In November 2024, the Co-Op Family Center found out about a potential $65,000 budget cut from their annual funding from the Associated Students of the University of Oregon. The potential cut led to an outpouring of support from the Co-Op’s community. 

Located in the Spencer View Apartments, – which houses UO graduate students, international students and families – the Co-Op is an affordable childcare program that operates year-round for ages eight weeks to 11 years old. 

 “(The Co-Op is) a hub for student families,” Rachel Jefferson, executive director of the Co-Op, said.

The Co-Op primarily serves the UO community by offering reduced childcare rates for student families and faculty families. The way a Co-Op operates is through the support of both community members and the cooperative entity itself. 

Jordan Ackemann, ASUO senator and chair of the CFC, said the original proposed budget “included the Co-Op at a lesser funding than it was for this fiscal year.” He also said that “we (ASUO) wanted to fund it, but we just weren’t able to fund it in the full amount,” as the previous year’s budget which was increased due to Covid-19 costs according to Jefferson.

According to Ackemann, the proposed budget cut is not a complete cut of funds, but simply a return to the pre-agreed upon and contracted amount.  

“(The) adjusted proposed budget was about $65,000 less than our original proposed budget,” Jefferson said. 

According to Jefferson, participation in the cooperative is not mandatory at the Co-Op Family Center; it is one of the avenues open to families for reducing tuition. 

Joanna and Max Hermida, who live in the apartment complex, highlighted their appreciation for its accessibility. 

“It’s just a matter of, like, dropping her (their child) off and then going to class,” Joanna said. “It would be really hard to take the amount of classes and to be as involved in school as I am without the Co-Op.”  

During the Jan. 8 ASUO senate meeting, community members gathered in support of the Co-Op and shared their opinions on the proposed budget cut. 

“At first, we (the community) were like, there’s no way… but Rachel made it really clear to all of us it was a really serious situation and that a lot of families could be out of childcare,” Alyssa Hartzheim, a student-staff member at the Co-Op, said. 

According to Jefferson, ASUO’s Contract Finance Committee has funded the Co-Op Family Center in some capacity for the entirety of its 45-year existence. 

“At this point, ASUO funds about 50% of our (Co-Op) budget, and then the other 50% comes from parent tuition and then any sort of grant writing, fundraising and other things that we do,” Jefferson said. 

Caitlin Bradley Dutterer, a single student-mother at UO who lost her husband, shared some of the sentiment behind her decision to come to the university, noting that the Co-Op has a unique approach to learning that she values for her child. 

“They have this Reggio Emilia philosophy behind (their curriculum) which is very child centered and it was a huge reason why we came to UO,” Bradley Dutterer said. 

Jefferson said the Reggio Emilia approach is a “negotiated curriculum that works with the children to kind of observe and document their curiosities and their questions.”

Jefferson said the larger issue at hand is childcare deserts, which “are the worst at… the infant and toddler” ages. 

“There’s one spot for every seven kids that are looking for care,” Jefferson said. 

Jefferson also said that “we don’t want them (ASUO) to think that anytime we have increases in costs, it’s up to them to come up with more money for us,” and wants to work with them to contribute to the bigger concern. 

According to Taliek Lopez-DuBoff, ASUO speaker of the legislature, the proposed budget cut will not be final until Feb. 1.   

“I have full optimism that we’re going to get through this with a contract, but I needed to be transparent because the threat was real and when I did that (alerted the Co-Op community of the threat) the message was, ‘This is time to rally and showcase how awesome we are,’” Jefferson said.