Washington, D.C. has rules that require directors of child care centers need a bachelor’s degree in early education, teachers need an associate’s degree in early education, and assistant teachers and caregivers in home-based daycares need a Child Development Associate’s credential. In other words, grandma is not qualified to change a baby’s diaper.
This law was first passed in 2016, but upheld recently after years of litigation and the licensing requirement will go into effect at the end of this year.
With these new regulations, the cost of babysitting will increase and many current caregivers will be out of a job. Will the quality of child care be any better with advanced education? What babies need most is love and attention, not intellectual achievement.
What is the true purpose of this onerous new requirement? The D.C. bureaucrats truly believe that they are better at raising children than parents. The bureaucrats truly believe that they must monitor the children as young as possible.
So if I understand the implications of this D.C. law, young women must get a degree to take care of other people’s children, but if they choose to stay home and mind their own children, then no education is required. Or is the next step in the Socialist Paradise of the District of Columbia to require that all D.C. babies attend government-monitored education camps?
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Anne Schlafly Cori is the daughter of Phyllis Schlafly and Chairman of Eagle Forum.
