Friday, May 7, 2010

Open Letter


The following is a partial re-print of a letter sent by Jaquiline Asher, Emeryville parent, to parents and Emeryville residents. The City Council will decide the fate of the Child Development Center on Tuesday night. Citizens may contact the city council at the city's website at:
www.ci.emeryville.ca.us


To Emeryville residents and parents-

The City Council needs to hear from you right away. If you can't attend
the meeting on May 11th, you need to e-mail.

The future of our Center will be decided in a few days and despite all of
the work that the parents have put into the task force and the concern
they have expressed, the City Manager has said he will recommend complete
outsourcing of the Center to the Berkeley Albany YMCA (BAYMCA).

The final word on ECDC's future rests with the City Council, and they need
to hear from you over the next three days.

Decisions will be made next week. The Center needs your help before May
11th. There are several ways you can help the Center in the final days
before budget meetings:

*Come to the meeting on May 11th @ 6pm at City Hall.
This is where the parents' proposal will be presented. We need to be
visible and supportive of our teachers and Center. If you can't attend,
write an e-mail.

*Write to the Council:
Let them know that you stand behind the parents' proposal and that we have
made serious efforts to create a fiscally responsible model for this
long-standing City service. And after a single year's transition to
institute our plan we will require $0 contribution from the City's General
Fund. The councilmembers' e-mails are below for you to cut and paste.

*Tell them that you don't believe in an income-segregated model of care.
The parent's proposal does not separate kids from one another based upon
income. The City's "parallel" plan does.

*Tell them that they will be getting rid of State-subsidized spots if they
vote for outsourcing
BAYMCA's model relies upon Head Start funding. The families that use the
State subsidy @ ECDC typically earn too much to qualify for that program,
but still need subsidies and deserve reliable childcare. Families at this
income level will not be served if the City goes with outsourcing.

*Accelerated Timetable to outsource:
Patrick O'Keeffe (City Manager) has stated that he will recommend complete
outsourcing of the Center no matter if the budget gap is closed or not.
It's also clear that he favors an accelerated timetable for handover to
BAYMCA if this option is chosen--not the one year's timeline that we
received in the BAYMCA's response to the RFQ.

1 comment:

  1. When will you people learn, the power elite don't care what you want, you can cry and moan and protest all you want, but all they want is for you to SHUT UP, SLAVE!

    In the Morning to you!

    ReplyDelete