Funding Cuts

Nevada’s early childhood workforce is being asked to do the impossible again: earn more credentials, raise quality, and keep classrooms stable while the state pulls one of the only programs that actually makes college affordable. We dig into the TEACH Early Childhood Scholarship Program and what it really does for childcare teachers, directors, and programs across Nevada’s mixed delivery system. When funding ends July 1 with only a short runway, it’s not a theoretical policy change. It’s educators deciding whether they can stay enrolled, take on debt, or walk away from early childhood education entirely.

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Transcript

Welcome And What’s Breaking

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to Stumbling Through Work where Educators Figure Shit Out. The podcast for educators and anyone who ever walked into their program and said, Nope, not today. I'm your host, Jared Huff, here to unpack the wild stories, broken systems, and to call out the chaos. Let's get into it. Hey team, welcome to another episode of Stumbling Through Work where educators figure shit out. Today's episode is about something coming out of Nevada's early childhood community. The Teach Early Childhood Scholarship Program is losing its funding starting July 1st. And if you're not familiar, teach is one of the main ways early childhood educators can actually afford college while staying in the classroom. And without it, teachers lose scholarships, programs lose staff, and children lose stability. But apparently, someone looked at the budget throughout the state and thought, well, yeah, this looks like a good place to cut. So today we're talking about what Teach actually does, why this decision is a big deal, and what this means for Nevada's early childhood workforce. Because this isn't just a funding challenge, it's a system signal. So let's start with a simple question: What is the Teach Scholarship? Because outside of early childhood world, a lot of people don't understand it. And so the Teach Early Childhood Scholarship Program helps early childhood educators go to college while continuing to work in childcare. So that means it typically covers things such as tuition, books, travel costs, sometimes even bonuses. And in exchange, educators commit to staying and working in the field. So the program does two things at the same time. It raises qualifications in the workforce and it reduces turnover. Which, if you work in childcare, you know these are two of the biggest problems that the industry has. The average childcare teacher makes less than many retail jobs really think about that. And at the same time, we're asking them to manage classrooms. We ask them to support early brain development, to handle behaviors, uh, to communicate with families, meet licensing standards, you know, complete ongoing training, and then we tell them, Oh, by the way, you should also go get a college degree. Teach is one of the only programs that says, okay, if we want that, we should help pay for it. So when funding disappears, the impact isn't theoretical, it hits the workforce immediately. Now let's talk about what this means specifically for the state of Nevada. Because this isn't just about a scholarship program, it affects the entire early childhood ecosystem. First, scholarship recipients lose funding. The funding ends July 1st, which means recipients are effectively getting less than three months' notice that their scholarships are disappearing. We are in March. These are teachers who already structured their lives around this funding. They've enrolled in college programs, they've scheduled classes, they've committed to coursework. Some of them signed agreements tied to continual employment. So when a program just disappears with a few months' notice, what actually happens is this teachers suddenly have to ask questions like, can I still afford this this semester? Do I withdraw from school? Do I take you know student loans? Do I pause my degree and hope the funding comes back later? And so now they're having to choose between dropping out or taking on debt or just leaving the field. Those are not small decisions, those are career-shaping decisions. And the uncomfortable truth is that many early childhood educators simply do not have the financial margins to absorb that kind of disruption. Because remember, this is a workforce that already operates on thin financial margins. Second, it's it affects classrooms. Programs that participate in quality initiatives rely on staff gaining education. You can't say raise program quality and then also say we're removing the workforce pipeline that makes that possible. Those two things do not work together. Thirdly, it affects private child care providers. And see, this is really important because you know in Nevada, majority of Nevada's child care is not in public school preschool settings. It's a it's a mixed delivery system. So between like private providers, nonprofits, faith-based programs, small businesses, those programs depend on workforce development programs like Teach. Without them, staffing shortages get worse. Turnover goes up. And now here's the bigger problem. Early childhood systems often talk about quality, school readiness, workforce credentials, professionalism, but professionalization requires investment. You cannot say teachers should get degrees while simultaneously removing the programs that help them afford those degrees. That's not workforce strategy, that is wishful thinking. Teach is actually considered one of the most effective