On Television: Early Childhood Education Or Daycare?
On my weekly segment with Chris Berg last night on 6:30 Point of View we talked about the vote on the early childhood education bill yesterday in the House.
Supporters of the bill keep dressing it up as academics – and they’re winning, because the bill passed though with diminished scope – but it’s hard not to see it as subsidized daycare. And you don’t have to take my word for it. The supporters of the bill made that argument during the floor debate.
Rep. Cynthia Schreiber-Beck, Rep. Gail Mooney, amd Rep. Marie Strinden all made comments about how the bill (see the video) would enhance not academics but childcare services.
The Fargo Forum’s blistering (and factually inaccurate) editorial attacked opponents of the bill not so much on the basis of academics but because they supposedly want women to stay at home with the kids.
Heck, Rep. Josh Boschee had to correct himself in this news story about the vote. He starts by describing the legislation as a child care bill, but then has to correct himself and refer to it as an education bill.
It seems to me that if we want to pass daycare subsidies, we should just call them daycare subsidies.
