I’ve written about the need to fix the voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) system in Escambia. We have nearly 25% of our VPK classrooms empty – even though we know that child participating in VPK has twice the chances of being ready for kindergarten than those who don’t. Read Fix VPK.
The Florida Chamber says providing child care for employees is good business.
Florida Politics reports: Florida Chamber Foundation SVP of Equality of Opportunity Kyle Baltuch opened a panel discussion at the 2023 Future of Florida Forum by noting that the state economy takes a $5.4 billion annual hit from the “child care crisis.”
“That’s more money than Florida spends on its criminal justice system,” Baltuch said.
The top-line figure includes a $911 million reduction in state tax revenues. Childcare-related employee turnover and absenteeism costs Florida employers $3.47 billion per year, according to a report the Florida Chamber Foundation released last month.
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Helicopter Fly-in
Training Air Wing Five at NAS Whiting Field will host portions of the
2023 Naval Helicopter Association Gulf Coast “Fleet Fly In” beginning Oct. 31. The Fleet Fly In is designed to provide a week of training and knowledge sharing with student aviators so they can make informed decisions about their future warfighting platforms as they progress in their aviation careers.
A number of U.S. Coast Guard, Navy, and Marine Corps aircraft, including helicopters such as the MH-60R, MH-60S, MV and CMV-22 Osprey, MH and CH-53E heavy helicopters, AH-1Z, UH-1Y, and the HH-65 are scheduled to participate in this year’s Fleet Fly In.
