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The Daycare Myth

NNPA NEWSWIRE — While parents are their children’s first and most important teachers, decades of evidence show that professional educators play a crucial role in the development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Published

12 months ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

By Katie Dukes, director of early childhood policy at EdNC and
Liz Bell, early childhood reporter for EdNC

The inaccuracy of the term “daycare” is at the heart of a book by Dan Wuori, an early childhood expert who you may know from his viral social media posts or his previous work as senior director of early learning at the Hunt Institute. In “The Daycare Myth,” Wuori argues that what we think of as “daycare” doesn’t exist. “That’s a strange thing to say because there are businesses all over North Carolina who have that right outside on their signs,” Wuori said. “But for almost 100 years now, we have envisioned daycare as just this safe, warm place that children can be left during the day while their parents go to work.”

Wuori asserts that vision has never captured the vital teaching and learning that takes place inside what people have typically called “daycare” or “childcare” programs. “The problem with both of those terms in my mind is that they center care. The care in those settings is necessary, but not sufficient,” Wuori said. “This is you selecting who is going to co-construct your child’s brain. This is not babysitting while you go to the movies.” Wuori’s book captures a sentiment shared by many researchers, educators, and leaders in early childhood education, including North Carolina state Rep. David Willis, R-Union, co-chair of the early childhood caucus and owner and operator of a preschool program in his district. “There are several terms describing early childhood education that carry somewhat negative or minimizing connotations, such as childcare, daycare, and nursery schools,” Willis wrote in an email. “The teachers are providing so much more than just ‘babysitting.’ I challenge anyone who thinks this is easy to come spend a day in the classroom.”

Centering learning

As parents know, babies don’t come with instruction manuals. While parents are their children’s first and most important teachers, decades of evidence show that professional educators play a crucial role in the development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Their expertise and experience make them an essential resource for parents. Most human brain development occurs in the first three years of life. During this time more than one million neural connections are formed each second. Strengthening these connections during the 2,000 days between birth and kindergarten leads to improved outcomes in education, health, employment, and economic stability. Because of that, research has found that high-quality early childhood programming yields a 13% %-%-per-year return on investment as children grow into adults.

In our travels to other states, as we’ve researched best practices, we’ve found a variety of ways that people refer to early childhood education at the state level:

New Mexico has a cabinet-level Early Childhood Education & Care Department.
Oregon has its own state-level Department of Early Learning and Care.
Michigan’s Office of Child Development and Care is housed in its newly-created Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential.
Massachusetts houses its Department of Early Education and Care within its Executive Office of Education (like our state’s Department of Public Instruction).
Vermont similarly places Early Education within its Agency of Education.

North Carolina’s state government also emphasizes the significance of education in its official nomenclature. The state entity that oversees much of our formal system is the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) under the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). That name indicates the focus is on the brain development and education of our youngest learners. But all these phrases and titles are cumbersome, both in conversation and in writing. A simpler term has been adopted in Finland and by a specific model of early childhood education here in the United States — educare.

In both instances, this model centers education while still acknowledging the care inherent in early childhood education settings. Though “Educare” has not found its way into the common vernacular of the United States, “daycare” simply isn’t an accurate term for describing the provision of care and education in the earliest years. As Terra Flint, childcare director and assistant pastor at Trinity Wesleyan Education Center in Eden, North Carolina, put it at a recent rally outside the legislature: “It’s not daycare, because I don’t care for days!”

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LIVE from the NMA Convention Raheem DeVaughn Says The Time Is Now: Let’s End HIV in Our Communities #2

Set against the backdrop of the NMA conference, Executive Officers from the National Medical Association, Grammy Award Winning Artist and Advocate Raheem DeVaughn, and Gilead Sciences experts, are holding today an important conversation on HIV prevention and health equity. Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event […]

Published

5 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event is designed to uplift voices, explore barriers to access, and increase awareness and key updates about PrEP, a proven prevention method that remains underutilized among Black women. This timely gathering will feature voices from across health, media, and advocacy as we break stigma and center equity in HIV prevention.

Additional stats and information to know:

● Black women continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, with Black women representing more than 50% of new HIV diagnoses among women in the U.S. in 2022, despite comprising just 13% of women in the U.S.

● Women made up only 8% of PrEP users despite representing 19% of all new HIV diagnoses in 2022.

● Gilead Sciences is increasing awareness and addressing stigma by encouraging regular HIV testing and having judgment-free conversations with your healthcare provider about prevention options, including oral PrEP and long-acting injectable PrEP options.

● PrEP is an HIV prevention medication that has been available since 2012.

