All I Want for Christmas is My...

Since there are no kids in our house this year with missing teeth (we're still teething), the list is wide open.  Well, not quite.  If you remove the drum set and pink play fridge, that is.  Anyway.  I hope you'll help me fill in the top five slots on the Activistas wish list this year. 

Try this on: If you could tell Very Important People at the state level just what your family needs for Christmas (from them, claro, not Santa), what would it be?  We've covered a good many topics since Activistas sprang to life this past Spring - which are the standouts?  And remember, we're talking state policy here. 

Think big or small or in between.  If you don't help us, mamas, we might just have to decide for ourselves... But another important thing I learned way back in grad school (through excessive and often painful group projects), is that the more brains working on a problem, the better.  So please, don't make me decide what we all want.  I can ('cause I've got a policy improvement list a mile long...), but it'd be a whole lot better if you weigh in.  Just your tippy top item.  Paid leave?  Health insurance for your whole family that includes dental care?  Affordable day care?  Smaller class size?  What, mamas, what?  Santa is waiting!!  If we don't put it on our list, mamas, the politicelves might just fulfill someone else's list, 'cause as you know, there is no shortage. 

Comments

[atomlinson]

Funded full day kindergarten. Everything else you mentioned is painfully high on the list too. But, not funding full day kindergarten, Oregon should be ashamed.

[Melissa]

1) The right to breastfeed any time anywhere.
2) Paid maternity leave, optional unpaid extended leave.
3) Paid paternity leave! So often overlooked, poor papas get just as little sleep that first month.

and everything else you mentioned. :-)

[Kristin]

This might be more local than state, but...

1. I'd like to see some old books kept in the library because I like old books and also because the library spends way too much money on new books that they turn around and sell for so little. I think they have too much money.

2. I'd like you to attract some nice businesses with good jobs to downtown Portland so we can actually use some of that famous mass transit we've heard so much about. MAX is too slow to the Tron.

3. I'd like you to use a car to drive those 3 kids that ride the bus that drives past my house every day. 3 kids on a full size old beater school bus. What's up with that?

4. I'd like you to stop encouraging the building of such huge condominium projects.

[Hau]

You've touched a hot button topic. Definitely affordable "quality" day care, as I am deep in the search for a different day care option for my 2.5 yr old son. We just moved to a different neighborhood.

One option I'm ruling out is $1170/mo. Or $14,040/year, much more than the cost of college tuition at a state school. It angers me to think about the cost of childcare; and the predicament it puts families who cannot afford care. How can you work, if most of your salary is going to childcare? How can you even think about saving for college when you're already paying more than higher ed tuition? The rants go on and on.

And trying to get into some of these places is equally troublesome. The waitlist for my 4 year old son is three years; and if we decide to put him into a different kindergarten next year means that my younger son won't be able to get into the same program. But, that's another issue.

The other issues you've listed are equally high on my list, mostly paid paternity leave and affordable health insurance!

[Kristin]

Ditto all of the above.

I would also really like a **comprehensive**, well-funded high quality children's wellness program so that I can sleep at night, not worrying about children sleeping outside on bitterly cold nights or sick children going without healthcare.

(Can you tell you is still smarting over the loss of Measure 50?)

I would also really like a beer tax that would fund alcohol and drug prevention programs so that kids don't have to grow up in families that don't deal effectively with addictions.

Wow, this is fun, Lisa. Thanks!

[Sara]

Ditto everything. But I would put universal HIGH-QUALITY childcare and singlepayer universal HIGH-QUALITY healthcare tied for first place. Actually, forget specifics. Here's my wishlist - it's simple, Santa! Just one item!

1. A state government that actively values children (and therefore, its future) rather than just using them for political photo ops.

Okay, fine. Obviously I can't have that. But let's get cracking on the childcare and the healthcare, so kids with poor parents don't get massively disadvantaged before they even hit the school starting line.

[Lisa]

You guys are great! Keep it comin...'. I have never forced myself to pick just one item, to the exclusion of the many others, so... if I absolutely must, I'm thinking universal healthcare for kids. Our state/country may well never be able to stomach universal health care for adults, but maybe, just maybe, for kids. Though after the S-CHIP showdown, I'm dubious about that, too. But as Sara said, anything to help kids from all backgrounds hit the starting line without getting stopped in their tracks by preventable disadvantages (like no dental care, among others). And we were pretty close this year, so maybe, just maybe, this is attainable here in Oregon.

[rae ann]

i hate to say it, but i want healthcare for everyone- not just the bebes. someone close to my heart just had her 2nd baby 3 months ago and she's starting to suffer from PPD. however (from what i understand), care oregon only extends to two months post-partum so she's out of luck and in the mean time, her family is suffering. it's ridiculous. add to it a husband who doesn't know how to deal with a depressed wife and 2 kids under 20 months and you have a REALLY bad situation. i want to know that not only are the babies physically healthy, but that they're emotionally and mentally healthy which will only happen if the mamas and papas are healthy as well.

[Erin]

Everything everyone has said is so important. Number one for me would be universal health care, or at the very least, health care for all kids. Wouldn't it be cool if we could get funding for doctors to do weekly or monthly "house calls" (OK, OK, no cracks about doctors making house calls, please) at our public schools? As long as we're asking Santa I might as well dream, right?

Could we have someone out there in charge looking out for toxic toys? Like, I mean before they hit the shelves and end up in the hands (and mouths) of our little ones? Buyer beware is one thing, but give me a break. Someone should be more responsible for what is being sold as my judgement as a parent can only go so far.

[Astrid]

for ALL of our public schools to have enough $$ support that parents can feel confident that their kids are getting the same fair education that all kids deserve! So, if you choose to raise your children in neighborhoods that have some economical & racial diversity you don’t have to franticly play the lottery game this time of year because you want your kid to go to a “better” school...instead families can stay in their own neighborhood schools and feel good the education their kids are getting. After all how do we build community if we are schlepping our kids off to schools on the other side of town?

[Nicole]

Statewide tax reform to pay for things on the Christmas wishlist like health care; quality public schools (Head Start, preK-12th, college); improved foster care system; etc.

For example:
- Ensure that corporations pay their fair share of taxes (don't get me started);
- Adopt a more progressive income tax structure; and
- Put both kickers (personal and corporate) into a rainy day fund.

[larissa]

Health care for everyone, that doesn't run out after you reach a cap just when you are very sick.

This blog gathers some stories about people who've been affected by our healthcare system.
http://healthcarebankruptcy.wordpress.com/

[larissa]

Health care for everyone, that doesn't run out after you reach a cap just when you are very sick.

This blog gathers some stories about people who've been affected by our healthcare system.
http://healthcarebankruptcy.wordpress.com/

[Chrissy]

My wish list for Oregon leaders

1.) We're fortunate to have good health insurance but were on a waiting list to see at Developmental Pediatric for three months at OHSU. Honestly, I can't imagine what it is like for the uninsured. But three month to see a doctor when your kid is sick is heartbreaking. Every day that went by I worried that my son would slip more behind developmentally. No more waiting list for Early Childhood Intervention.

2.)

[olivia]

I want to ditto Nicole: statewide tax reform to pay for everything on the wishlist, namely: 1) PPS, 2) healthcare, and 3) affordable quality childcare.

[Lisa]

A few of you have commented on the need for state tax reform, so I thougt this piece on the Stand for Children website about its goals and work to enact reform would be useful: http://www.stand.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=515&srcid=273. Also, lest you think this list will go nowhere, fear not, Activistas! We've go plans for it that include sharing it with policy leaders/elected officials and drawing from it to create a list of questins we want candidates to answer. Any other ideas?