With over 30 years of teaching experience, Amy Upton prides herself on setting the bar for high-quality early education and childcare. As the executive director of East Side Learning Center in Concord, which operates both early childhood and school-age childcare, quality care is important to her and her business. So when the state unveiled its […]
For 10 years, I was a certified foster parent in Kentucky. I recently closed my home, but one lesson still defies common sense: Kentucky has somehow made adopting one of its own waiting children harder than adopting a waiting child from another state. The Kentucky Adoption Profile Exchange, or KAPE, is supposed to find permanent […]
May 21, 2026, is the day I became a certified biology teacher in Missouri, and I love my job. I wish others would join me. Sadly, the pathway to teacher licensure is a frustrating waste of time and money that is a barrier to talented people, especially career switchers.  My alternative certification process cost over […]
It’s been 15 years since Washington voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative setting new standards for training and certifying home care aides. But while the changes included in Initiative 1163 have improved safety for people receiving care, the certification process for aides has been rife with bottlenecks, according to a new state audit. Most prospective […]