● Only 1 in 3 people in the U.S. who could benefit from PrEP were prescribed a form of PrEP in 2022.

Oakland Post

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TRUMP: “Washington, D.C. is Safe”

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Published

5 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

By Apriil Ryan
BlackPressUSA Washington Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent

“Washington, D.C. is safe,” President Trump declared from the Oval Office today. Those words came while Trump was hosting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the question-and-answer session, which primarily focused on a peace deal in the Russian-Ukrainian war, Trump explained, “You did that in four days.” He was speaking of how fast the National Guard quelled the violence in what was once called Chocolate City.

The President deployed the National Guard to D.C. a week ago, to a city with reduced crime rates over the previous year. Violent crime dropped by 26%, marking the lowest level in 30 years. Homicides also fell by 11%.

President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Trump reinforced his claim about the newly acquired safety in D.C. by relaying that a friend’s son is attending dinner in D.C., something he would not have done last year.

After the president finished his comments, a reporter/commentator in the room with close connections to Marjorie Taylor Greene jumped into the high-level conversation to affirm the president’s comments, saying, “I walked around yesterday with MTG. If you can walk around D.C. with MTG and not be attacked, this city is safe.”

That reporter was the same person who chastised President Zelenskyy months ago during his first Oval Office meeting with Trump for not wearing a business suit. Zelenskyy, a wartime President, has been clad in less formal attire to reflect the country’s current war stance against Russia.

Without any sourcing, President Trump also said, “People that haven’t gone out to dinner in Washington, D.C., in two years are going out to dinner, and the restaurants the last two days have been busier than they’ve been in a long time.”

The increase in policing in Washington, D.C. is because a 19-year-old former Doge employee was carjacked in the early hours of the morning recently.

Oakland Post

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Rising Energy Costs Weigh Heaviest on Black Households

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

Published

5 days ago

February 3, 2026

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

A new national study from Binghamton University and California State University, San Bernardino, finds that Black households spend a far larger share of their income on energy compared to white households, even when income levels are the same. “We often say that African Americans suffer more, but we often blame it just on income. And the reality is, there is something more there,” study author George Homsy, associate professor at Binghamton University, wrote. “It’s not just because they tend to be poor. There is something that’s putting them at a disadvantage. I think what happened is it happens to be where they live.” The study, published in Energy Research & Social Science, analyzed 65,000 census tracts across the United States. It found that while the average American household spends about 3.2% of income on energy bills, households in the majority African American census tracts spend an average of 5.1%.

Homsy and researcher Ki Eun Kang point to the age and condition of housing stock, along with lower homeownership rates, as key drivers. Their research concludes that “energy burden is not simply a matter of income or energy cost but also race, which might be driven by place.” Older, less energy-efficient housing and high rental rates in Black communities mean residents often cannot make upgrades like improved insulation or new appliances, locking families into higher bills.

Tradeoffs and Health Risks

The consequences go beyond money. Families forced to spend 10% or more of their income on energy — what experts classify as “unmanageable” — may cut back on food, medicine, or other essentials. More than 12 million U.S. households report leaving their homes at unsafe temperatures to reduce costs, while millions more fall behind on utility bills. The health effects are severe. High energy burdens increase risks of asthma, depression, poor sleep, pneumonia, and even premature death. The issue is especially acute for African Americans, who are disproportionately exposed to housing and environmental conditions that amplify these risks.

Washington, D.C.: A Case Study

In Washington, D.C., the problem is particularly stark. A recent analysis by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) shows that SNAP-eligible households spend more than 20% of their income on energy bills. Across the metro area, nearly two-thirds of low-income households devote over 6% of their income to energy, and 40% face what researchers call a “severe financial strain,” paying more than 10%. Pepco, the District’s primary electricity provider, has implemented three consecutive annual rate hikes, pushing the average household bill to $114 per month as of January 2025. Shutoffs have followed — nearly 12,000 customers lost service in 2024, with disconnections doubling after a summer rate hike. Washington Gas has also sought a 12% rate increase and pushed a controversial $215 million pipeline replacement project, rebranded as “District SAFE.” The plan could ultimately cost D.C. households an additional $45,000 each over several decades, or nearly $1,000 annually added to bills.

Historical Roots

Researchers argue that these inequities are not accidental but rooted in history. The ScienceDirect study reveals that African American communities living in formerly redlined neighborhoods continue to face disadvantages today — from poor housing quality to higher climate risks. Homsy says policymakers must make targeted efforts. “It is harder to get to rental units where a lot of poor people live,” he noted. “We need to work harder to get into these communities of color.”