Meeting Summary
April 20, 1999
9:00am - 12:00 noon
Phoenix Room
The Radisson Inn
SeaTac, Washington
Commission Attendance
Melinda French Gates, co-Chair; Kathryn Barnard,
Craig Cole, Kim Cook, Yolanda Cortinas-Trout,
Robbin Dunn, Sheri Flies, Peter Jackson, Mary Ellen OKeeffe, Scott Oki, Dee Ann
Perea, Yvonne Ullas,
Dee West, Gayle Womack, Diana Yu.
Meeting Summary:
Melinda Gates opened the meeting.
Robin Zukoski made the following house keeping
announcements: the group from BrainNet brought
in their Maximizing our Childrens Brain Power display. This display spent a
week in the Capitol Rotunda.
Robin encouraged Commissioners to review it during break. Robin also noted several
handouts for
Commissioners: 1) Child care information exchange - Using Early Childhood Brain
Development Research,
2) Early Childhood Initiative - Organization information, 3) Benton Foundation - Effective
language for
discussing Early Childhood Education and Policy, 4) Good Samaritan Hospital - Building
Possibilities.
Jennifer LeSourd gave a presentation of the
Commissions web site. Jennifer explained that site is
currently on a test server and anticipates that the site will be completed and placed on
the Governors
home page by the middle of May.
Pama Joyner gave an updated report on the Parent
Meetings held last fall and early this year. Pama
presented the Commissioners with an updated summary including and overview of how the
meetings
were set up, a community demographic analysis, and an analysis of the parent responses.
Melinda Gates noted that there really was no one
glaring issue raised by the parents that stood out,
but rather a consistent message that parent education was a top priority. Melinda thought
it was very
good for parents to hear what the Commission is doing and that it is the Commissions
responsibility
to really stay involved with the communities.
Melinda Gates then asked Robin Zukoski for an update
on the Request for Qualifications process.
Robin noted that it is still too early to tell what will happen with the state budget. We
dont want to
put the RFQQ out until after the budget is finalized but will make it our top priority
once we know where
we stand. Since the meeting on April 20th, the legislature has approved
funding for the public engagement
campaign and the RFQQ will be sent out by the end of the month.
Melinda Gates then asked that subcommittees meet and then report back to the Commission.
Subcommittee Reports
Bill of Rights
Melinda Gates noted that the subcommittee has made
final revisions to the Preamble and Bill of Rights.
Melinda asked for any final comments on the document. There were no comments. Melinda
noted that
the Commission plans to finalize and vote on the document during the May 18th
meeting.
Child care
Sheri Flies noted that the subcommittee has met a
lot and has decided to summarize where to go from here.
She noted that the subcommittee wants to develop an entity to monitor child care. One
question remains:
What should this entity be? Should it be an arm of the Commissions function, add it
to an existing function
or create a new organization to carryout? The subcommittee suggests that this
responsibility becomes an
arm of the entity the Commission establishes.
The following items should be included in this function:
Sheri asked can this (the monitoring of child care) be one component to our ongoing entity?
Discussion
Mary Ellen OKeeffe noted the need to have this connect with WEAYC.
Robbin Dunn commented that the State HeadStart
Collaboration Project would also be good connection to
explore with certification and training.
Diana Yu responded that there is no standardization
across board. Were trying to get consistency and this
entity would help promote the standards. She also noted that there is no core curriculum
for children ages 0
through 3.
Peter Jackson noted that he feels this should become
an arm of the ongoing entity. Programs dont need to
be run by that organization, they can always be contracted out.
Diana Yu commented that we need to make sure recommendations of this Commission are carried out.
Melinda Gates responded that these projects will be
on going, they wont end by the set up of a program.
Well need to discuss and define what the entity, what the goals are and what it
should look like.
Sheri Flies commented that the subcommittee assumes
that the wages and professionalization of care are
the most important items for the Commission to focus on.
Robbin Dunn responded that the Commission needs to look at other strategies for solving wage issues.
Integrated Programs:
The Integrated Programs subcommittee is now
finalizing their report to the Commission. This report will be
mailed out to Commissioners before the May 18th meeting.
Melinda Gates thanked Commissioners for their reports and for the work they have done in the subcommittees.
Melinda then introduced Laverne Woods from Davis
Wright Tremaine, who spoke on the different types of
non-profit organizations, and the pros and cons of various models.
Ms. Todd spent most of her time describing the legal
and tax differences between public charities and private
foundations. They both can be for charitable, educational or religious purposes. However,
a private foundation
is limited in its sources of funding; must not lobby, must distribute at least 5% annually
and there is a 2%
excise tax on investment income.
A public charity can receive funds from a broad
array of sources and is not subject to excise taxes. However,
either one-third of donations must come from the general public or meet a fact and
circumstances test.
Under facts and circumstances the organization must
show that 10% of funding comes from a representative
number of people, rather than a single family, that the activities will appeal to a broad
public and that the
governing board will represent a broad array of interests.
There was a lot of discussion about which model will best suit the Commissions needs.
Robin Zukoski asked if an organization that would
give money to local communities, work with community
colleges, direct subsidy of wages, keep track of the laws effecting children in this area,
and promote issues
through a public awareness campaign, could be classified as a charitable organization.
Laverne Woods responded by saying that where the
funding comes from usually defines what type of organization
they are not what business practices they keep.
Sheri Flies commented that an initial endowment may
not be enough to create an organization and that well
have limits on private money. An organization falling in the definition of a public
charity seems to provide more
flexibility. What are limitations of this?
Laverne Woods responded that one-third of the
funding would need to come from public sources. If a grant
from one source is greater than 2% of the total funding it only counts for one-third of
your total over a 4-year
period.
Laverne also noted that we could create structural
relationship with a governmental or charitable organization.
This would give some flexibility in terms of money, what we can have and where it comes
from. This type of
pairing is very common. We can receive money from government organizations and private and
charitable
organizations as long as it is only 2% of total.
Melinda Gates thanked Laverne Woods for her time in
speaking to the Commission. She then asked for
public comments.
Public comments:
Sangree Frolicker thanked and commends the
Commission for seeking and elevating parent voices through
the public forums. The reports and documentation from these public forums is wonderful
information for
organizations that serve families and children.
Ms. Froclicker expressed her support for the
Childrens Bill of Rights and suggested that the Commission
adopt a Parents Bill of Rights as well. "The G.C.E.L.s Childrens
Bill of Rights speaks to parents. A Parents
Bill of Rights could speak to the whole community the "it takes a
village" concept."
Ms. Frolicker also expressed support for making
career development and the profession of child care providers
a priority.
She pointed out that the Child Care Coordinating
Committees (CCCC) Annual report is also working toward
credentialling in WA state.
Laurel Marshel commented that the parenting
awareness campaign is now ongoing throughout local
communities. We need to focus on how can we link and share resources together.
Marie Jameson noted that foster parents should be another target of the public engagement campaign
Dave Hall commented that long term public policy and for early development is crucial for ending youth violence.
Melinda Gates thanked the pubic for their comments
and thanked Commissioners for their work. She reminded
the Commission that the next meeting will be held on May 18 at 9:00am again at the
Radisson in the Satellite
Room in the main part of the hotel facility.
The meeting was closed.