Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/financial-management-in-early-childhood-programs/5022741/
Author’s Note: I edited this article just days after losing my financial management-in-ECE friend, colleague, and mentor Gwen Morgan. She ignited my passion for this topic and was a treasured supporter.
I don’t have a financial management degree, nor would I be considered a financial expert by that crowd. But I have been an executive director and program child care center director for a long time and have taught courses in financial management in early childhood education for colleges in New England. That, combined with the excellent brain and teaching of Gwen Morgan, gives me expertise in financing early childhood programs. Plus, I love math. Budgets and financial management give me a chance to use math in its simplest form, which, by the way, means anyone with a calculator can do it!
As leaders in our programs, we are charged with implementing policy and monitoring budgets. In many cases we are part of developing those policies, particularly around curriculum and children, staff, and materials. At the heart of this is the budget. It turns out that your budget really is policy — there is no doubt about it. Morgan and Emmanuel start out Managing the Dollars (2010) with this concept and it ...