workforce strategies in early childhood education nationwide in every state. Because it addresses three structural issues education access, workforce retention, program quality. When educators gain education, classrooms improve. When teachers stay longer, children have stable relationships. When staff stays in programs, directors aren't constantly rebuilding teams. So when funding disappears, the ripple effects moves through the entire system. This is why organizations and people are sounding the alarm about this. Because losing teach funding doesn't just affect scholarship recipients, it weakens the entire workforce pipeline. And Nevada already has workforce shortages in childcare. So the decision risks making a so this decision risks making a difficult situation even worse. This situation also highlights a deeper structural issue. Early childhood sits between multiple systems. We've talked about it before. It sits between education, health and human services, workforce development, economy policy, and because it sits between systems, it often falls through the cracks. Funding gets fragmented, programs are spread across agencies, and workforce initiatives like Teach end up depending on funding streams that are vulnerable to policy changes. This is why so many advocates argue that early childhood education should be treated as infrastructure. Y'all know I had to bring up infrastructure again, as I always and continuously do, because infrastructure programs are not built on temporary funding cycles. They are built on long-term investment. Rows don't disappear after one budget year. Electric grids don't vanish because you know a grant ended, but childcare programs and workforce initiatives often operate with far less stability. And when funding disappears, the consequences show up immediately in classrooms and staffing and in the pipeline of future educators. And see, this is the part that can get lost in policy conversations because every scholarship recipient is a person who has decided I want to stay in this field and get better at what I do. They choose to invest in ECE, they choose to take classes after work, they choose to grow professionally in a field that already demands a lot. So when funding disappears suddenly, it's not just a line item in a budget, it's a disruption of hundreds of individual educators who were actively trying to professionalize themselves in the field. And that's something the system should take seriously. Because if we want a stronger early childhood workforce, we need to build pathways that are stable enough for people to rely on, not pathways that disappear with a few months' notice. So if you're listening to this and you're part of Nevada's early childhood community, stay informed, stay organized. And when advocacy opportunities come forward, participate because workforce investment like teach don't just help educators, they strengthen classrooms, they support families, and they build the foundation children need before they even walk into kindergarten. This moment is frustrating, but it's also an opportunity for the field to say something clearly. If you all want a stronger early childhood education, it makes it it must invest in the people who make it possible. I'm just saying. And send this to anyone that needs to hear it, and on that note, we'll be right back. Okay, quick break. If you're a teacher or a director who's currently stumbling through work, and I mean that literally, figuratively, or spiritually, you need to check out our new merch. We've got shirts that say exactly what you want to say in staff meetings, what you want to say to parents, mugs for caffeine that hold your entire personality together, and gear so you can walk into the building already announcing, nope, I don't have time for this today, without even opening your mouth. These are perfect for the classroom, the office, or the car where you sit for 12 minutes pretending you're going to quit. Again, grab your shirts, your mugs, and your survival merch at abbreviatedlearning.com because if you're gonna stumble through work anyway, you might as well look good doing it. Welcome back. It's time for best practices, the stuff nobody told you when you became a leader. The topic is delegation, or as many directors interpret it as fine, I'll just do it myself. Because somewhere along the way, a lot of directors develop this idea that leadership means becoming a superhero, uh becoming a superhuman operational machine. You solve and answer every question, every problem, you fix every schedule, you restock the gloves, you call the plumber, you respond to licensing, you handle payroll issues, you troubleshoot the broken tablet in the preschool room. But then somewhere around 6:30 p.m., you're still sitting in your office and you're sitting there thinking, how the hell did I end up doing all this myself? If that sounds familiar, congratulations. You have entered the director superhero complex. And let me tell you something right now. Trying to run your program like you're the only competent adult in the building, it is not leadership, it is survival mode. And survival mode will burn you out faster than a Monday morning's licensing visit. A lot of directors fall into the trap where they think they need to be in control of everything, they need to know and be in control of every moving part of their program. That means every classroom, every task, every decision, every clipboard, every parent issue. And look, I get it. Because if you ever walked into a classroom and found, you know, glue sticks melted together, kids eating