Aug. 23, 2025 9:30p
(WGTD0---Stephanie Kober got a chance last week to personally thank Gov. Evers for putting a high priority on securing state aid for child care centers in the state.
Kober is director of the Growing Tree Child Development Center on Douglas Ave. in Racine. Evers spent over an hour at the center last week, touring classrooms and talking to teachers as he highlighted the benefits of several programs in the recently-passed budget that are designed to stabilize child care centers’ finances and allow them to retain good teachers.
Kober said the average wage for her 14 full-time employees is just under $18 an hour, several dollars higher than the $13 norm. "If I am going to demand that you be the best of the best I am going to pay you," Kober said in an interview after Evers left. "I can't expect that for $13 an hour."
The staff also receives full benefits.
Most of Kober’s employees have either graduated from or are enrolled in the early childhood education program at Gateway.
After the tour, Evers said visits such as the one he made to the Growing Tree demonstrate to him the need for state support. "For me it's an affirmation that the state does have to play a role in early childhood and early learning," he said.
Child care centers in Wisconsin this past week received the first checks under the state's Child Care Bridge Program. Growing Tree received nearly $5,600.
Between fall of 2022 and June of this year. The Growing Tree has received $192,000 in state support, most of it coming from Covid-era programs.
The recently-passed state budget bill continues much of that aid.
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