Our Fathers Children Inc. Daycare & Learning Center2295 N Horace Walters Rd

Raeford, NC 28376 910-875-8167Perryoberryministries @yahoo.com

March 8, 2011

NC Child Care Commission MembersVia email

RE: Proposed Rules .0102, .2819, .2820 and .2822

Dear Members of the Child Care Commission,

I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules.

I believe Certification, in its current form, is individual. Yet the center will suffer theconsequences if the individual has health issues, financial difficulties or extendedperiods out of the workforce that prevent furthering their education. Other issues suchas budget cuts at the community college and courses filling up quickly can also preventan individual from being able to renew certification and will result in their termination.

We already have two scales and soon to be two additional endorsements to thosescales. How many more will follow? By acknowledging Certification in the child carerule, the Commission is ultimately accepting any future decision the Institute will make.

Governor Perdue and the new state legislative leadership say "No more unnecessaryrules.”

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Rebecca O’Berry/Director

cc: NCLCCA via email ([email protected])

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3/14/11

Dear Linda,

I am writing you to express my concerns regarding the EEC certification process. I hadsubmitted my staff’s information back in October and we have not had one of thecertificates come back to show the levels that the girls are at. It is also hard to ask a newemployee to give a check for $50.00 to this organization when we have not received thepromised documents ourselves. I think they have made many demands on our teachersthat are unrealistic and in many not obtainable. I believe we will lose many of our longterm teachers for not going back to school as quickly as they would like them to. Thesalaries in preschool are not high enough to substantiate a full school schedule at thecollege level. Will the demand for higher salaries increase parent weekly tuitions? Thiswill greatly impact the many families already struggling to pay for a quality preschoolprogram- isn’t that what we want in the long run – to have the privilege to educate theyoung children in our community and help mold great little individuals who are ready tomeet the challenges of Kindergarten and beyond.

From an administrator’s stand point, I am frustrated with the whole process – we cram somuch information to our new employees with all of the rules and regulations, take theirmoney and submit transcripts and then they receive nothing – it is difficult to explain thatthey are holding $50.00 and they have nothing to show for it. How can they do that? Ialso find it difficult to find the funds and time to have teachers out of their classrooms toobtain more training hours to fulfill this requirement. It is hard enough to find someduring the day and to get coverage, but some are only offered at night and again we areasking them to do more after putting in a full day of 100% dedication to their students.How are they compensated for this as well not to mention the strain financially on theschools who are trying to make ends meet and meet their budgets.

This whole process in my opinion was not thought out well enough and I do not thinkthat they have polled the appropriate amount of educators in the field doing it each dayand managing schools throughout North Carolina.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns and I hope to see more resolution tothe concerns that Early Educators and Administrators have with the program.

Sincerely,

Robyn AdamsCenter DirectorThe Sunshine House # 116

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March 14, 2011

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to let you know that I am against the new early childhoodcertification rules. My staff, most of whom make less than $10/hour, areforced to pay $50 to mail their transcripts and credentials into the state, onlyto receive a paper certificate months later. This cost is on top of their out-of-pocket costs to be fingerprinted, background checked and TB-tested at thetime of hire. In addition, they are required to be re-certified every threeyears and pay for continuing education courses that they must squeeze in totheir already busy schedules. This is putting a burden on child care centersthat are losing high-quality teachers whom are underpaid and over-qualified.We are constantly hiring and training new staff at lower pay rates who willeventually leave for more money as well, perhaps choosing a newprofession.

The red tape for child care professionals must be stopped, and certification isa good place to start.

Sincerely,

Sally W. Lehmann, DirectorDebra Miller, Co-DirectorThe Sunshine House5825 Phyliss LaneMint Hill, NC [email protected]

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Tonia PenningtonCreative Day School1010 Williamson Ave

Elon, NC 27244336-584-5678

[email protected]

March 23, 2011

NC Child Care Commission MembersVia email

RE: Proposed Rules .0102, .2819, .2820 and .2822

Dear Members of the Child Care Commission,

I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules.