off the floor, somebody crying, you know, a teacher just standing there, you got an assistant director who doesn't understand ratio. Look, I get it. Your brain immediately goes to cool, I just do everything myself. But see, here's the problem with that. If the entire program only functions because you personally hold everything together, your program is one sick day away from total collapse. That's not leadership, that's a single point of failure. And I get it. I always tell future leaders your program should be able to run without you. If your program can't run without you for a day or two or a week, that means you're doing something wrong. Because, see, leadership isn't about doing everything, leadership is about building a system where everything gets done, even when you're not the one doing it. And that means learning the skill that many directors avoid. Delegation. Now let's address the uncomfortable truth about delegation. Because, see, some directors and leaders hate it because they think it makes them look lazy. They think the staff will say, Oh, look, the director is just sitting in the office assigning work to other people. But see, here's the thing delegation is not about dumping work, delegation is about sharing responsibility and purpose. When you delegate correctly, you are not losing control, you are multiplying your capacity. Think about it like this: if you personally handle 10 tasks in a day, that's it. You've handled 10 tasks. That's all that you've done. But if you lead a team of 10 people who are empowered to solve problems and make best practice decisions, now your leadership impact multiplies. And this is where directors mess it up sometimes because they assign a task, but they don't explain why the hell it matters. They just say, Can you handle this? And the person's like, Okay. You know, they want to know, like, handle what, why, how, but when. Look, clarity matters. Delegation should always include four things. What needs to happen, why it matters, how it should be done, and when it needs to be completed. Otherwise, you're not delegating. You're just, you know, you're creating confusion. And confusion or confused staff makes mistakes. And then that director gets frustrated and just says, see, that's why I do everything myself. No, that's why you explain the task better the next time. You see, delegation is an art form. See, too little delegation, you get burned out. Too much delegation, your staff thinks you disappeared. And nobody wants the director who sits in the office all day while everyone else runs the building. I had this director once that she was so good at delegating, she delegated all of her stuff to her assistant manager. She delegated herself out of a job because I let her ass go and end up replacing her with the director that she trained to do her job. You can delegate way too much, and we definitely don't want you to be in that situation. But nobody benefits from the director who refuses to let anyone else do anything either, because then the entire center revolves around one exhausted human. The goal is balance. Delegation should feel fair, intentional, empowering. Before delegating something, ask yourself three questions. Is this a task only I should handle? Is there someone on my team who would benefit from learning this? And does the person understand the purpose behind the task? If the answer points towards, you know, delegation, congratulations. You just created a leadership development opportunity. And you all know I love a moment to learn on the job. Now, here's another leadership mistake directors make. They only delegate the crappy task, cleaning checklists, supply inventories, paperwork nobody wants, scheduling, you know, scheduling coverages, basically the stuff everybody groans about. Meanwhile, the director helps the visible, interesting decision-making work. And guess what the staff notices? Everything. They notice everything. Then they start thinking, oh cool, I get their dirty jobs while leadership keeps the fun stuff, and that's how resentment grows. Let me tell y'all, I don't enjoy cleaning toilets, but I can clean the shit out of a toilet, and when I do it, I make sure all the staff sees me because I'm never going to ask them to do a job that I won't do. And I make it dramatic. I'm like sweating. I want them to see that I'm doing this shit because I don't want to do it. But I want them to see everything to know that when I'm asking them to do something as well, this is a team effort. But see, when the delegation starts including meaningful responsibilities, so sometimes you do have to give them that decision making, that leadership opportunities, ownership of projects, things like that, that's when the staff starts to feel trusted. If you don't ever do that for them, they will not feel trusted. And see, when they start to feel trusted, they rise to the occasion. One of the most powerful things delegation does is something directors sometimes forget. It builds future leaders. I'm not going to be around to be doing this for the rest of my life. I'm not. So it is my responsibility to start developing new and future leaders. See, every time you delegate thoughtfully, you're telling someone, I trust you, I believe you can do this. And see, that message is powerful because, see, their confidence grows, their skills develop, and over time you start creating leaders within your team. Great leaders don't hoard knowledge, they replicate it, they multiply it, they build systems where success doesn't depend on one person. Because let's be honest, you are not Beyonce. You