President Tom Davis, called the meeting to order and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Xavier Montenegro (a new organizational member with Salvation Army) provided with a thoughtful Invocation. Mandy went around the room allowing introduction of guests, including (1) three guests brought by Scott Holsman, (2) Steve Burger’s granddaughter, Caren, and (3) Ms. Paige Fowler, our Rotary District’s Assistant District Governor.
Club Anniversaries were noted as follows: Wade Freeman, 2 yrs, Sept 1st, Bill Popplewell, 44 yrs ! Sept 1st, Patrick Donnelly, 3 yrs, Sept 2nd, Eric Bubb, 13 yrs, Sept 2nd, Kim Beatty, 5 yrs Sept 4th, Barbara Dolci 16 yrs, Sept 6th
Announcements:
This week’s Greeters were New members.
We have Rotary at the Zoo – Monday Sept 18th, 5 to 7 pm, $20 per person – includes meal – Aquarium will be open ! Monday Sept 11th is the last day to sign up.
We have the Rotary Regatta at the Camp & Lake Jacomo coming up September 22 to 24th. See Tom Woolwine, the Commodore, to volunteer. We need volunteers to staff the meals for guests/attendees, particularly Saturday night BBQ dinner.
Thank you to attendees at Minsky’s Rotary After Hours (40 members & guests)
Other Upcoming Events:
September 22 to 24th – Rotary Regatta at the Rotary Youth Camp & nearby Lake Jacomo
September 27th – Ramblin Rotarians go to Blue Springs
October 3rd– Bolte Beer Bash @ Peter Ho’s ($20 minimum donation to the Rotary Youth Camp)
October 19th – Project CURE packing event.
Tom Davis introduced our speaker, former KCMO Mayor (2 terms – 8 years), Sly James. Sly is very involved in the “Turn the Page KC” Project, which is a literacy program. Sly recounted that in his 8 years as mayor he was involved in/ran 18 elections, with the last one being for the new MCI airport. Out of the 18, he won 16 and lost 2. One being the east-west expanded street car line, which had substantial federal grant money assigned to it, but with the loss, it was gone. The other lost election still haunts Sly to this day and partially accounts for his “Turn the Page” early childhood reading & literacy program involvement. That election was for the 3/8 of a cent sales tax to fund early childhood literacy in the form of universal Pre-K (kindergarten) for children age negative 9 months (in the womb) to 5 years old.
Ramifications: Our childhood care & learning system is in crisis with important ramifications for all of us. Our population is aging, changing the demographic makeup of out society. This will greatly stress the system by 2035, as fewer people will be employed & supporting the economy, thus providing less tax monies (including social security). We need future workers and skilled or trainable workers.
Changing Business Landscape: AI (artificial intelligence) in the business world will be used to screen employment Many of the lower end repetitive jobs could/will be replaced (for an employer’s cut saving). In the Post Pandemic Recovery, many employers found that they didn’t need as many lower end employees. Non-college degreed jobs will be at risk from AI. Employees will need new skills – human skills – problem solving, creativity and empathy. The result will be lower end employee displacements. (McDonalds won’t need as many order takers, if patrons can order online or at a kiosk in the lobby.)
Child Care: When a mother (generally) can’t find reasonably priced day care, she can’t work. Day care for the littlest/youngest kids – infants has the greatest time and person intensive costs. The pay for those day care workers is low. What happens? A person gets employment trained in a day care at a low wage and another non-day care business offers them more money. The process starts over to train (& retain if possible) more child care workers. Infant care can cost $400 per week per child. Expect infant & 3 year old care to cost $3,000 per month ! RESULT: women/mothers stay home to take care of the kids & infants. They don’t contribute to economic activity of the community and they don’t make contributions for Social Security (hits them later at retirement age).
Other Cities & States: Washington DC offers cost free day care which has resulted in increased women in the workforce. When parents have good high quality child day care, they can focus on their work without worrying about their children. Denver is a good example requiring common action and having a positive effect. San Antonio, Texas is also making headway on this issue, being led by a wealthy civic leader. As expected, this particularly affects the black & brown communities. Missouri has made an attempt to allow a tax credit in this area, but it is difficult to apply for. Consider what other states provide for early childhood care & education: California – $1.9 Billion; Illinois $ 699 Millon; and Missouri $23 Million (???).
Societal Impact: High Quality Pre-K would help for higher reading scores, leading to later overall wealth accumulation, longer lives and lower crime rates. The average prison population has a Fourth (4th) Grade Reading Level. Lower reading scores & literacy levels deprive individuals from more productive (legal) economic pursuits (jobs or businesses) to support themselves. To fix crime we need to address universal health & education starting before a child is born (gestation).
Politics: Missouri is expected to have an $800 million surplus this year. The question is whether to use it to fund corporate tax cuts <or> provide for early childhood education & care. Politicians are interested in the here & now for re-election, not what benefits will accrue 50 years from now. We can’t expect Government or Charities or Businesses to individually do it, but together they could. Some companies, such as Hallmark and J.E. Dunn already have their own early childhood day care for their employees. Other companies need to pursue it or band together to do it. They will have more productive employees if the employees know that their kids are provided for. It becomes a matter of when do we pay for it, education & socialization early or prison later. It makes good economic sense and we have a moral responsibility.
Please join the Rotary Book Discussion Group for the discussion of the book The Book of Charlie: Wisdom From The Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man by David Von Drehle. The book is available at Rainy Day Books and the discussion will be led by Vivien Jennings. All Rotarians and guests are welcome. The group will meet at Rainy Day Books, however, Zoom will be available for those you cannot attend in person.
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