Hundreds Rally In Stamford To Demand Action On Child Care

STAMFORD, CT — About 200 people gathered in front of the Stamford Government Center on Tuesday morning to raise awareness and demand action from the state on child care.

The rally, which was attended by many in the child care industry, was part of a slate of events across Connecticut on Tuesday morning. Hundreds of child care programs around the state opened late; the hashtag #MorningWithoutChildCare was created by rally sponsor Child Care For Connecticut's Future.

There were rallies in Bridgeport, Danbury, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Stratford and Waterbury.

Child care workers are asking the state for $700 million to save the child care industry. According to Child Care For CT's Future, parent fees, tuition and state subsidies are not enough to support the child care industry, which is on the verge of collapsing.

The funding would be used to increase wages across the child care system; keep health insurance competitive; increase access to Care4Kids which helps low to moderate income families in Connecticut pay for child care costs; provide scholarships for early childhood education degrees and loan forgiveness; and renovate and expand facilities.

"Parents are struggling to find care, and when they do, it's barely affordable. At the same time, child care providers cannot make ends meet. On top of that, our early educators are not being paid a livable wage. A lot of us are working two and three jobs. Unacceptable," said Anna Witkowski, Chief Education Officer at Children's Learning Centers of Fairfield County.

CLC is the second largest, center-based early-childhood education program in the state of Connecticut, serving nearly 1,000 children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. There are eight centers in Stamford.

"The child care system is broken, and only the government can fix it. Now is the time to rise, make some noise and demand action," Witkowski added.

Rally-goer Lisa Perrellis has been a teacher at CLC in Stamford for 25 years. She said she has worked two jobs to make ends meet — as a tutor, babysitter, independent contractor and Uber Eats driver.

"I was unable to meet the financial needs of my children and myself. This meant working long hours. This meant having no time for my children and myself," she said. "I've gone through many financial hardships due to inadequate pay for teachers such as myself. I found I was not valued as highly as my public school teacher colleagues. I was not paid as much despite the fact that I had the same amount of education and experience. Pre-school teachers are often considered babysitters. We are qualified professionals."

Perrellis said early childhood educators are "heroes," and that fact was highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"[We] shape the lives of children in our community. Why are we treated the way we are — as second class, or not enough?" she added.

Shaquila Ruby Bruno operates several child care sites in Stamford, and started six years ago.

"We have staff working nine to 10 hours a day, and they can only afford a room in Stamford," she said. "Now more than ever, we need the government to fund child care and fix this broken system."

Former Stamford Mayor David Martin spoke at the rally, and said the current situation is a "crisis."

"Day care and child care centers across the state are in financial trouble. Many of them are threatening to close," he said, noting that children, parents and staff would all be "short changed."

"I want to thank all of you," Martin said. "The teachers and all of those people who help with these kids — you are making our future possible."

According to the Women's Business Development Council (WBDC), prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Connecticut providers faced a shortage of 50,000 child care slots. The problem has only been exacerbated over the past two years.

On Wednesday, the WBDC, along with Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and other officials will hold a forum in Stamford to address the current child care industry crisis.

The event will be livestreamed on Facebook.