cannot run the entire show alone. Even Beyonce has a crew. She has dancers, producers, stylists, lighting technicians, people coordinating the entire damn stadium tour. If she tried to run the choreography, lighting, sound, marketing, ticket sales herself, that concert would be a disaster. And yet some directors try to run their careers like a, I mean, their centers like a one-person world tour. Stop doing that. Build the crew. And see, delegation is not weakness, it's leadership. It means you understand your limits. It means you trust your team. It means you're building something bigger than yourself. Healthy programs are not built on overworked directors doing everything. They are built on teams. They're built on teachers, assistants, administrators, everyone contributing to the mission. When delegation is balanced, transparent, and intentional, you free yourself to lead strategically instead of reacting to every tiny crisis. And more importantly, you create a program where everyone feels capable, trusted, and responsible for success. And that's how you stop trying to be a superhuman and start actually leading teams. And we'll be right back after the break. So, are you an educator watching everyone else get promoted, watching everyone else get raises, or even get their recognition for things you've literally have been doing forever? That's why we offer educational career development coaching designed for teachers, directors, and leaders who want to move up, earn more, and actually get the credit for the work they do. We work on interviews, resumes, salary negotiation, leadership confidence, communication skills, and how to stop letting your admin gaslight you into believing you're not ready yet. You are ready. You just need the strategy. Book your session at abbreviatedlearning.com and start moving towards the title, salary, and respect you deserve. Because stumbling through work is funny, but stumbling through your career is not. We are back with asking for a friend. I just watched a video from my kids' preschool where all nine toddlers dropped for nap. I could not stop laughing. How do teachers do that? At home we have to do so much for her to nap. Meanwhile, nine of those little terrorists laid down to nap by just being acts nicely. The teachers have lullaby music playing on low, the kids have their nap blankets, and she said, Okay, time to sleep. And they just started laying down on the mat. My two-year-old even started sucking her thumb, which means she's going to sleep like for reals. Mind you, they're all two to three years old. In the peak of their defiance era, what kind of witchcraft did I just watch? First of all, I love the phrase nine little terrorists. That's the most accurate description of a toddler classroom I've ever heard. I am definitely keeping that in my repertoire. Secondly, parents discovering classroom nap time is Is one of my favorite moments in childcare because parents walk in thinking we're doing magic. They're like, My child doesn't nap unless I drive them around the neighborhood while playing ocean sounds and negotiating a peace treaty. It's not witchcraft, it's not hypnosis, and we are not sprinkling lavender, you know, toddler sedatives in the air vents. What you're watching is something very simple. Structure. And toddlers thrive on it. One of the biggest secrets parents don't realize is that toddlers behave completely differently in groups. At home, your child is running the show. At school, they're part of a tiny society. And toddlers are extremely influenced by other toddlers. So imagine being two years old and looking around the room. Everyone else is laying down, everyone else has a blanket. The lights are dim, music is playing. The teacher said calmly. Okay, friends, time to rest our bodies. The toddler looks around and just thinks, apparently, this is just what we do now. So they lay down. Because toddlers follow social cues more than lectures. The other thing parents under miss underestimate is routine consistency. See, in a childcare classroom, nap time happens every single day. Same time, same process, same expectations. Toddlers are basically tiny biological clocks. Their bodies eventually go, ah yes, it's 1230. Time to power down. At home, nap time sometimes looks like one o'clock, twelve thirty, two fifteen, three forty. Okay, we'll just skip it for today. Toddlers cannot operate on vibes, they operate on patterns. Childcare is basically a giant pattern machine. And classrooms are engineered for this. Lights dimmed, quiet music, nap mats lined up, blankets out. This feels like a fun Saturday afternoon just for me as an adult, I just want to say, but everything in the room signals the same message. This is not playtime anymore. But at home, nap time happens in the middle of chaos. The dog is barking, someone's vacuuming, the TV is on, the parent is whisper screaming, please go to sleep. Toddlers are like, ma'am, this environment does not support sleep and I will not be participating in it this afternoon. And see, at home, the process looks like this. Parents, do you want a nap? Toddler, no. Parent, okay, but you're tired. Toddler, no. Parent, let's try anyway. Toddler screams like a possessed raccoon. Teachers, we are not negotiating with terrorists. We are not negotiating with raccoons. We're running a schedule. This is also the moment where parents realize something important. Teachers are managing nine toddlers, nine blankets, nine nap time mats, nine personalities personalities, and somehow the room goes quiet. That's not luck. That, ladies and gentlemen, is