News You Can Use

THE MIDDLE-CLASS EQUATION
Bay Area residents have to earn a lot more to reach that threshold - 2 jobs for a combined $77k income
What does it take to be part of the middle class? Does it take owning a home? A college education? A job that comes with a white collar (or in the Bay Area, a T-shirt and a pass to the Google cafeteria) instead of a blue collar? It's not a new question, but one that is taking on increasing urgency. Three policy debates, two at the federal level and one in California, center on how much families need to earn to make ends meet - and how these debates play out will affect millions of Americans over the coming years:
The Middle-Class Equation

Bayview revitalization comes with huge price to black residents
Change is coming to Herman Autry's street in San Francisco's Bayview district….But Autry, a veteran Muni driver,worries the improvements are not going to benefit people like him - the African Americans who for decades have been the majority population in a neighborhood known as the city's most blighted. "They're fixing things up, but it isn't for us," said Autry, who has seen black families move out one by one. "This is all for the new residents.
Bayview Revitalization

Child Care Oversight Lax in Many States
By David Crary
California has the fifth-lowest standards in the country for regulating and overseeing child care centers, according to a new nationwide survey that gives its highest grade to the far-flung system run by the U.S. Military.
Among the common problems in the states are infrequent inspections, deficient safety requirements, and low hiring standards — including lack of full criminal background checks — for center employees.
California Near Bottom

Introduction
For many Californians, just making ends meet is a struggle. Many families live paycheck to paycheck, juggling rent or a mortgage payment with child care, food, and emergencies such as unexpected car repairs. During the past decade, welfare reform has focused attention on the challenges involved with moving families off welfare and into the workforce. Yet far less attention has focused on whether the jobs that are available provide suffi cient income to support a family, or on the economic challenges facing many working families as they attempt to make ends meet...
California Budget Project Report

The State of the State’s Children
The health and prosperity of California and our nation is dependent on our
children’s well-being. Twenty-seven percent of Californians are children,
ages 0-17, and 13% of our nation’s children reside in our state.1 Currently,
too many of our children are not given an opportunity to become produc-
tive adults. The State of the State’s Children...
Children Now '07 Report

How States Rank in Child Care Oversight
In alphabetical order, how the 50 states, the Defense Department and the District of Columbia ranked in a report on regulation and oversight of child care, being issued Thursday by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.
State Childcare Rankings

The Childcare Crisis
What kind of society have we become? Before members of Congress departed for recess, they gave President George W. Bush—hardly known for his wisdom or compassion—the right to define what constitutes torture and to suspend the constitutional right of habeas corpus. But our elected representatives couldn’t find time to pass the Labor, Health and Human Service appropriations bill which, among things, funds child care...
The Child Care Crisis -- Tom Paine

New Fatherhood Initiative Leaves Some Dads in the Cold
By Amy DePaul,
"What's up, man?"
It's rush hour on Beverly Boulevard in East Los Angeles. Cars whiz past noisily as a man strolls into a Latino community center and extends a warm greeting to his companeros. A few more guys soon wander in and plunk themselves on chairs and couches that form a circle, helping themselves to iced tea and pretzels on a tray...
Bush Fatherhood Policy

Parents Perceptions Report
“With nearly 12 million children under age 5 in America today (63 percent of American children) in some kind of child care setting every week, the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) commissioned a national poll in February 2006 of nearly 600 parents with young children on their usage, perceptions and thoughts on child care. When parents were asked what their most important goals for child care was, the top two responses were: “providing a safe and healthy environment” followed by “preparing children to enter school ready to learn.” For those familiar with FCS, neither response comes as a surprise. To read the full report, click here…” Parents Perceptions Report

Income Gap Among Black, White Families Up
“Decades after the civil rights movement, the income gap between black and white families has grown, says a new study that tracked the incomes of some 2,300 families for more than 30 years.”
Income Gap Widens