Stumbling Through Work
Working in education is to stumble through your everyday! We love what we do, but staff, families, policies, regulations and sometimes even the children make us quit everyday then come back the next day. Just remember, you are not in this alone.
Stumbling Through Work
Who Will Care for Us Tomorrow? The True Cost of Education Policy
The political weaponization of early childhood education takes center stage, as these children will take care of us when we get older. The stay-at-home mom is considering childcare employment for the wrong reasons, while the school administrator is dealing with an employee whose child's father violated a protection order by impersonating a social worker. Subscribe to Stumbling Through Work wherever you get your podcasts.
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Welcome to Stumbling Through Work where educators figure shit out. I'm your host, jarek Huff, and I'm here to explore and share the complexities of our work and to let you know you are not alone. Before we start, though, please follow this podcast and share episodes with others. You can find me on my website, wwwjarekhoffcom, where you can find links to my social media and where I share information and tips for educators. Now let's jump into today's episode. Hey team, welcome to another episode of Stumbling Through Work where educators figure shit out. I've been meaning to talk to you all about this for a while, so let's talk about the early Head Start and Trump administration. Prepare yourself Undocumented children will no longer qualify for federally funded preschool throughout the Head Start program, under a major policy shift the Trump administration announced In a news release.
Speaker 1:The Department of Health and Human Services said it was rescinding a nearly 30-year-old interpretation of federal law issued under President Clinton that allowed undocumented immigrants to access certain programs because they were not considered quote federal public benefits. This change is part of President Trump's border and sorry, this is part of President Trump's border anti-immigration agenda. He assaulted in birthright citizenship, ramped up immigration enforcement and deportations, remove temporary legal status from immigrants from certain particular dangerous countries. Immigrants from certain particular dangerous countries withheld funding for EIL and threatened to punish states that offer in-state tuition to undocumented college students. Administration officials have said they hope many immigrants will self-deport if the United States makes life here more uncomfortable. Health and Human Service leaders cast the change as a way to protect benefits for Americans. The change is also at odds with how the Supreme Court has ruled K-12 education. In the landmark Pryler v Doe decision from 1982, the justices ruled that children have a right to a free public education, regardless of immigration status. Head Start would now be considered a public benefit, the Trump administration said, because it offers services that are similar to welfare. Officials said the change aligns with Trump's executive orders, including a February order titled Ending Taxpayer Subsidation of Open Borders.
Speaker 1:While Head Start provides for school readiness, it also provides low-income children with their families with health and education. Sorry, with health, educational, nutritional and social and other services that are determined based on the family needs assessments to be necessary. Federal officials wrote in a notice announcing the change. Federal officials wrote in a notice announcing the change. Further, it may serve as child care for parents of younger children. In its press release, health and Human Services officials said, head Start will be reserved for American citizens from now on. Head Start provided preschool to over 544,000 children from low-income families, according to the latest federal data from 2022-2023 school year, while Early Head Start served more than 186,000 infants, toddlers and expecting parents. The program, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, has reached 40 million children, but has recently faced a number of challenges, from federal staff layoffs to threats of eliminating the program.
Speaker 1:That was a lot, so let's break it down. First, let me go back to read this section. Just, I want to start off with this one. Administration officials have said they hope many immigrants will self-deport if the united states makes life here more uncomfortable. That, right there, lets me know that this is not about children at all. Children are a pawn that you're using, which is horrible, like who you well nevermind. It's just. It's just really sad because people don't realize why Head Start was even created.
Speaker 1:Not to give you all a super long dissertation, but back with President Johnson in the fifties, in the war on poverty. This was started because a lot of states were not stepping up and doing what they needed to do, so the federal government had to step in to say if you all can't do it. I'm going to show you how to get shit done. I'm going to actually create a program that has higher levels of quality that you all obviously can't do, and we want you all to step up to us. That sums it up for the most part, and so that's why head start is the way that it is, where it's research-based, it is not just head start, but early head start as well. They are programs that help supplement where the states don't have the ability to do it for themselves.