skill. Early childhood educators are basically part teacher, part psychologist, part air traffic controller, part sleep consultant, and occasionally professional toddler negotiate negotiators. I just wanted to say that this one made me laugh, and we're gonna move on to the next one. Staffing looks fine on paper, but coverage gaps are creating ongoing stress. I work in an infant classroom and we currently have five infants with two staff, one to four ratio. While this technically meets ratio, our shifts and required breaks mean that there are times each day where coverage is needed just to remain compliant, especially in the afternoon and during nap. I genuinely don't want to leave my job. I enjoy my classroom and working with infants. However, I've started documenting times when we are exactly out of ratio or experiencing coverage gaps. One additional concern is that leadership has expressed that coverage flexibility is acceptable since licensing has recently visited. This makes me uncomfortable, particularly in younger classrooms, since safety and compliance are ongoing responsibilities. Okay. When I first read this, I had to process it for a minute. Not because the issue isn't real, it absolutely is, but because the way it was explained, um, which was a little confusing at first. So I had to read it, pause it, reread it, and then mentally wrap my brain around what actually was happening. And once it clicked, I realized that this is actually one of the most common operational problems in childcare. So for you all that might have been confused, like me, let me summarize what's going on. This teacher works in an infant classroom with five babies and two staff members, and technically that meets ratio. Wherever they live, infant ratio is one to four. Sometimes, in some places, it's one to three. And I heard this crappy rumor that somewhere is one to five, which sounds absolutely terrible. But the infant ratio is one to four, so that means one teacher to every four child every four infants. So two teachers can legally supervise up to eight infants depending on the state's interpretation. But in this case, they currently have five. So on paper, everything looks fine. But the issue they're describing isn't the ratio itself. The issue is coverage. Because once you factor in breaks, lunches, restroom runs, someone stepping out, or even normal care routines, suddenly the classroom has moments where it's in operational is in operational ruin. And that's where the stress comes from. The on paper staffing allusion, one line from the post that stood out to me. And another was something else when they said on paper fully staffed. In practice, very little buffer for real world situations. That right there is the difference between technical staffing and operational staffing. See, technical staffing acts, what's the number of people we need to meet licensing ratio to meet the requirements? But operational staffing acts, what number of people do we need so the classroom quality actually functions throughout the day? Those two numbers are rarely the same because child care isn't a spreadsheet, it's a room full of babies and human adults who need breaks. See, where I had to pause is when I first read this, I had to stop and think for a second. Because if you have two teachers and five infants, the system only works smoothly if there's someone else available to break that room. You don't want that teacher to leave, and now you have a ratio of one to five. There should be a breaker, floater, some form of a teacher that does this. And that's a basic operational role in most well-run centers. Floaters, they cover lunches, breaks, restroom breaks, unexpected coverage gaps, teachers helping with difficult moments. That's what they do. And without that person, every classroom is basically running on a perfect schedule fantasy. And child care schedules are never perfect. The other thing that crossed my mind while reading this was the enrollment decision. Personally, and this is just operational logic. This is my corporate brain. This is the money part of my brain going. I would not have enrolled another baby unless I was able to max out that second teacher's capacity first. Meaning, if I'm staffing two teachers in that classroom, I'm looking at the classroom as a two-teacher unit, not a one and a half teacher unit. Because the moment someone leaves for break, they go do something, that room drops to one teacher temporarily. The infant classroom isn't where you want to be gambling with that staffing math. How I look at it is if there's two teachers in there, that means there could be eight kids. That means at minimum, I want seven children in there. I don't want to have one teacher ratio one to four, and then another teacher is basically like one to two. To my to me, in the business mind, that just doesn't make sense. And especially in the infant room, because this is where you don't want to be doing like staffing math, because babies require constant care. They need feeding, diapering, rocking, supervision. There is no pause button in any room, especially in infant room. And see, here's something I wish more administrators understood. You are not fully staffed if your staffing plan only works when someone shows up and nothing goes wrong. That's not staffing, that is wishful thinking. Real staffing accounts for reality, and reality says that every day there will be some combination of someone calling out sick, someone running late, someone needing a bathroom break, someone needed coverage for lunch. A sustainable staffing model assumes an average