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Child Care Push

NCJW will resume a battle

in Congress for kids.

JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent

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tributed to the first comprehensive
child-care bill in the early 1970s —
although it was vetoed by President
Richard Nixon. The group hopes the
new report will also spur legislative
action.
"We will be taking it to communi-
ties around the country in an effort to
launch intensive advocacy campaigns
to improve — and in some places
simply get — affordable, quality child
care," said Sammie Moshenberg, the
group's Washington director."

he National Council of
Jewish Women (NCJW),
which played a major role
in raising the issue of
affordable child care in the early
1970s, is getting set for a new push
on an issue the group's leaders say isn't
going away.
Next week, NCJW will unveil an
update of their 1972 "Windows on
Day. Care" report showing that low
Skidding To A Halt
pay for child-care workers and a lack
Mideast policymakers in Washington
of affordable facilities is a "pervasive
were
working hard to keep a stiff
problem" that belies much of the
upper
lip this week as negotiations on
progress of the past three decades.
several fronts continued to skid.
"For most working parents, search-
There was some good news,
ing for child care is like running an
including last weekend's meeting in
Olympic track race — every hurdle
Moscow of the "steer-
they leap is followed by
ing committee" over-
another," said NCJW
seeing the moribund
National President Jan
multilateral talks.
Schneiderman. "After
Separate committees
12 months or more on
on water, economic
a child-care waiting
cooperation, refugees
list, parents then face
and the environment
the obstacle of paying
will resume meeting
as much as $10,000 a
this spring after a
year with little guaran-
three-year hiatus.
tee of quality care."
On the Israeli-
According to the
Palestinian front,
report, the growth of
intensive negotiations
affordable day care has
began in the region
not kept pace with the
aimed at salvaging a
unprecedented rush of
Feb. 13 deadline for a
women into the work-
Madeleine Albright
final status "frame-
place. Some 78 percent
work"
agreement.
of women with school-
President
Bill
Clinton
and
age children now work outside the
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
home, according to the report.
met with Palestinian leader Yasser
In some communities, parents have
Arafat at the Davos world economic
to pay just to get their names on
summit over the weekend to provide
child-care waiting lists. And child
more reassurance; Arafat and Israeli
care, according to the report, is the
Prime Minister Ehud Barak were
third greatest expense after housing
expected to meet Thursday to assess
and food for families of 3-5-year-old
this week's talks.
children — regardless of income level.
But the negotiations have only
The report's recommendations
inched forward, Israeli sources say —
include an increase in federal, state
and focused mostly on the stalled
and local funding, improved licensing
return of more West Bank land to the
standards and better compensation
Palestinians as part of last year's
and training for child-care workers. It
Sharm el-Sheik agreement instead of
also calls for stronger efforts to get
the tough final-status issues.
employers to recognize the impor-
On the Syrian-Israeli front,
tance of good child care.
already-stalemated talks were battered
The 1972 NCJW report con-

