CT NewsJunkie: 36 Percent of Gov.‘s Cuts Target Children

Christine Stuart reports if Rell’s proposal is adopted by the legislature the Care4Kids program, which helps subsidize quality day care for low and moderate income families, won’t be fully funded.

She quoted Kathy Queen, executive director of Wallingford Community Day Care, who said the cut would cause over 600 children to lose access to preschool programs, force 600 parents to quit their jobs in order to care for their children, and lead to multiple child care centers and layoffs of almost 100 teachers.

“When Sikorsky threatened to cut 400 jobs and Pratt and Whitney threatened to cut 300, Gov. Rell offered a $100 million tax break to try to help save those jobs,“ Queen said. “The question to Gov. Rell is what makes the employees of Pratt and Whitney and Sikorsky more important than the parents and teachers of low and moderate income families, whose jobs are at stake here.”