ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 7, 1996 TAG: 9612090059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
TWO SENIOR DEMOCRATS objected to proposals to eliminate education requirements for day care workers and increase the ratio of pupils to teachers.
The General Assembly will intervene unless a state council on child care reconsiders proposed changes to day care center regulations, two senior lawmakers have warned.
Sen. Stanley Walker, D-Norfolk, and Del. Alan Diamonstein, D-Newport News, objected Thursday to proposals that would eliminate minimum education requirements for day care workers and increase the ratio of pupils to teachers in some age groups.
The proposals were among a package of regulatory changes recommended by the Virginia Day Care Council in October. The changes were discussed at Thursday's meeting of the Virginia Commission on Early Childhood and Child Care Programs.
The commission has been deluged with letters and phone calls from people opposed to the changes.
``If they do not reconsider, I can foresee legislation coming forward in the next session,'' said Walker, chairman of the commission.
Diamonstein said that unless proponents make a better case for the changes, ``I'm going to spend an awful lot of time in the legislature making sure these things don't become law in Virginia.''
But Sharon Jones, a Charlottesville day care operator and chairwoman of the council, said the public comment period hasn't even started on the proposed regulations. ``This is not a done deal,'' she said.
However, she defended the council's work and said comments from people who support the changes have been overlooked in news reports. Jones also denied that the proposed changes were profit-driven.
According to the commission, the chief issues of concern were:
* Education. The council wants to eliminate the requirement that day care workers have a high school diploma or equivalent degree.
* Staffing. Centers could assign one teacher to as many as 15 4-year-olds or 15 equally mixed (i.e., five each) 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds. Existing rules require ratios of 12-to-1 for 4-year-olds and 10-to-1 for children 2 to 4.
* Training. The changes would triple the minimum training for new workers from eight to 24 hours but would cut in half from one year to six months the experience necessary for supervisors.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB