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 Preshow Return to index of stories... |
Next on New Hampshire Outlook tonight. Child care providers and teachers across the state call a virtual strike. They're still showing up for work, but they're canvasing, holding public meetings and calling attention to what's being called a crisis in child care throughout the Granite State. We'll lay out the numbers. then discuss options for change. |
| Headlines Return to index of stories... |
Good Evening. I'm Allison McNair. Welcome to New Hampshire Outlook. We begin tonight with a summary of state news. |
| Bush Ed Plan Return to index of stories... |
As New Hampshire struggles with finding ways to pay for education, President Bush today unveiled his program for education reform. It includes school vouchers in cases where schools failed to meet certain standards. Vouchers would pay for private school tuition, tutoring or the cost of sending kids to a different public school. New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg is on the education finance committee. He says there's plenty of room for compromise in the Bush plan. |
| Juvenile Crime Return to index of stories... |
What is the cutoff age for juvenile delinquency? State lawmakers are considering a bill that would raise the minority age from seventeen to eighteen. The law could keep 17-year-olds in programs where they can receive specialized counseling and education. The bill would not affect youths who commit violent crimes -- they still could be certified and tried as adults. |
| Abortion Pill Return to index of stories... |
The so-called abortion pill has arrived in New Hampshire. The drug, Ru486 was approved for general use in the United States in September, but only became available at area clinics last week. A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England says the pill is being dispensed at some clinics. The pill chemically induces miscarriage in the early stages of pregnancy. |
| Roe v Wade Return to index of stories... |
Meanwhile - one day after the anniversary of Roe v Wade- the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion - the National Abortion Rights Action League of New Hampshire is marking the landmark decision. The organization gathered earlier tonight in Concord at the Unitarian Universalist Church. |
| Intro Mt. Washington Return to index of stories... |
After a cold night, it got above the freezing mark in some areas of the state today. We talked to meteorologist Sarah Curtis at the Mount Washington Observatory just a few minutes ago to find out whether the mild temperatures will last. |
| Mt. Washington Return to index of stories... |
CG:= Tonight North Mostly cloudy Lows 10 to 15 Tonight Central & Southern Partly cloudy Lows 10 to 15 Tomorrow North & Central Partly cloudy Highs 25 to 35 Tomorrow South Mostly sunny Highs 25 to 35 |
| Intro Virtual Strike Return to index of stories... |
All this week, child care centers around the state have been holding a virtual strike. It's their way of drawing attention to an emerging crisis in child care. In the last year, NH has lost 38 child care programs, and although more spaces were created in that period, most centers can't keep up with the demand. As producer Richard Ager reports, all this comes at a time when new research is pointing out the importance of high quality child care. . |
| Virtual Strike Return to index of stories... |
Soundup: Allenstown daycare tape 12:35 Thumbs up! - elbows back! Track: Normally, it's the children at Tender Years Learning Center in Allenstown who are encouraged to use their imagination. But this time, the parents are being asked to imagine "What if there were no childcare in NH this week?" It's a reminder that for some, that's already the case. Bite: Allenstown daycare tape 20:00 I'm hearing a lot of frustration on the phone - parents will call and - their first question, it used to be 'how much do you charge?' Now it's 'do you have an opening? Track: Most of the time, the answer is no. One major reason: a shortage of workers caused by basic daycare economics. In order to keep fees affordable, most child care centers can only afford to pay workers $6 or $7 an hour. In a booming economy, many of those workers can make more elsewhere. Bite: Allenstown daycare tape 17:00 One of my biggest challenges is to offer insurance benefits to my employees - that would be health insurance, dental, life insurance. We lose a lot of employees to other jobs because they can receive benefits from those jobs. So I guess it's a big contributor to the turnover. Soundup: Allenstown daycare tape 01:01:28 Deanna Rush reads "Chicka chick boom boom" Track: All this week, child care centers are reaching out not only to parents, but to business people and legislators. Representative Deanna Rush came to read a story and share some ideas. Bite: daycare tape 6:54 One of the things is we can get a lot of people together and we can sometimes buy health insurance packages cheaper. Just like we're doing with the health insurance initiative for young children - we can do the same thing for families - particularly those who are working in the area of early childhood education. Standup: One example of what funding support for child care can accomplish can be found here at the Child Study and Development Center on the campus of the University of New Hampshire. The university subsidizes the child care fees and has made the center a teaching facility for early learning students. Soundup: CSDC Tape 1 02:30 * "So you have to see how much money you have, and how much you can buy. What would you like to buy Nicola? Okay how much do you owe us for the glitter?" Track: At the CSDC, the teachers have degrees in early childhood education, and there is little turnover. Bite: CSDC Tape 1 19:47 I've had the opportunity to work with children for two years. There are some child cares that children go to school everyday and in the course of the year, they've had six new teachers because they can't keep them there. They can't pay the people enough to be there. And it's amazing to me to think that - as a parent, my children are the most important thing to me. Why would I pay somebody more money to make my hamburger at Mcdonald's than to take care of my prized possession - of my child? Bite: CSDC tape 2 5:48 It is our belief here at the center that young children have the right to a high quality early care in education, just as kindergarten children have the right to a good educational experience. The rights don't begin at age five, the rights begin at birth and those rights have to be responded to by a large variety of people Bite: CSDC tape 2 13;00 I think this is part of the national agenda now, the need for high quality care and education was part of both vice president Gore and Gov. Bush's campaign agenda, it's one of the priorities of our governor's initiatives and has been in the past, will be in the future. Soundup: Governor's Inaugural Speech tape 12:46:20 But we must move beyond kindergarten. Recent brain research shows us that the first few years of a child's life are crucial. Track: During her recent Inaugural Speech, Governor Jeanne Shaheen expressed support for more help for early childhood education. She reiterated that support at this forum on child care issues in Durham last night. Bite: Daycare Forum tape 9:15 Every dollar invested during the child's early years saves the public as much as seven dollars in later remediation costs. Track: The forum attracted more than 200 parents and professionals who heard some sobering facts. Bite: Daycare Forum tape 11:08 In our last labor survey of salaries that we had done in the state, we could see that professionals in health services were earning an average of over $15 an hour, that those providing educational services were earning more than $13 an hour, but that the hourly wage of early learning professionals was 8 and a half bucks an hour. This is less than telemarketers. Bite: Daycare Forum tape 24:45 You know we've been hearing a lot about the virtual strike this week, but I think everyone in this room knows that if it weren't virtual and it were real, a lot of this economy would grind to a quick halt." Track: The governor said the state is committed to providing more support, but warned that any progress will be tied to solving education funding. Bite: Daycare Forum tape So I'll tell you the best thing you can do for child care and child development this year is to call your legislator and tell them they better support a long-term school funding solution right now, because we don't have any more time to waste. Track: For NH Outlook, I'm Richard Ager. |
| Intro discussion Return to index of stories... |
Joining me now to talk about the crisis in Daycare here in New Hampshire, Mary Jane Moran, director of the UNH CHild Study and Development Center and Jack Lightfoot of Child and Family Services, a state-wide social services agency. |
| Thank guests Return to index of stories... |
Thanks Mary Jane Moran and Jack Lightfoot for joining me. |
| BP Bump Return to index of stories... |
CG:BUMP\TOMORROW AT THE STATE CAPITOL\ Virtual Strike for Early Learning and Childcare:Voices of the Crisis, Partners for Solution Wednesday, January 24 at 10:30 am Lobby, Legislative Office Building - Concord |
| Business Outlook Return to index of stories... |
Here's a look at some of the stories making headlines in New Hampshire business. |
| STOCKS Return to index of stories... |
Investors held a steady rally on Wall Street today. Analysts say there's a widespread feeling that profit shortfalls have already been factored into stock prices. Tech stocks, along with old economy issues like financials all gained ground. The Dow closed up 71 and a half points. The Nasdaq climbed 82 points. Here's a look at some of the stocks of interest to New Hampshire. Bottomline Tech was up 3 and 3/8. Fisher Scientific was down 1. Oxford Health was up 2 and 3/8. State Street Corp was up over 5 points. And Texas Instruments was down 3. |
| Ski Return to index of stories... |
A state legislator wants to launch a big ad campaign to lure tourists and skiers to New Hampshire. Conway Republican Judith Sullivan says the state should put more money into advertising itself in Utah, as people gather next year for the winter Olympics. Sullivan says she's already been to Park City to talk about having New Hampshire host parties, distribute brochures and come up with other ways to promote the state. |
| Super Bowl SUnday Return to index of stories... |
This Sunday, nearly half the U.S. population will be watching the Super Bowl. They'll be tuning in to watch the game AND those highly-anticipated commercials. While last year's ads were flooded with dot-com's, this year we can expect to see a return to more traditional advertisers. According to UNH Assistant Professor Tim Ashwell, Super Bowl advertising mirrors the story of the ecomonmy and the dramatic fallout of dot-com companies. CBS is feeling the effect, the price of one 30-second spot brought in 3 million dollars last year, this year it's down to 2-point-2 million dollars. |
| Intro Marathon Return to index of stories... |
Finally tonight, our next story is about a Dover woman who found a way to turn her weight loss program into a friendship over the internet. Her cyber partnership kept her motivated and helped raise money for charity. Chip Neal has her story. |
| MARATHON WOMAN Return to index of stories... |
Chip Track VO over website and pix of Cat Adrith Bichieri of Dover and her training partner Catherine "Cat" Rigby of Orlando were members of the same on-line weight loss community.Back in April 2000 Cat wrote in her on-line journal that she wanted to motivate herself by training for a big event. She chose the Disney World Marathon which is near her home and the National Neurofibromatosis Foundation as her charity organization. Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that affects 100,000 Americans. It causes tumors to grow on nerves. So, Cat's plan t combine raising monsy for neurofibromatosis research with training for the Disney Marathon peaked Adrith's interest. Adrith She had asked for people to read her journal to sponsor her by donating money to NNFF. So I thought I could just donate money to NNFF but maybe I can turn this into a positive experience for both of us and do something fun. and helpfull for them. Adrith What we did was we set up a joint web site we put up a log of all the exercise we were doing all things that we were training and we updated that on a daily basis. There were days when we sent 20 e-mails to each other. It was good to have somebody that I could share the experience with. you know my leg is doing something funny cramping have you experienced that do you know what to do to fix it. It was great because she and I were going through the same thing together. We weren't necessarily there with each other out running together but it was almost as good. Chip VO their goal was to get fit and walk the half marathon in 3 hours 30 minutes or less Adrith. They had about 18000 people registered. It's a big race. It started a little late. Disney does a very nice start with fireworks and MIckey comes out and they had the music from 2001 And then the race started it went very well I think it was tough 13 miles. Adrith We did finish it took us just under 4 hrs to walk 13 miles its a little longer than we had hoped but I still think it's pretty good Adrith both Cat and I are looking at doing next year's Disney Race although we're not sure if we are doing the half or full marathon. In the meantime I plan on doing the Maine half marathon in Portland in October. And we will still keep fundraising for NNFF. In the last year the NNFF marathon team raised 1/2 million to go toward NF research which is excellent but still there are other races for other causes that raise 8 - 10 million per race. |
| website Return to index of stories... |
For information on tonight's program, and links to our guests and interviews, visit our web site at nhptv.o-r-g. You can see and hear streaming video of our broadcasts and participate in our daily poll. If you've got a story idea or comment on our program you can call us at 800-639-2721. |
| Tomorrow Return to index of stories... |
Tomorrow on New Hampshire Outlook - Electric deregulation - Just what does it mean for your energy bills? Could California's rolling blackouts ever happen here? Several experts join us for the discussion. |
| Goodnight Return to index of stories... |
That's it for this edition of New Hampshire Outlook. For all of us here at New Hampshire Public Television, thanks for joining us. Stay tuned for Keeping up Appearances. We'll be back tomorrow at 7:30. Good night. |
| founders Return to index of stories... |
Thanks to our founding sponsors who have provided major funding for the production of New Hampshire Outlook: New Hampshire Charitable Foundadtion Public Service of New Hampshire Alice J. Reen Charitable Trust Putnam Foundation Stratford Foundation |
| Alstead Allegations Return to index of stories... |
The town of Alstead is being sued by the state in a civil case for allegedly violating state wetland and water pollution laws.The Attorney General and Environmental Commissioner say the town built a road into the Cold River, filled in wetlands and dredged an area called Vilas Pool in violation of state permits. The town has since removed the road and restored the site. Attorney General Phil McLaughlin says town officials apparently were aware of the violations. |
| PROMO Return to index of stories... |
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. Electric deregulation - Just what does it mean for your energy bills? Could California's rolling blackouts ever happen here? Several experts join us for the discussion. Join us tonight at 7:30 only on New Hampshire Outlook. |