Are you a member of your state chapter of National Child Care Association (NCCA)?
Today, the New Mexico Child Care Association (NMCCA) proved that collectively “we” do make a difference. “Emails, calls, letters, rallies at the Roundhouse made a HUGE difference, as first the Senate Finance Committee and then the Legislature as a whole approved $11 million in additional funding for early childhood education in both the Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD) and the Public Education Department (PED)”. Before that last-minute change, early childhood programs had been facing at least $9 million in new cuts on top of other cuts made in recent months. NMCCA rallied their membership and made things happen.
The money is from 25 cents of the additional 75-cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes that was approved by the Legislature and that now goes to Gov. Bill Richardson for his signature. Sen. Beffort’s amendment put more money into early learning for not just for 4-year-olds but for children as young as 6 weeks old who are in early childhood programs because their parents work, she said. Her amendment changed the earmarking of 25 cents of the cigarette tax increase from K-12 education (as the House had decided) to early childhood education. Sen. Beffort’s amendment passed without dissent.
That’s the power of collective action, of a collective voice. Get involved in your State’s Association. As an NCCA member, you can save on health care insurance for you and your child care center employees, and get to experience firsthand the strength and beauty of collective efforts.
