I believe in the American dream and in education as the route to success. I believe in hard work, charting a path and making it happen. I served in the U.S. Navy, went to college and became a teacher. The day my first child was born, motherhood became my most important job.
Unfortunately, I abruptly became a single mother. Having stayed home with two young children, I hadn’t been in the workforce for a few years. To secure a stable future for my kids, I needed to return to work. I began searching for child care for my children, who were under age 5.
Desperately in need, I went first to the Tucson office of the Arizona Department of Economic Security, where I was confronted with two huge obstacles. First, there was a long waiting list. (As of last month there are 5,090 children and 2,974 parents on the list.) Second, I learned that to even get on the waiting list, I had to already be working.
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You can imagine the impossibility of that situation.
Discouraged, I consulted Child Care Resource & Referral, a local service that helps parents find high-quality child care. They recommended I apply for a scholarship through First Things First’s Quality First program. (There are about 180 of these types of scholarships available in the Tucson area.) After a year on that waiting list, my son received a scholarship and began to attend high-quality preschool. Six months later, my daughter was able to get access to high-quality care, too.
The impact of the scholarships was profound. My children thrived, attending a high-quality preschool that supported their learning and development. What helps parents helps children. I was able to go to work to improve our quality of life. While I worked to provide for my family, I knew my kids were safe and stimulated.
As a mother and an educator, I know that children’s early learning environments have the power to affect their academic success forever. A child who attends high-quality preschool is three times more likely to attend college, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.
I needed scholarships for my children. I had no other options. Many families face challenges like mine; they are discouraged by insurmountable child-care costs and waitlists. When you are offered a job, you need immediate help. You can’t wait.
Seventy-five percent of mothers and 50 percent of fathers in the U.S. have passed up work opportunities, switched jobs or quit work to tend to their children. Families like mine — families that want the best for their children — need and deserve this opportunity. This is why I strongly support Proposition 204.
Proposition 204 — Strong Start Tucson — is a ballot initiative that will be before Tucson voters in November. If approved, nearly 8,000 new preschool scholarships will be available to families like mine. The scholarships are to be awarded on a sliding scale so that Tucson families of all economic backgrounds can participate.
I’ve grown up here in Arizona. I care about our city. I cannot stand to see so many families still struggling. Four out of five Tucson children do not have access to high-quality preschool. We can raise our voices, cast our ballots and change this now.
As children’s rights activist Marian Wright Edelman said: “If we don’t stand for children, then we don’t stand for much.”
Let’s all stand together. This November, vote “yes” on Proposition 204.