Speaker 1:Now maybe we look at this different, because early Head Start is early childhood education and that falls under the Department of Human and Health Services, which is different than K-12, because, as we just read, k-12, it's totally fine, but I guess not an early headstart. I can't quite understand the difference, but maybe that's the issue. Maybe we need to move this shit over to K through 12, but I do love the things that come along with headstart with are those nutritional needs to family needs, because it does go all the way back to pregnancy for some of these families and they do need that. This is what happens when you have unqualified people running shit. This is exactly what happens, because people just don't understand. These kids are still going to be here, whether you say they they can be a part of the program or they're not, because let me tell you, people will find a way. They're going to be here. But just remember that these children, these are going to be the ones that take care of us when we get older. These are going to be our doctors, our lawyers, our teachers, our judges, our mechanics, our plumbers. How are we setting them up to take care of us? Because that's what that's the way society is. We are raising the generation that is going to take care of us, and I hope that we really think about that moving forward, because I don't feel like being misdiagnosed by my doctor and I don't want my mechanic tearing up my car when they don't have to. And on that note, we'll be right back. We all want our schools or programs to be the best and, although every school is different, all successful programs have the same fundamentals Best Practices for High Quality Preschool, afterschool and Enrichment Programs by Jarek Huff share standards to foster a high quality preschool, afterschool and enrichment programs by Jarek Huff share standards to foster a high quality program. These tips will help you put your best service forward, focusing on your children, families and communities. Best Practices for High Quality Preschool, afterschool and Enrichment Programs by Jare Jared Huff is available on Amazon and Amazon Kindle. Hey, team, we're back with Asking for a Friend.
Speaker 1:Question number one Hi everyone, I'm considering going back to work after being a stay-at-home mom for six and a half years. I'm curious if it's realistic to find a daycare or child care center that will hire me and also my two younger children to enroll there. I also have a six-year-old who's in school from 9 20 to 3 50. He would ride the bus home or possibly to and from the center if that's an option. My background is in business and restaurant ownership and eventually I could see myself being interested in an administration director type of role, but for now I don't have much hands-on group care experience beyond being a mom. I toured one center today and it had a 1 to 14 adult to child ratio and honestly that feels overwhelming. As a mom of three, I know how hard it is to manage when you just need to use the bathroom or need backup. Two adults in the room seems more doable to me. Maybe I'm missing something. Does it get easier with training and experience, or is that the kind of ratio, as tough as it looks.
Speaker 1:So my questions are do child care centers often hire staff who also want to enroll their children? Number two are there red flags I should be aware of before pursuing the path? And question number three is this a reasonable option for someone with background? Is this excuse me, is this a reasonable option for someone with my background, or should I look at other ways to re-enter the workforce? Okay, first off, I'm going to answer your question. Do you find child care centers often hire staff who also need to enroll their children? Yes, that is true. Are there red flags I should be aware of before pursuing this path? Yes, they are, you, lady. Third, is this a reasonable option for someone with my background? No, look somewhere else.
Speaker 1:You are not here for the children. Let's talk about that. You are not here for these children of the world. You are here for your kids and for you. Only Now.
Speaker 1:You didn't sit here and tell me about your child's bail schedule. You didn't tell me. You haven't been a stay-at-home mom for six and a half years, but your kid is six. I don't know what you're doing for the other half. Maybe he's on bed rest, I don't know. Not judging, then, your other two kids and is this gonna work for me?
Speaker 1:Nah, this is about you looking for child care and let me tell you how I do not like hiring people with children. I mean, I do it, but my thing is, most people, especially when they are the primary caretaker, when their children are out sick, they tend to be out sick. Now, no punishment, I'm not, but from a business aspect, I need routine for the children in our care because, as we know, routine is important for children. They need to know who's going to be there. But when your child is sick, of course that takes precedence and I get it, I do do the same thing. Sick takes precedence for your child, and so children are always sick, especially young ones, especially you have infants. They're always going to the doctors, they're always getting shots, they always got fevers. They're being introduced to everything, especially in a child care center, because other kids are bringing stuff in.
