* From a press release…
Joint Statement from Illinois Early Childhood Advocates on Early Learning and the Child Care Funding Crisis
Governor Rauner pledged to “increase funding for early childhood education so that more at risk children can enter kindergarten ready to succeed” during his inaugural State of the State address.
We applaud this commitment to our state’s youngest and most vulnerable learners, and we look forward to seeing more details of the Governor’s early education plan in his Budget Address on February 18th.
The Governor also stated that “from cradle to career, our children’s education needs to be our top priority.” We could not agree more. For that reason, we call on Governor Rauner and the General Assembly to fully fund all aspects of early care and education — including child care.
High-quality, affordable child care is often the very first connection that young children have to an educational experience – in conjunction with, or even prior to, preschool. In addition to the work support it provides to parents and the economic impact it has on the state, child care is a critically-important step on a lifelong path of education.
To truly realize the Governor’s stated priority, the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program must be fully-funded – both to alleviate the $300 million funding crisis facing child care during this fiscal year and to ensure its viability in Illinois for the coming fiscal year. Now is the time for the Governor and the General Assembly to take bold and decisive action on behalf of Illinois’ children and families.
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois
Illinois Action for Children
Latino Policy Forum
The Ounce of Prevention Fund
ReadyNation Illinois
Voices for Illinois Children
The Ounce of Prevention Fund is, of course, headed by Mrs. Rauner.
Discuss.
- Kids R Us - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 9:53 am:
Does any one seriously think the Governor’s wife’s organization would come out with such a statement if they didn’t already know the Administration had a plan?
Fortunately, it’s in the bag.
- Mad Brown - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 9:57 am:
No matter how genuine it is due to the missions of those orgs, it’s hard to jump up and say ‘yeah, go get ‘em’ when she’s married to the Governor.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:01 am:
An honest fear is that the First Lady’s CoS could find herself in the middle of the discussion (policy discussion) as to what is the role of the CoS, is the CoS isolated from Ounce, and further, will the CoS know policy of the Administration by workibg with the Executive in shaping the role of the First Lady in issues like, you guessed it, children issues and their funding.
The state of Illinois is paying $100K for someone to assist the running of one staff of a person who also, full-time mind you, currently lobbies and seeks funding from…the state of Illinois.
Yikes.
Ounce could have received monies for decades…
For decades, the access to a governor’s, ANY governor’s administration has never been as close that their president having an employee who draws a salary from the state to assist them in a part of their life.
Optics.
- qcexaminer - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:02 am:
I loved this bit: “high-quality affordable child care” which echoes the famous Obamacare promise of high quality affordable health care for all—and we know how THAT worked out!
But beyond that, this seems like an odd move to me:
1. If Rauner decides to fully fund his wife’s program, those who are under funded will cry foul and accuse him of nepotism or some idiotic thing, but
2. If he doesn’t fully fund it, this will look like a piece of public blackmail that could make him balk.
In other words, this looks like a stupid move to me.
Or maybe this is just getting special mention and attention at CapFax, which would explain a lot, although the press certainly has a groupthink/herd mentality.
- A guy - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:13 am:
Like anyone else who is formally asking for funding, they are going through the process and touching all the bases. In a sense, they’re setting the precedent for how to do so by being out there early. They’re doing what they’re supposed to do.
- walker - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:17 am:
Tricky spot.
If the Governor fully funds this early childhood area, but not the rest of “cradle through career” education, then Mr. Rauner looks bad. If he doesn’t fully fund it, Mrs. Rauner looks bad. Mrs. Rauner might be better off keeping a lower public profile for a while — certainly until after the budget is proposed.
- 47th ward mom - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:19 am:
This is exactly why she should have handed the reigns over to someone internal and stepped down, even temporarily. Awkward.
No one can assume what she knows or doesn’t know, what influence she has or doesn’t have.
Also to qcexaminer, this letter isn’t about funding her program, it’s about the child care assistance program.
- AC - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:26 am:
I’m suddenly reminded of Alfred P. Sloan’s branding strategy with GM. So, if the governor’s hard line approach doesn’t appeal to you, maybe you’d be interested in Mrs. Rauner’s support for child care. Supporting one or the other makes no difference to the Rauner’s.
- Wordslinger - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:28 am:
Wow, QC Ex, your receptors are highly tuned to Pavlov’s bell today.
Just those five common words strung together in that order elicits the response and a reference to a completely unrelated topic.
Must be rough being so conditioned. Do you walk around all day wearing a bib and carrying paper towels?
- Black Ivy - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:36 am:
It is more than appropriate for Once of Prevention Fund (headed by Diana Rauner) to join forces with leading non-profits in early childhood and child care advocates to call for an increase in funding in light of the current crisis. Y’all sure are piling on today. There is no conflict of interest here. And, yes, Diana, who forged a career in early childhood advocacy on her own, is more than entitled to keep her job.
- Grandson of Man - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:37 am:
We must be careful to balance our funding priorities. I don’t agree with the governor trying to increase funding for one or two priorities while making draconian cuts elsewhere. Of course his budget ideas are not the final product and will likely not fully fly with the ILGA.
We can’t implement Rauner’s campaign budget, which would try to push through some things while pulverizing others.
- Former Merit Comp Slave - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:43 am:
Will be interesting to see what the GA passes
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:45 am:
===Y’all sure are piling on today.===
Playing the victim card early?
Mrs. Rauner has chosen to keep her job.
Mrs. Rauner’s role in that position is to seek funding, and that includes funding from the state of Illinois.
Mrs. Rauner’s husband, as governor, can dictate policy and funding that may aid the organization she, Mrs. Rauner, is president of.