number of people will be unavailable at any given time. And that number grows depending on the size of the center. The bigger the center, the more daily disruptions you can expect. So ideally, a center has two things in place. One is floaters that scheduled are that are scheduled every day, because floater teachers stabilize the system. They rotate between classrooms, they're covering breaks, assisting children with difficult transitions, filling in those small gaps throughout the day. But secondly, substitutes available on call because illnesses happen, life happens. Teachers are human beings. And see if a program doesn't have subs, and I get it, sometimes you don't, but if you don't at least have enough floating coverage, every absent becomes a crisis. So my thought is so when someone says that their center is fully staffed, I always ask a simple question. Fully staffed for what? Fully staffed to open the doors, fully staffed to handle the realities of a childcare day. Because if your staffing plan collapses the moment someone takes a lunch break, you are not fully staffed, you're just there. You're out of actually out of compliant. And those two things are different, and we'll be right back. You know that moment in your day. The one when you stop, stare into the fluorescent lights, and think, There has to be a better way than whatever nonsense way we're doing right now. The best practice series is that better way. Because these books, they're short, they're friendly, they're written in plain English, and not that education jargon sprinkled with fairy dust language. Hand them to your team and say, please just do it like this so I don't lose my last good nerve. We've got guides on tours, policies, communication, safety, programming, and all the daily madness nobody warns you about. And the best part, your team will get it, families will feel the difference, and you get to breathe like a normal human again. Grab your copies at abbreviatedlearning.com or just risk another week of someone asking, wait, what's that procedure again? We are back with today's interview corner. You ask the question, how would you go about establishing your credibility quickly with your team? And they respond with, Well, first, I'd remind everyone that I'm the new boss now and they need to respect the chain of commands. Don't hire them. Do not hire them. But you know what? Some of y'all will hire them. Why? Because y'all hire out of desperation. When a new leader, a new director walks into a child care center, the staff is not automatically impressed. They're not sitting there thinking, wow, this person must be amazing because they have a title. No. They're thinking something very different. They're thinking, let's see how long this one lasts. Childcare staff have seen directors come and go. They've seen leaders arrive with these big plans, inspirational speeches, laminated binders, and new systems. And by month three, those same leaders are crying in the office while trying to figure out ratios. So credibility is not automatic. You have to earn it. And nothing builds credibility faster than walking into a classroom full of exhausted teachers and announcing you're in charge. That'll go over real great. Because by lunchtime, teachers will be texting each other, yeah, this one's just not gonna make it. Or even if they gave this answer, I would immediately implement new policies so the staff understands that standards are changing. Ah yes. The day one policy purge. Nothing says leadership like walking into a building you've been in for 36 minutes and announcing everything you've been doing for the last five years is wrong. Because teachers love that. It's their favorite. And another great terrible answer that you all will still hire on is I would evaluate with staff members which staff members are strong and which ones are not. Because that translates to I plan to judge everyone immediately without understanding anything about the program. That's not credibility, that's how you create an instant staff resistance. What that question is really asking is do you understand leadership is relational? Childcare teams are relationship-based. Teachers depend on each other. They support each other through difficult days, through chronic mornings, and licensing visits that appear out of nowhere. If a leader walks in without building relationships first, the team will resist them. I want to hear that you understand leadership begins with connection. It's also asking, do you listen before you change things? Every childcare program has systems. Some are great, some are questionable, some exist because something terrible happened that Brenda did in 2014. If a new leader walks in and immediately starts changing everything, they've often destroyed systems they don't yet understand. I want to know that you will observe and learn before making major changes. And the question is asking, can you balance humility with leadership? And see, this is a tricky balance. You don't want a leader, a leader who walks in like they just know everything, but you also don't want someone who is completely passive. Now let's talk about what a strong answer could sound like. A good response typically includes four elements listening, visibility, consistency, and support. For example, when entering a new leadership role, I believe credibility starts with listening and learning. I will spend time observing the program, understanding existing systems, and getting to know the staff and their strength. Being present in classrooms and supporting teachers during the day helps build