Speaker 1:Let me be clear about that. Other children are bringing shit in, not we in the back room conjuring and concocting up hand, foot and mouth and random shit. You know, I had a parent say that to me one time, like well, they got sick, been being here. We didn't make it. We do not make that shit up in the back. These are other people, kids that bring in sickness. We don't just, you know, foster it out the water fountain.
Speaker 1:That shit be pissing me off. But back on task. I look y'all about got mad lady, this ain't the job for you. And then you go go find a table to wait, go bust a table, go do anything you need to do in the restaurant business. But this is not for you. You're just gonna piss everybody off and waste everybody time because your kid's gonna be. You're trying to pick up your kid from school. You're just not going to be there and you're not here for the right reason. So we're going to move on to the next question.
Speaker 1:I'm currently working as a preschool director and, honestly, the weight of the role has been catching up with me. Between managing staff, navigating parent concerns and never-ending workload, I've been stretched thin. On top of that, I recently had a baby and the demands of this job have started to feel overwhelming, not as sustainable for my family life. I've been seriously considering transitioning out of the director-teacher administration world and into a remote corporate position, teacher administration world and into a remote corporate position, something that would give me more flexibility, less emotional labor and, ideally, a better balance between work and being present for my baby. I'm curious to hear from anyone who has made a similar transition. Have you left teaching administration for a corporate or remote role? How was the adjustment? Did you find it to be worth it? What skills translated well? Do you ever regret?
Speaker 1:I'm going to say this Sometimes you do just need to change. You might have been doing this job for a very long time and it is a lot of. We have lots of moving pieces that is going on. But what I am going to say to you, director, lady, is working from home when an infant is not really the business. We I at my schools we have lots of families that enroll because they try working at home and they're just like I. Just they felt like I thought I could do it and I just can't, because your children want your attention. They're crying, they're whining, they things are happening. You're caring for them. Yes, you can do it a day or two, maybe like a week, of where you're trying to alternate. You know taking care of them and you know working remotely, but at some point, when you're on a call, they crying, they whining, they need something, and I guess it depends on what kind of job. So I'll say, dear lady, woman, person, yes, do it, but remember it's not as easy as you may think that it is. And also, you are miss, your child is missing, because, since you are a director, you should know the importance of the socialization that the children are getting. If you're just keeping your infant at home which I get, it, it is infant, I mean, you know it's not the end of the world, but do what's best for you and your family at the end of the day, but I don't think it's going to be what you think it's going to be, though, but don't be there and be miserable too at the same time. Just move on, martha, if you have to.
Speaker 1:Our final question is a new employee is in their second week at my small school and the father of her child called the school impersonating a social worker. Asking about new employee sounded fishy. This is written a little weirdly, guys. Now I find out that this man has an emergency order of protection against him and new employee tells us many other bad things he's done. I sent a memo to our school with his photo and name, telling my employees to report immediately if seen New employee is great, very young. What do I do? I want to support her, but I need to be realistic. This man could do something to my small business. Thank you.
Speaker 1:First off, I want to know why does it have to be a small school? Does that have any variance on the situation? Because it's a small school, am I supposed to have more empathy for you because your school is small? I don't care if the school is big or small. This man is crazy what it sounds like like who calls a school and tries to impersonate a social worker. Okay, um, there's a lot to unpack there, but but from a from a business aspect, I definitely see what she's saying.
Speaker 1:And so this is one of those hard things where you don't want to punish the employee but you have to look out for what's best. So in this situation, my first thought was put the focus on the child, not the employee, and I think that's what most people on this lady is thinking is about the employee. No, if you focus on the employee, you can create more problems and it just comes off like you're punishing the employee. They didn't do anything. But let's look at the child. What's in the best? What is best for the child, since the father has an emergency order of protection, which I think that's what she was saying is there's a protection on the employee, on the mom. It was written weird. So we're just going to connect the dots. I'm assuming that there is an order of protection on the employee, on the lady person, and that probably trickles down to the child, possibly.
