KinderCare Education review: horrible place to work for and to send your child to 5

I have worked for KinderCare for over a year now. I came to them after my other center was closed due to the failing economy. I thought that working for KinderCare, a company with such a reputable name...the largest provider of childcare in the country, would be fantastic. Boy, was I completely WRONG! I guess I'm glad to see that the same crap is going on all over the country and that it's not just my center, but it's still terrible. Here is my little list of complaints:

1. Curriculum. WHAT A JOKE! When I got there, the box for each season was missing 75% of the materials. My other teacher and I went through and made lists of what we needed to complete the curriculum...and was told we weren't getting it. Beyond that, we can't even get simple supplies to do what is provided in the lessons. It's gotten to the point that we follow the bi-weekly themes, but plan our own activities because they are more age appropriate and the children are more interested.

2. Ratios. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Laughable! We are constantly over ratio and are basically told that there's nothing that can be done about it. Hire more staff? Yeah, right! Our hours are getting cut when we don't even have enough staff to cover the center! Just 3 weeks ago, I was left alone in our school age room with 33 KIDS! Yes, almost double ratio. My director had to do a bus run and there was no one else to help out. Did she try to call the other center that is 3 miles away and picks up from the same schools to try and help out? Nope. I was almost double ratio! I informed my district manager and NOTHING was done, even though she tells us to ALWAYS come to her when something is wrong. Yeah, a lot of good that does.

3. Meals. Um, EWWW. Our director honest to God orders the same foods EVERY SINGLE WEEK. She also happens to order the cheapest food. Why? Because it helps get her closer to bonus. In the rare event that something is made that the kids will actually eat, they are always left hungry. Proper portions aren't provided and it breaks my heart to have to tell kids no when they want more food...when I know for a fact more than a few don't get much to eat at home.

4. When it comes to reporting things, nothing ever gets done. I have a child in my room that comes in every morning smelling of urine, covered in dog hair, and is filthy from head to toe. EVERY SINGLE MORNING. His father also smells of weed every morning. I spoke with my director about this child's situation because it was really getting to me. She told me that there was nothing reportable about it because it wasn't a form of abuse or neglect. Uh, excuse me? Disregarding a child's hygiene IS a case for neglect. I had a child (who is no longer there) that had some delays. When I would change her throughout the day, her private areas were always very red and she would act as though she was in pain when I would use wipes down there. There was also a very foul odor. I called and reported this. I informed my director of the situation just so she wouldn't be blindsided. She was livid that I reported it! When the investigation took place, she told those conducting it that she had never noticed anything and that the parent had informed her she had a yeast infection. Nothing was done. The parent NEVER told us about this supposed yeast infection. You know what happened a week later? We were informed that this child would no longer be in attendance because she was taken by CPS because she was being RAPED by her mom's boyfriend. This company cares NOTHING about the children.

5. My director is completely incompetent. She is 26 and this was her first director's job right out of college. Just because you have a degree doesn't mean you can do the job! She spends the majority of her day in the baby room with her child. She's never available to take calls. You ask her a question and the responses you will get are, "I don't know, " or "I haven't thought that far yet." Our center runs better when she's not there. We have a WONDERFUL assistant director that is credentialed to the highest degree and has twice as much experience as the director. When our director was on maternity leave and the assistant was in charge, it was a completely different place to work for. The staff was happy. Parents were happy. We did great projects and activities. She truly cares about us as teachers. She agrees that we are paid crap and that there's no incentive for us to do more than we are asked. When our director came back from leave, everything went back to normal. Parents noticed the very first day she was back that no one there was happy. That's sad.

6. Speaking of being paid crap, let's talk about that! I have an ECE degree. I make a whopping $8.50/hour...that's $6.85/hour after taxes. This is the 2nd year in a row that wages have been frozen. We don't get supplies/materials and the company charges an arm and a leg in tuition...so where is all of the money going?! Our headstart classroom gets an extra budget for supplies. In the 14 months I have been there, I have not once seen them be able to use that money. We have 3 teachers that have been there 10 years + and the highest paid one of them makes $8.98/hour...and she has 2 Bachelor's...education and art. PATHETIC. There was a teacher hired about 2 months ago that has a CDA that expires on 6 months that started at $9.00. REALLY?! With a flipping CDA?!

7. Some of the teachers are just absolute CRAP. We have 3 in our center that constantly yell at the kids, yank them around by their arms, squeeze their hands/wrists to the point that the child says it hurts, etc. Numerous other teachers have voiced complaints over this and NOTHING has been done. One little boy said one teacher hurt his back. Our director looked at it, as did I, and it was indeed very red in the area right around the base of his neck. Was anything done? Nope. One child had an accident while outside. She had told her teacher (the same one referred to before) that she needed to use the bathroom and she was told to hold it. Not long after, the little girl peed her pants. The teacher noticed she had done it and told her to go sit on the bench and not get up. She sat on that bench for over an hour until they went inside. Once inside, the teacher DID NOT HELP HER CHANGE CLOTHES! Her father came in to pick her up and asked why she smelled. The teacher said she did not know. BS. This was on a Friday and it happened as I was walking out the door. First thing Monday, I informed the assistant director about it. An investigation was launched and obviously, this teacher lied about it. The little girl told the director, assistant, DM, and her parents exactly what happened, but it didn't matter. The teacher was safe from any consequence. Wouldn't you know, though, that I came under fire for not reporting it Friday!

8. Something is going on at home office. We can no longer have our grass cut or our floors and carpets cleaned because KLC owes over $30, 000.00 to each company! They also have yet to pay people that have come in for summer activities. I looked and there are 81 jobs open in the home office. Hmmm. Interesting.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Bottom line, DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO KINDERCARE. Management only cares about money and lies through their teeth (well, most do, anyway...my assistant director is as honest as they come). It's so bad that my assistant director is pulling her triplets out and our DM's assistant is pulling her 3, also. We are told to inform our DM of any suspected wrong doing by the director...and we do...but nothing ever happens. We've given up. Every employee there (and all of the parents) want our assistant director to be promoted, but our DM refuses. Why? No one knows. It sure would go a long way to improve the center. I am currently looking for new employment. I will hate it, though, because I do love my kids and I love my co-workers. The director, DM, and company philosophy/practices as a whole just absolutely SUCK, though.