trust, and at the same time, I will communicate expectations clearly and follow through consistently so the team knows they can rely on my leadership. And over time, credibility grows, and when staff sees that their leaders, you know, is supportive, you know, when the leader is fair and committed to helping the program succeed. Now, see, didn't that sound good? See, I'd hire me. Notice what that notice what that answer does. It shows that, you know, there's understanding of leadership is not about control, but it's about trust. And let's be honest for a second. Childcare staff determines credibility very quickly. And they use a few simple tests. One, are you preg are you present? Leaders who hide in offices lose credibility immediately. Teachers notice when leadership is visible and engaged. Test number two, do you understand the work? Childcare is not theoretical as as society tries to make it. Teachers are managing ratios, behaviors, diapers, lesson plans, families who want daily updates about snacks. If a leader doesn't understand classroom reality, credibility disappears quickly. And test three, do you support your team when things go wrong? Because things will go wrong. It's inevitable. Kids get sick, staff call out, parents get upset. Credibility comes from how leaders handle those moments. Do you blame or do you help solve the problem? And just know the staff are evaluating you just as much as you're evaluating them. Within the first week, they are asking themselves, can this person help us? Do they understand child care? Are they fair? Do they listen? You don't build credibility through speeches, you build it through actions over time. I once worked at a company where they hired a district manager who had no understanding, which a lot of corporations do, have no understanding of childcare. And the reason why corporations tend to hire people outside of childcare tend to people tend to be people that come from retail because they're looking at them the numbers, they're looking at money, and that part of understanding but child care is special. You have to have that quality, that that that education, that that connection with the field, and you have to love it. And we had this no, she was a regional manager, and I remember our nickname for her was Best Mattress because that's where she came from, was Best Mattress, and we never respected her because we knew she didn't know anything about what we did, and she only lasted maybe a month, probably because we kept calling her best mattress behind her back. And I'm sure someone at some point noticed that we told her that we called her best mattress. Still don't know that woman's name to the day, but she's just best mattress. And so, back on task. Uh, so when you ask, you know, how would you establish credibility quickly with your team? You're not looking for a power move. That is something that you don't want. You're looking for someone who understands that leadership and childcare is building through, is built through listening, supporting, showing up, and doing what you say that you'll do. Because in early childhood programs, credibility isn't something written on your business card, it's something your staff decides you have, and usually within the first two weeks. And we'll be right back after this break. Listen, if your center or program is currently held together by tape, caffeine, and vibes, you might need consulting. And that's where abbreviated learning comes in. We work with childcare centers, studios, and youth programs that are doing their absolute best while simultaneously drowning in staffing issues, quality, enrollment gaps, and with that one parent who emails 14 times a day. We help you streamline your systems, fix the operational chaos, train your teachers, and get the program functioning like you're not just winging it every morning at 6 a.m. Whether you need policies, tours, staff development, or someone to just look at your program and say, Okay, here's how we unjanky this. We're here for you. Visit abbreviatedlearning.com to book consulting for your center or program because stumbling through work is funny on the podcast, but not in real life. Welcome back. It is policy time. And remember, something became a policy because someone didn't mess this shit up for all of us. And today we're talking about the classic, the conflict of interest policy. Now, if you've ever opened a staff handbook and read something like this, your eyes probably glazed over halfway through and it says things like, Team members are expected to avoid situations that create an actual, potential, or perceived conflict between their personal interests and the interests of the company. And immediately everyone thinks, Well, what does that even mean? Or more importantly, who messed this up so badly that we needed a two-page policy about it? Well, let me translate this policy into plain English. It means don't use your job for personal gain in a way that messes with the center. That's it. But because humans are creative creatures, we need the long version. A conflict of interest happens when your personal interests interfere with your professional responsibilities. Or even worse, when it looks like they might. And here's the important part the policy doesn't just say actual conflicts, it also says perceived conflicts because sometimes something might technically be allowed, but it looks shady enough that the center still ends up with a problem. The childcare programs operate on trust. Parents trust the program, staff trust leadership, leadership trusts staff. If someone starts using