Speaker 1:I'm curious is there any paperwork I have to see it Like? Is there paperwork on the child as well? Hopefully there is some on the child. If there is some on the child, then we can definitely do a clean, easy break. You cannot call here. You're violating. Get the police involved and go forward. Now if there's an order not on the child but on the teacher, now it's a different subject. But I would also say I will still involve the police because if there's an order out and they're calling, what number first off? What number came up on the caller id? Okay, back on task. Just curious, if there's that type of order out that he's obviously breaking it. So go for from there.
Speaker 1:Because, yes, we don't want to punish the teacher because she did nothing wrong. She's obviously trying to rebuild her life and moving on from the trash. We can't punish her for that one. But as far as a business, I get what she's saying, because you have to look out not just for the child, not just for the teacher, but you have to look out for every single thing, going from the building to any family that could be walking in. You don't know what craziness could happen, you don't know what they could do. And I know most people are probably thinking, well, you're going to have to get rid of the teacher, not necessarily If you take the protocols to do everything else making sure that you're watching who's coming in the building, making sure you know people are just not randomly coming in the building, being aware of who's calling on the phone, making sure that you're understanding privacy laws so that you're not giving out specific information about any employee to an uncertified person doesn't need to come from a certain email. There's lots of things you could do. So, lady, don't give up on her. Don't give up on the lady. Let her rebuild her life. Please let her rebuild her life and we'll be right back.
Speaker 1:I love sharing information with educators and program administrators. I have had so many successes, but also so many failures in my education tenure. I want leaders to know what not to do, but, better than that, what to do. So I decided to write a helpful guide Best Practices for Center and Activity Directors. It's short and to the point. It's a compass to guide education leaders. These best practices will give you a foundation to lead your school program or organization. You can find Best Practices for Center Program and Activity Directors by Jared Huff on Amazon or Amazon Kindle. Okay, we are back with our interview corner for today.
Speaker 1:You asked the question give me a time that you felt you went over and beyond the job description, and they respond with well. Once a lady spilled her coffee and I looked at her and I felt horrible. I felt so bad for her because it was all over her, and so I told her where she can go to get a napkin and clean that shit up. I was off work and I didn't get paid to give her that advice. Do not hire them, move on. But some of y'all will because you hire out of desperation.
Speaker 1:The question give me a time that you felt you went over and beyond? This question is about conflict resolution. I want to hear about what happened and how you fixed it. I don't know if you guys are aware of the STAR method, which is situation, task, action and Results. That's what I'm basically asking. I want to hear about a situation or a task that you faced, the action that you took and what the results that you received. I want to hear you actually talk about yourself, brag your ass off like talk about what you did that went over and beyond. Now I don't want to be in a situation. I don't want people to think that I expect for people to always go over and beyond. That's not what I'm doing. I want you to come and do your damn job and I want you to go home.
Speaker 1:Those are the best employees the ones that come, do their job, are efficient at it and go home. They're the best. I actually forget that. They work sometimes because they have no drama. They don't care about drama, they care about their job and they have a life outside of work and those are my favorite people. It'd be the drama ones that make me forget about the ones that just come in and do their work, because at one school I have one teacher and I forget about her. I honestly forget about her and she's been with us for like four years and I just forget about her ass. I do, and it's not on purpose. I have to sometimes, before I get there, to tell myself to go talk to her because I forget about her, because she does her job and she goes home. She doesn't ask questions Very rarely. She does. She knows her job, she does it well and she's in her room. She may poke her head out to say, hey, I need so-and-so, and then she stays in her room. Then when she's off, she's like all right, bye y'all, see y'all tomorrow. I'm like bye, she's such a great employee.