I believe Certification, in its current form, will not benefit child care as a whole. We havetenior staff that have been with us for many years, whom have continued to get their 15semester credits hours to be considered a lead. These ladies have been out of schoolfor a long time and worked very hard to meet this level. And, now they are having tobeing forced to go back for more. I feel like we are just booting them out the door as ifthey do not exist. I do think that Child Care is very important and that we all can makean impact on a child’s development, but I do not feel like this certification is a way todo that. I feel like you are trying to put child care out of business by going on to thecertification. The CEU training can have some beneficial information for child careteachers, but it should be optional to take semester long courses and not required. Youare going to loose many loving, nurturing staff and we will have to replace them withteachers who could care less about the child’s interest. We, as child care directors willbe forced to hire just anyone off the streets, and not someone who really wants to carefor our children. Please reconsider this Certification requirement.

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Tonia Pennington

cc: NCLCCA via email ([email protected])

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The Sunshine House #148324 Teal DriveRaeford, NC 28376March 14, 201910-875-7727

To whom it may concern:

As a child care provider, I am very concern about the certification levels that arebeing proposed as additions to rated license education levels. My concerns areadditional cost parents will have to pay to already costly child care and whathappens when TEACH runs out of scholarship money. These are very realconcerns! Providers and parents are struggling now to stay ahead of what isneeded to provide quality childcare. It seems every time we reach one goal, youare moving it further away to keep us from obtaining our ultimate goal! We aregoing to lose quality degree teachers in our preschools if you force them to goback and continue to take college courses. I ask you to please, reconsider yourposition on this matter and consider what is best for our children, parents,teachers and providers.

Sincerely,

Valerie Sutton, Director

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Valerie M. WestonABC Adventures118 Industrial Dr

Louisburg, NC 27549919-496-2886

[email protected]

March 8, 2011

NC Child Care Commission MembersVia email

RE: Proposed Rules .0102, .2819, .2820 and .2822

Dear Members of the Child Care Commission,

I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules.

I believe Certification, in its current form, is more than enough for directors/owners to deal with. Thecurrent Certification makes more paperwork, cost more in transcripts and postage, and contact withmore agencies. Again, I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules.

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Valerie M. Weston

cc: NCLCCA via email ([email protected])

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March 28, 2011

Dear Esteemed Commissioners,

Please accept this letter on behalf of Building Blocks Child Care and Development Centers as our officialopposition to the Early Educator Certification being entered into DCD rule. We believe that as a five starfacility our staff already more than exceeds the minimum educational qualifications for facilities andthat EEC simply adds more paperwork and expense to our already over-regulated system.

We are also bothered by the seemingly underhanded tactics that the Institute has employed in order topush this process through the legislature without any public input and basically frightened everyone intobecoming certified. And now because many of us took advantage of the free certification process, theInstitute is claiming that because we are certified we are in support of the process, which simply is nottrue.

While fundamentally not opposed to individual certification, we believe this should be a voluntaryprocess. While the Institute claims that certification will put more responsibility on each individual childcare professional, it will ultimately be the facility that is out of compliance or breaking the law when anindividual is not certified or their certification expires.

Other issues we have with certification are as follows:

EEC levels are not equivalent to current star rated license educational levels and may causefacilities to lose stars

CEU’s are quite expensive and difficult to find The number of CEU’s required for renewal is, in some cases, double what current in-service

hours are The time for current staff to find and take courses is unrealistic, not to mention expensive Facilities may have to fire staff at the end of their renewal period if they have not found enough

CEU’s to take We already ask under-paid workers to pay over $150 in pre-employment requirements (TB test,

physical, criminal background check, drug screen) and we are now going to implement another$50 for certification?

These are but a few issues we have with Early Educator Certification becoming part of the DCD rules andregulations. Please see our attached petitions where several of our staff has signed in opposition of EECbecoming rule. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about our position. Thank you.