their position for personal gain, that trust disappears quickly. And once trust disappears. Disappears in a child care center, things get messy fast. So the policy exists to protect three things the company, the staff, and the children. Examples of things are like you know, accepting gifts over fifty dollars from you know families or suppliers, working with competitors, starting a competing business, you know, different things like that. And again, when people read this, they think, who would actually do that? And the answer is Brenda. Cause see, Brenda is not a real person, but every center has had a Brenda at some point. Brenda was a lead teacher in the toddler room, very charismatic. Parents loved her, kids loved her, and Brenda had entrepreneurial ambitions. And at first it seemed harmless. Brenda started babysitting for a few families on weekends, which by the way, if you guys know me, I despise babysitting. We could talk about that next week. Let's talk about babysitting and child care. But you know, Brenda started babysitting, you know, no big deal. And then babysitting, you know, that's something that's normal. And then Brenda started saying things like, you know, if you ever need extra care, I could watch your child at my house. Still technically fine. And then Brenda started getting creative. One day a parent mentions, you know, they're struggling with potty training. And Brenda says, Oh, I actually run a private potty training boot camp program. It's$2.50 for the weekend. And now the director is a little confused because Brenda just invented a side business using the center's expertise. But see, it gets worse. Brenda then starts handing out business cards at pickup to parents in the classrooms for her private child care consulting services. Now the center is thinking, Hold on, are you running a competitive child care services out of the lobby? But wait, Brenda is just getting warmed up. One day the director notices something strange. The toddler room is mysteriously missing construction paper, glue sticks, crayons, and suddenly Brenda's weekend creative camp on Instagram has identical supplies. Now Brenda is technically running a craft business with company materials, and this is exactly the type of situation the conflict of interest policy exists to prevent. But see, the policy even goes further. See, the handbook also talks about things like not working for competitors, not having financial interests and suppliers, not using company labor for personal use. It says a lot of things. And yes, someone did that somewhere at some point, and there was absolutely a situation where someone said, Hey, can you help me move furniture after work? Well, you know what? We'll just use the school van. And suddenly the company's vehicle is transporting a couch. Which turns out is not what licensing meant by transportation policy. The policy also says employees, you know, they can have outside jobs, you know, as long as the jobs don't interfere with their performance at the current preschool job, which is responsible. But again, somewhere out there, someone tried something wild, probably Brenda, she, you know, probably was working overnight at another job, then comes into the infant room at 7 a.m. looking like she just survived a zombie apocalypse. Outside work is fine, that's not an issue. But if it means you're falling asleep during circle time, we're definitely having an issue with that. And see, one of the smartest parts of the policy says that if you're unusual, sorry, if you're unsure whether something is a conflict of interest, talk to the director first. That's actually the easiest solution. Talk to your HR, whoever it is, talk to them first. Transparency solves most of these issues. See if Brenda has simply said, Hey, I'm thinking about starting a weekend potty training class, is that okay? The director could have just addressed it immediately instead of discovering it through Instagram ads and missing glue sticks. And at the end of the day, the conflict of interest policies exist for one reason. Boundaries. Childcare programs are communities. Families trust staff, staff trust leadership, and when someone starts mixing personal business with professional responsibilities, the lines get blurry. And blurry lines create problems, big problems, legal problems, and sometimes licensing problems, which can be the scariest kind. So the next time you're reading a handbook and you see a long policy about conflicts of interest and you're thinking, This seems excessive. Just remember, policies are written in response to real events. Events that probably started with someone saying, This seems like a good idea, and ended with a director saying, Well, now, see, we need a policy. And in this case, that someone was probably Brenda running a weekend potty training boot camp using the center's glue sticks. Well, that's today's episode of Stumbling Through Work where policies are long, explanations are vague, and somewhere out there, Brenda is still trying to sell craft kits to parents at pickup. This week I want you all to review your local ECE budgets because guess what? If you don't care, why should they? And staff your programs accordingly and see y'all next episode. Bye. Alright, that's another episode of Stumbling Through Work where educators figure shit out. If today made you laugh, think, or just say, Wow, that's my life, go ahead and subscribe and leave a review. Or share this with another educator who's one licensing violation away from quitting. I'm Jared Huff. See you next time, probably stumbling, but still showing up.