A tip of the hat to all the students graduating from local high schools over the next few weeks.

Many high school students have faced difficult hurdles in getting their diploma, often without their peers and teachers knowing the extent of their struggles with poverty, mental illness, abuse, disability, addiction, grief and other trials no teenager should have to experience. This year’s global pandemic piled more difficulties on to every student’s journey.

If you managed to make it through and graduate, congratulations. If you’re one of the students who gave it a valiant effort, but will need to make up a few credits to make it across the finish line, don’t give up. We are rooting for you.

A tip of the hat to the Oregon Department of Education for giving school districts permission to continue delivering free meals to students throughout the summer. Hermiston School District has committed to continuing this beneficial service to children across the community, and we hope to see other area school districts follow suit.

A tip of the hat to the child care providers out there who are doing emergency child care for essential workers.

Reports from across the state and the nation have highlighted the extreme challenges facing child care centers. Many have closed, and those that remain open do so while caring for fewer children and working harder than ever to follow stringent guidelines in order to protect children and staff from COVID-19. Most operate with very slender profit margins in the best of economic times. Now, all are struggling to merely break even and are left hoping for some relief from CARES Act funding.

So, let this be a kick in the pants to our state and national leadership: It’s time to reform our child care system. The fee-for-service model is not working for most Americans, particularly for families with infants and toddlers.

There are two main reasons that we should move to a publicly funded child care system. First, very young children who attend high-quality child care and preschool do better academically throughout their school years, setting them up for a successful life. Second, quality child care strengthens the workforce and is good for the economy, as more parents — and especially women — are able to work and pursue higher education.