Sincerely,Lisa A. KyesLisa A. KyesCenter Director

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Primary Beginnings, LLCP.O. Box 97245Raleigh, N.C. [email protected]

March 21, 2011

NC Child Care Commission MembersVia email

RE: Proposed Rules .0102, .2819, .2820 and .2822

Dear Members of the Child Care Commission,

I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules.I have been in the field for over 25 years. I’ve watched our field become more educated and moreprofessional. As an advocate for the Early Childhood field, I believe we’ve made great strides in doingwhat is right for the children.

My issue with the certification process is that it’s mandatory and we were not given a choice. I was partof the focus group in the beginning and was supportive of the process when it was a volunteer process.We currently have 59 staff members. 24 staff members are single mothers of which only 9 have familysupport and have completed their degree. This leaves us with 15 staff members that will struggle tofigure out how to get 60 CEUs or 3 college courses in the next 3 years while raising a family without anysupport. Will we have to terminate 15 staff members in 3 years? Many of these staff members havealready said they need to go to school during the day because they don’t have anyone to keep theirchildren at night. And on top of that, they need to maintain a 40 hour work week, to be able tofinancially care for their children.

The Certification scale does not match the rated license education scale. A teacher with an AA degree inEarly Childhood is recognized on the same NCECEPC level as someone in school for their degree.However in the rated license scale, the degree lead teacher would be 7 points while the one in schoolwould be 5 points.

The proposal is to add the language to give us a choice between the rated license scale OR theCertification scale. However in a few years, one of the scales would be dropped from the language andwe’ll be left with the scale that requires all teachers to go back to school.

While all these issues need to be taken to the legislators and is not in your control, what is in yourcontrol is not to add more language to our existing rules.

Sincerely,

Lara Siffer, President

cc: NCLCCA via email ([email protected])

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March 18, 2011

To Whom it may concern:

Our center is opposed to the certification rule. Child care employees can notafford the high cost of CEU credits. We already work a full day, not getting offuntil 6:00, when would we have time to take more college credits? Thecertification itself is very expensive- we do not make enough money per hourcurrently to support our families, how can we afford more money out of pocketfor certification?

From a director's stand point how will I have enough staff members to coverthose out of the work place to get CEU credits? The reason children in earlychildhood learn and develop is consistency among their teachers and a consistentroutine each day. Taking teachers away for classes at a community college eachday would really be detrimental. Our center did participate in the freecertification period, only because I was scared not to.

I do not support the certification becoming a rule.

Amy HatleyOwner/Director

All Star Learning Center34455 Springdale Dr.New London, NC 28127704-463-4422

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The Children’s Room131 Masondale AvenueDurham, N.C. 27707(919)682-9294March 18, 2011

Dear Commission:

It is with great concern that I address this committee concerning a rule on Early ChildhoodCertification. The first concern I have is a separate organization outside of the Division of ChildDevelopment setting standards of operation that have not been first approved by the division.I think this will be very confusing. There is still a great lag in star rating/education levels andthe childcare market rate. Overall if childcare programs passed on the cost of quality care tothe general population, quality care would not be obtainable. This Certification is anotherdirect hit against making quality an attainable goal for the majority of individually ownedprograms.The ECC recognizes CEU’s which(the majority of those training opportunities) aremore expensive than training hours. Childcare programs are still absorbing the cost of thetransition to star rating system.

Please follow the request of Governor Purdue and do not continue to make unnecessary rules.The division of child development should be at the forefront and any policies that concern childdevelopment in North Carolina not an afterthought. We do not need another agency to befunded by the state, and providers do not need another agency (set of rules) to follow. Pleasedo not make a rule in accordance with the ECC.

Thank you for your time and consideration

Sincerely,

Danielle Caldwell

:drc

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To Whom It May Concern:

We would like to express first and foremost how important quality child care is for children andfamilies. We are in support of increasing the quality of care given to children and families in the state ofNorth Carolina. We are in support of educating child care givers and early childhood teachers. We agreewith raising the bar and striving for the best for each and every child. Early childhood teachers reachchildren when others cannot. They are allowed into children’s lives to help shape them, help them learn,to teach them a love of learning and of life. Early childhood educators can play a distinctive role in achild’s discovery of learning. To be the hope, the light, or the understanding to a child that needs itrequires so much from a teacher.