Mrs. Rauner also has a state paid CoS that will work with the Executive to place Mrs. Rauner in a position to help her husband, which is fine, but her husband is…the governor of Illinois.
And - Black Ivy -, you call pointing out these optics…piling on?
That’s called playing the victim to rebuff the optics.
- wensicia - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:46 am:
I can’t find anything wrong with this press release, considering the funding crisis early child care currently faces.
- If we were Oregon ... - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:57 am:
Agree w/ OW on this conflict. Even basic scheduling and transportation by the COS for the FLOTSOI will be subject to questioning.
If this were Oregon, the you know what would have already hit the fan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/02/12/the-long-strange-and-dumbfounding-saga-of-oregon-gov-john-kitzhaber/
- DuPage Dave - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 10:59 am:
Mrs. Rauner’s position is untenable. She will need to step aside from the Ounce of Prevention. Continuing in her current role brings up issues relating to funding decisions ultimately signed off on by her husband.
It’s not just optics. This should be on the annual ethics test for employees: As a representative of the state, can you direct state funds to an organization operated by your spouse?
Diana Rauner has a strong reputation, as does the Ounce of Prevention. To keep it that way she ought to step aside. No knock on her as an individual but this is too tangled up to work for long. When the cuts start coming to other human service agencies, the arrangement will look much worse than it does today.
- Juvenal - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 11:16 am:
Folks, she is not stepping aside, so stop wasting your breath.
The real losers in this fight will be the Dept. of Aging and seniors’ programs.
Social services have a return-on-investment that is multiplied across the life of the recipient.
There is an inherent bias in all performance-based budgeting, return-on-investment budget models against services for the elderly and the medically fragile.
$1 spent preventing child abuse gets a better “ROI” than a $1 spent preventing elder abuse.
It is the fundamental flaw in the model that no one wants to talk about, but look around and see how many foundations are funding programs for the elderly.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 11:22 am:
- Juvenal -,
I’m not asking her to step down. Nope.
I am reminding that every time statements/letters/discussions revolve around state funding in that realm, and Ounce is in that discussion, conflict of interest issues pertaining to the CoS, the First Lady, policy decisions, and funding resolutions will continue.
Time isn’t a healer of a conflict of issues like this. At times, depending on the final resolutions of issues like this, these conflicts exaserbate themselves just by their own optics.
That’s all.
- Charlatan Heston - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 1:15 pm:
Ditto to OW. Whether real or imagined, the conflict of issue discussion will surface at every turn when the “ounce” is anywhere close.
As for “forging” her own career in early childhood, I believe she has a PhD in early childhood but went from board member to running the organization. I won’t deny her smarts or credentials but I think forging a career suggests she went from the trenches to the top. Hers is not path of most who forge careers.
- Cheswick - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 1:46 pm:
I don’t know the exact legal definition of influence peddling, but I hope there is none here.
- Precinct Captain - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 1:49 pm:
In the vein of If we were Oregon, hopefully we don’t get Kitzhabered by Mister and Misses Rauner. Keep this kind of thing up and the real winner in all this might be the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
- Child Care Advocates United - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 1:59 pm:
There is a budget crisis in IL; however, the most vulnerable of our children and babies can’t be sacrificed. We have to let it be known that compromising the care and education of our children is NEVER on the table. The funds to fix the crisis are there RIGHT NOW, but the Governor isn’t reallocating the funds! We have to influence him NOW before he goes to Springfield on Wednesday. This is a social justice issue that we have 5 days to get out there & get people engaged.
Let’s all show our love for our children!
Get Engaged! Each one, reach 100!
Sign now! Share now! #ChildCareCrisisIL
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/support-child-care-in?source=c.em&r_by=9616806
- Concerned for our kids - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 2:11 pm:
Please help send a clear message. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/support-child-care-in?source=c.em&r_by=9616806
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 2:13 pm:
OK, that’s two. Further spam attempts will be deleted.
- Left Leaner - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 2:23 pm:
Ounce would’ve issued this same message if its CEO wasn’t the Governor’s wife. This message is consistent with its position held and messages sent long before Rauner ever even thought about running for Governor.
Do the Governor and Mrs. Rauner need to be careful about conflict of interest? Yes. Does the Governor need to be concerned about optics? Yes. But this particular case is a non-issue.
- Juvenal - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 2:25 pm:
Oswego Willy -
I agree it is unlikely to go away, but others are suggesting she should step aside or take a step back are wasting her breath.
And I honestly doubt any major force is going to tackle the perceived conflict head-on.
Who? The Tribune editorial board? Sun-Times? BGA?
Certainly none of her frenemies in the nonprofit sector.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 2:53 pm:
- Juvenal -
“Who”?
Ron Sandack?
Seriously, and with respect;
As the days go on, the Press doesn’t get more passive.
If there is ever a story, it’ll come out. It always does. The optics hurt when dealing with people “who” know better, then it gets worse. Ask Rod.
- Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 3:04 pm:
Not the same, but similar…
For better or worse, being the first spouse and advocating for state funding of an organization that you head, is a mine field. It just is.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/13/386074092/amid-influence-peddling-scandal-oregon-governor-resigns
- JS Mill - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 3:14 pm:
OW is correct, conflict abound even though that was not supposed to happen this time around.
ECE has experienced significant increases and avoided the reductions other education areas have experienced. It is time to push that funding elsewhere, not just the private nfp’s.
- Enviro - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 4:36 pm:
Rauner’s better half: Diana! It is encouraging to see her working for the improvement of early childhood education and child care.
- Del Clinkton - Friday, Feb 13, 15 @ 5:38 pm:
While I agree with this on principle….Bruce needs to learn he’s not the CEO of Illinoise.