As we know, the state does a pretty decent job providing health care -- socialized medicine -- to the military. The Military Child Care Program is also quite good. After some widely publicized scandals, the military got their act together in training, certifying, and paying child care workers, so staff at military child care centers are now paid substantially more than civilian child care workers. Their starting point is that salaries should be competitive with the overall local labor pool rather than with the child care labor pool.Directors of military large child care centers earn between $29 and $37 thousand (up to $54 for large centers), while entry level aides earn between $14 and $20 thousand. In addition, staff all receive the full array of benefits -- health and life insurance, pensions, workmen's comp, etc. There is a job ladder with training opportunities, and each center has a training and curriculum specialist. At the same time, costs to parents are pretty low -- sliding scale, averaging $60/week. The key point is that the military makes up the difference between what parents can afford to pay and what you need to pay to have qualified staff providing child care. Anyone interested in getting more info should write Child Development Services, U.S. Army, Community and Family Support Center, 2461 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, VA. 22331-0521. *************** Teresa Amott Associate Professor Dept. of Economics Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA 17837 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 717/524-1652 (w) 717/524-3760 (fax)
