The Day Care Council provided the school with some funds--as it did for other schools--but sand and fences which were promised by Harvard last fall have not yet been provided, Brewington said. On the other hand, "We don't really want too much Harvard involvement since we don't want Harvard to come in and take over," she said.

The school was organized a year ago November by a Central Square parent group, Parents for Quality Education, which favors racially balanced education. Teaching focuses on racial equality and children of different cultures. Teachers try to emphasize that children are individuals with different personalities and backgrounds.

The Law School Child Care Center, 23 Everett Street, serves a total of 45 children, 36 at one time in three age groups. The school is at present concerned with obtaining more space for five-year-olds since the kindergarten school day is not long enough to take care of the children of most working parents.

All parents except those on welfare pay the $147 per month tuition, but Director Helen Goldstein said that a tuition increase for next year is likely. "We've had people who couldn't come to us because they couldn't afford us." She said that some have even had to leave the school after having already enrolled their children because they could no longer afford the payments.

Although staff salaries account for a large part of the expenditures, Goldstein said salaries are very low: from $50 a week for part-time workers to $150 for full-time teachers, the local average rate. She said that many of these people are not receiving salaries commensurate with their training.

The center had hoped loans for day care could be made available to students, but Goldstein said, "No one seemed really interested when we first asked for that. We've only dealt with the Law School in the past. Maybe it's time to push again, but money is tight there."

"Things look worse for us next year," she said. The center is entering its fourth year, and Goldstein said unforeseen expenses each year have made it difficult for the center to get on its feet.

The school has been approached with several research and observation proposals, some of which are long-term, but a parent committee must evaluate and vote on the proposals before observation takes place. "We've limited the use of the center because we don't want the kids to become guinea pigs," Goldstein said.

Unlike the other facilities, the newly-formed Oxford Street Day Care Center originated with the Day Care Council instead of independently. It is also a parent cooperative center.

The school is the only one to operate on an essentially sliding scale base. Parents of full-time students pay from $60 to $200 based on their present earnings and projected incomes.

"It was the desire of the parents to have a center that was heterogeneous in terms of class and income," Frances Maher '64, one of the parents, said. "We would like Harvard employees, such as secretaries, to be able to afford our center as well."

Since the center stresses the involvement of parents, many of whom are Harvard employees, several of the parents advocate more financial aid from Harvard, especially in the form of release time for employees, Maher said.

The building in which the center is located was renovated to house the day care center. So, although the parents must renew their space agreement with Harvard each year, they feel fairly confident they can maintain their present space. Repairs in the yard and the building's exterior which were promised by Harvard this year have not yet been completed.

The largest of the centers, the Radcliffe Child Care Center in Larsen Hall and Currier House, serves 81 children. The staff of 14 teachers and two office staff includes three male teachers to serve as role models for boys.

The Radcliffe Center receives space from the Graduate School of Education and now uses one room in Currier House which was donated expressly for the purpose of a child care center. The other rooms in Larsen Hall are given to the center on an annual basis. The parent board, however, has requested a three-year assurance that the same rooms will be available to the center. The group must decide whether to make improvements on the outside yard--improvements which would involve long-term expenditures. The parent group recently had to install extra toilets to meet licensing requirements.