Some teachers, as children, don’t have the opportunity for a higher education. Many opportunities aremissed due to financial needs, time, and sometimes lack of encouragement. We need to question themeans in which we are seeking higher quality child care. Teachers who make nine dollars an hoursupporting themselves cannot afford to pursue an education or even costly CEU’s. If we strive for thebest, we need to offer resources, positive reinforcement and encouragement. We need to createopportunity, not mandate unreachable requirements. If centers, corporations, and even non-for profitorganizations are required to pay to reach such requirements we all need to be aware of all affected bythis decision. In meeting these extra financial needs, directors, board members, teachers, families, andmost important of all the children are all affected. Tuition prices will be raised in an already hardeconomic time causing families more stress and sometimes children to not attend a place they havegrown to love, feel comfortable and secure every day. We feel the effects of financial burden alreadyand that burden needs to be made lighter instead of heavier. If state mandated regulations areenforced, there needs to be an immediately available way provided by the state to reach, maintain, andsurpass all regulations. We can all make a difference everyday in every child’s life whether we are in aclassroom or in an office.

Sincerely,

Debbie Chitou; Center Director

Elizabeth Hughes; Assistant Director

The Sunshine House

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Gail Windsor, DirectorFirst Baptist Child Development Center400 S. Broad StreetBurlington, NC 27215(336)[email protected]

March 18, 2011

NC Child Care Commission MembersVia email

RE: Propose Rules .0102, .2819, .2820 and .2822

Dear Members of the Child Care Commission,

I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules.

I believe Certification in its current form has created a whole net set of education standards, anotherplace to send transcripts, another website to learn to maneuver and another "body" deciding all kinds ofthings about training, who can train, what will count, etc.

The proposed options include using Certification levels to meet education standards. This will alsoincrease the number of semester hours required for staff at certain point levels and in certain staffcategories.

CEU'S cost more than training hours, therefore renewal of certification will cost more than it costs to meetthe current standard for annual training hours. The flexible programs that allow CEU'S to be earned onthe teacher's time schedule wuill be much more expensive placing a fininancial burden on the teacherand/or the center.

We already have two scales and soon to be two additional endorsements to those scales. If theCommission acknowledges Certification in the child care rule, they will be accepting any future decisionthe Institute will make.

North Carolina doesn't need another bureaucracy....we already have licensing, Smart Start, More at Four,Resource & Referral.

I am tired of unnecessary rules and red tape!

Governor Perdue and the state legislative leadership say "No more unnecessary rules". GovernorPerdue's Executive Order #70 --Stop creation of any new rules unless absolutely necessary.

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Gail Windor, Director

cc:NCLCCA via email([email protected])[email protected]@[email protected]

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Hazel KennedyTwo By Two Early Childhood Development Center607 McBrayer Homestead RoadShelby, NC 28152(704) [email protected]

March 17, 2011

NC Child Care Commission MembersVia email

RE: Proposed Rules .0102, .2819, .2820 and .2822

Dear Members of the Child Care Commission,

I urge you to NOT add Certification language to child care rules.

I believe Certification, in its current form, will put many child care centers out of business. Wewill not be able to hire any staff with these ridiculous requirements.

Where is the money going to come from to pay for the higher cost of CEUs? Who will pay staffhigher salaries when they take extra coursework? Why would they stay in a job that is nowsaying their degree in early childhood development is not enough?

Please reconsider this proposed rule. It is disheartening enough to struggle with what theeconomy has done to us and the high Unemployment Tax Rate, and now you are addinganother burden.

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Hazel KennedyPresident, Two By Two ECDC, Inc.Shelby, NC

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We are a Developmental Day Center and have MANY rules and regulations to follow.We were led to believe that Certification was already required for all staff membersother than certified teachers. We have applied for certification for all of our staffeven though we think it is totally unnecessary and just one more hoop to jumpthrough. I already have a Master's Degree in special education and am a Level IIIadministrator. What can this certification possibly do for me other than give me morepaperwork to fill out?

