it belongs—in the schools

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Everybody talks but nobody does anything! This is especially true about child-care needs. Des -pite the crisis facing families, there has been nothing but talk from both major political parties. Children are still the most neglected sector of our society; they continue to represent the largest section living in poverty.

I am a strong advocate that child care be placed under the control of the public-school system. Those public schools that already have child-care services are far superior to the babysitting type private setups.

Public-school child care is education-oriented. Like kinder -garten, which in its time was an extension of the public-education system to younger children, pub -lic-school child care would work to prepare children for their whole learning experience.

The following paragraphs are taken from an excellent position paper published by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) executive council on Dec. 17, 1974. The need for childcare is even more urgent today:

"Synthesis of important research shows us that the individual develops as much as 50 percent of his or her mature intelligence from conception to age four. Another 30 percent develops between ages four and eight. Children whose intellectual growth is neglected-either at home by parents who may be hard-pressed or ill-equipped to provide them with the necessary stimulation, or in institutions which are understaffed and under -supplied-suffer immeasurable damage to their learning ability.

"When these facts are combined with the real need of working parents for adequate child care (in 1972, 5.5 million children under six years old had mothers who were working or looking for work; nearly 26 million children under 18 were in the same position), quality early childhood education and day care for children of all ages become even stronger public-school imperatives."

The authors of the paper stress that the public schools are able to offer essential child-care services since "the country is filled with underutilized school buildings and qualified teachers without jobs."

They also point out that schools are subject to public planning and policy-making by elected bodies, unlike private agencies in the day-care business.

"It is our belief," the AFT paper states, "that high quality InA Soclalist Action/T Editor: ALAN BENJAMIN Asst. Editor: MICHAEL SCHREIBER Kwame M.A. Somburu, Sylvia Weinstein. Business Manager: DON MAHONEY Circulation Manager: RALPH FORSYTH Francisco, Calif.

St., No. 308, San Francisco, CA 94110.

countries.

early childhood education and day care can help us begin to solve a number of our pressing social problems. It can help us reduce underachievement, it can provide health and institutional care for those who might not get it otherwise, it can bring parents closer to the schools, it can Closing date: March 30, 1986 ly Gr ng, M illie Carol Seligı nan, per No.

San stimulate school integration by providing quality programs at earlier ages.

"Such a program," the AFT executive council concludes, "can help us begin to provide universal education with all its benefits for all our citizens of every age." Amen!