By Bridget Flaherty
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 12, 1997

Child care funding is insufficient

Editor:

It is great to see ASUA finally acknowledging students with families ( ASUA approves $1500 for child care programs, Sept. 11), but if ASUA thinks that $1,500 is sufficient to meet the needs of UA student parents they are dreaming. I am a full-time student, I hold a part-time job, and I am a single mom. I pay at least $50 a week for child-care during school for my one-year-old daughter. This number does not include the child-care when I am at work. For school related child-care alone I pay at least $200 a month. That figures out to be approximately $1,800 a school year for child care, and I'm only one student. As you can see, $1,500 doesn't cut it.

Every Pac-10 school has a huge child-care program compared to our program. Some schools have child-care facilities, subsidies, family housing, stress counseling, and ways for student families to network. ASUA should be ashamed of $1,500 not proud of it.

The UA is way behind when it comes to aid to students with families. As far as I'm concerned, I'm still on my own. This budget won't help me at all. Until ASUA comes up with a realistic aid program, students like me are out of luck.

Bridget Flaherty

Management information systems senior