By Jackie Mader

When schools in northern California shut down in mid-March due to the coronavirus, Casino Fajardo and his wife did their best to balance watching their children while working full-time. For several months, they switched off supervising their children, 5 and 9, while taking back-to-back video calls and responding to in-person work responsibilities, which were at times required for Fajardo in his role as construction director for a local school district. Both often stayed up until midnight or later to catch up on work.  

It was impossible to provide much attention to their kids. “Honestly, other than turning around to make sure they’re not breaking something or making sure they have a snack, it’s difficult for us to really be engaged with them,” Fajardo said. They knew they needed help, especially with more distance learning looming as the school year began. 

But they had few options. Their children’s grandparents are elderly and more at risk of contracting coronavirus. Joining a “pod” with several families would be complicated and expensive; some parents are spending upwards of $1,000 a month per child to do so this year. Instead, the Fajardo’s turned to their local YMCA for help. Their children began attending a local center for daily care that evolved into distance learning support when school started in August.  

At the Y, their children receive meals, time to play outside and extension activities, like science class, all at a cost that is subsidized for many families and free to others, depending on the location of the center and each family’s income.  

The continuation of distance learning has put millions of families in an untenable position: in 2019, 76 percent of mothers and 92 percent of fathers whose youngest child was between the age of 6 and 17 were employed. Affluent parents have turned to pricey options such as pods, tutoring centers or karate and dance studios that have transformed to offer distance learning supervision (some advertise prices that run upwards of $14,000 each semester). But a few organizations, including the YMCA, have stepped up to provide crucial, free or affordable child care assistance.  

Urban Promise, a nonprofit that runs a summer camp, afterschool program and mentorship program for children and teenagers in Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of them. This school year, the organization has pivoted to all-day care and distance learning support for more than 200 children who live in low-income neighborhoods in the city.  

“Normally, it’s only in the afterschool hours [when parents decide], ‘Do I go to work to earn money for my family and leave my kids at home alone … or do I forego work during those hours and be present with my children but forego making a salary to support my children?’” said Jimmy McQuilkin, executive director of Urban Promise. “Now instead of making that decision three hours a day, they’re making that decision the entire day.” 

McQuilkin said Urban Promise hopes to solve “the impossible choice” parents are facing. This school year, the nonprofit will host small groups of students at several churches around the city supervised by classroom facilitators at no cost for parents. Children will receive breakfast and lunch each day and enrichment activities like art in the afternoon.  

As these organizations step up to provide child care and supervision, there are still immense challenges. The YMCA typically relies on college students to staff its afterschool program, but those students aren’t necessarily available during the day. And Urban Promise will spend more than $200,000 this year for 30 to 35 new staff members who will supervise small groups of students, on top of its regular program expenses. Organizations also have to account for added costs for cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment for employees.  

Program officials say they’re determined to overcome these challenges. “The reality we know now is children in low-income families fell further behind in the spring and I think that was accentuated with the normal summer learning loss,” McQuilkin said. “There is academic urgency of making sure this is a school year when students don’t fall further behind.”  

For Fajardo, having affordable child care has boosted the academic success of his children. It’s also helped everyone’s mental health. He and his wife have been able to work full time once again during the day and his children have received more attention and support with their schoolwork than they would have received at home. “I don’t know what we would do without the YMCA being available,” Fajardo said. “It’s reduced our stress tremendously.”

• This piece by Zaidee Stavely for EdSource looks at how some low-income families are turning to family members, neighbors and friends for distance learning supervision.  
• This article by Megan Leonhardt for CNBC highlights how distance learning could lead to a lost ‘generation of working parents.’  

• Voters care about child care: More than 80 percent of voters say high-quality, affordable child care for families with young children is an essential service, just like health care and education, according to a new poll released by the First Five Years Fund. Fifty-three percent of American voters think federal funding should be increased for quality early education and nearly 80 percent say the Covid-19 crisis has shown how important a robust, high-quality child care system is for the country. In a new report from the Center for American Progress which surveyed registered voters, 60 percent of American parents said there is a serious problem finding quality, affordable child care in their community, and 40 percent said the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the challenge in terms of availability and costs of child care. 
• State of the system: As of July 2020, 35 percent of child care centers and 21 percent of family child care programs remained closed nationwide due to the coronavirus pandemic. About half of the 32 states that submitted data to Child Care Aware of America reported they have lost more than 25 percent of their child care capacity. 
• Online learning: Sixty-six percent of young children had a difficult or very difficult time adjusting to online learning or remote schooling, according to a new survey of parents and early childhood teachers by Defending the Early Years. Preschool teachers reported that it was difficult to connect with students and keep them engaged and parents reported balancing working from home with supporting children was the largest challenge overall with distance learning. 

“Who’s watching your kids?” EWA Radio 

“As Covid-19 closes schools, the world’s children go to work.” The New York Times 

“Educators find strategies fostering SEL, play for youngest students as coronavirus continues.” Education Dive 

“Jeff Bezos announces the first Bezos Academy, a free preschool for students from low-income families,” Forbes 

“Waiting lists for home-school programs as parents grow wary of distance learning.” EdSource 

“Where are all the kindergartners? Pandemic creates rare gap year.” Politico 

“Private tutors, pop-up schools or nothing at all: How employers are helping parents.” The New York Times