Please vote to repeal this certification.

Janet SellersExecutive DirectorFrankie Lemmon School & Developmental CenterRaleigh.

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3-15-2011

I would like to express how I feel about the changes being forced on us in the childcare industry.

It is hard to find qualified staff with the requirements the state mandates today. Work Force is still keepingus months behind and now this additional burden. Staff does not have money to pay for all the educationalrequirements with making an average of $10. They would need to spend time from home, work andpersonal activities with family in order to meet the new requirement. This will be a great financial burden onour staff.

No reason to change something before we have worked out all the issues of our present agencies. WorkForce has been here for years and still not caught up so why anyone would be allowed to add somethingelse is beyond my comprehension?

Who WILL pay?

When would they get all the extra educational classes when they have family obligations and full time jobs?Some work 2 jobs to make ends meet.

How does this really improve a child’s daily experiences or future? I have many GREAT teachers that donot have the formal education and provide much better classrooms from experience than ones withdegrees from books and formal educational classrooms.

How can you enforce something no one has any knowledge of even being discussed prior? Even our stateconsultants did not know about this or how to answer our questions.

Who does the certification really benefit?

As we rushed to meet the deadline for early processing to avoid the $50, where did it say it would expirebefore regular participants and therefore causing us to meet the ongoing requirements earlier?

How was this program communicated so actual participants would completely understand what wasexpected long term before sending anything in to be processed? Someone should care enough to findways to stabilize what we already have, then you will be able to see what is broken that needs fixing. Now,after going through the recession, is not the right time to add additional mandates and more burden on us.Help us be strong in North Carolina. Do not allow the rules to change without regard to impact long term toour childcare industry and give a chance to hear our voices prior to making new rules.

Regards,

Jeanne ArnwineRegional DirectorThe Sunshine House

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March 17, 2011

To Whom It May Concern,

As a child care administrator the continuous rule changes andimplementation of new policies is absolutely outrageous! The fact that wenow have to send a whole new form and transcripts in for certification on allour staff is just too much. Would you please give us a break and let ustake care of the children!!!

The amount of time and money it takes to meet all these new requirementsis overwhelming. Enough is enough! I agree that certain rules andrequirements need to be in place to ensure the safety and well-being of thechildren but we seem to be losing sight of the children in our attempts to"professionalize" the early childhood program. My parents at our centercouldn't care less about my teacher's degree or certification. They careabout how that teacher treats their child and meets their needs. We needto stop trying to pattern our field after the public school system and getback to the caring and nurturing of the children.

Marilyn KennedyAdministratorDeep Run Child Care Center

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Hi Linda,

I do not support certification as being part of the rules that day cares must support bothfinancially and sending in paper work. If it becomes part of the rules, we should beinformed as to what part of training or and schooling it replaces.

I do not remember putting my name on a list. However, I can’t say that someone put myname on the list either. Please remove my name from the list in support of certificationbeing part of the rules until I know how it will affect me both positive and negative.

Thanks,

Nettie

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I was asked to fill out a "survey monkey" concerning the Early Educator Certification. I hada misunderstanding with the survey. I took it to "ask" if I would be in support of centralizingwhere to send in transcripts etc. I DO NOT SUPPORT THE EARLY EDUCATORCERTIFICATION. I DO NOT SUPPORT IT BEING A RULE.

This certification should have been in the works 30 years ago - not now. Childcare workersCANNOT afford on their wages to pay for school. As a director, I feel I cannot pay for anycollege classes for my staff. My fear is they would not stay with my program and where isthe money going to come from to pay college educated childcare workers?

Vonda KruegerSandBox Director -- KLINGSPOR Abrasives, Inc.

Phone: 828-326-0286 Fax: 828-326-0303The Most Sanding Power for Your Money Since 1893!

http://www.klingspor.com