Speaker 1:To sum it up, I'm looking to hear a compassion story, something that's kind, something that says you have a soul and you are a human, to hear that you know this person was pissed off and you heard how frustrated they were and you said you know what? Let me see what I can do for you, even though that's not technically your job. You're not a social worker, you're not whatever it is. You said what can I do to help, guide you, to make you feel better, to do something? That's what I'm looking for. That's why I like that question. It's not about going over and beyond and I had to do all of this damn work and nobody pays me. That's not really what I care about and what I'm asking I'm making sure that you're a decent soul person and that you are a human being, you are an earthling with a soul and not a Pluterian who has no soul. That's what I'm looking for. So, going back to you know, the lady that you know spilled her coffee and you told her where to get napkins from. Damn, I mean, technically you were correct, but where was the soul of? Oh, let me grab a napkin for you, let me help you.
Speaker 1:If that's that type of story that that person tells don't hire them, please don't, because that tell you, that tells you what kind of work you're going to get, but y'all still will do it because you hire and because you're desperate. And now it's policy time. Remember, something became a policy because someone didn't mess this shit up for all of us Covenantiality of records. Why is this a policy? Let me tell you all a story of something that happened at my job before I started. So I have nothing to do with this. I was just told the story, and the reason why I was told the story was I was going through applications and I seen someone applied and I was going through their work history and they had worked at the company previously. So of course I asked people that have been there. I was like, hey, tell me about so-and-so. I seen they applied and this is what I was told.
Speaker 1:Well, once she was a manager and she did not get along very well with a lot of people. She had a nasty attitude with certain people and she let people know that if she didn't like them, they knew, and the people that she liked she was cool with Her. And this one teacher did not ever see eye to eye. They just did not get along, ever see eye to eye. They just did not get along. And from the way the story was told, there were words that were exchanged over the phone. So something happened.
Speaker 1:I'm what I'm gathering is that the teacher called in and the manager already didn't like her and somewhere in there, unprofessionally, words were exchanged and then this happened. The manager said oh, you trying to play B, I know where you live at, I can look in the system and I can run up on you and meet you at your house. Since you got all these words to say Now, obviously we, hopefully you can tell that. The rest of the story goes, that the person no longer. Well, obviously they don't work here because they're reapplying, but this is what caused them to let go, to be let go, and that is why confidentiality of records is a policy, because we must not use, share or disclose any information that has nothing to do with the job.
Speaker 1:This lady was going to run up on this other woman because she looked in the system to see where she lived. I mean, at this point she probably could have took a social and did identity theft. I don't know. But that's why things like this are policies, because there's always someone that doesn't know how to act, someone that always got to take shit to a whole nother level and, of course, you all are probably wondering what happened.
Speaker 1:So as I seen the application and I was told the story, I said, oh, I just shifted it to the bottom of the pile and just moved on, because I said I don't need that drama. And you know, sometimes people change, people have grown, people change. This was years before, this was before I started. So, um, and a couple of years have gone by, but I don't believe in that much damn change. Some things are just who people are at your heart, you messy at the heart, you still want to roll up on somebody and I don't believe that's going to change. So she ain't doing it on my watch. So she did not get interviewed, she did not get consideration. She was put at the bottom of the pile. I like literally took hers and just stuck it at the bottom and said don't revisit, it's going to be here. And she has applied several times on. Indeed, which has made me laugh as I ignore it.
Speaker 1:I wish it was like a block button on Indeed, like you can just block people, like on Instagram, so they just can't even see your postings anymore. I wish that was a thing. Indeed. I'm giving you an idea to do so. We can block folks because she needs to be blocked, but that is why this is a policy. Well, that's all that I have for you all this week. I want you all to remember that our children will take care of us. So what will that look like? Don't talk to dads who impersonate social workers and don't use confidential records to threaten other staff members. Other than that, talk to y'all next week. Bye. That's it for today. If you liked this episode, it would mean so much to me if you left a rating review and subscribe to the show. I'd love to hear from you. You can visit my website, which is in the show notes, to contact me, and I hope you have a great rest of your week and speak to you all soon.
