Hershey school proposes a PA network of six free early learning childhood centers with $350 million
By Bob Fernandez October 1, 2020
The Milton S. Hershey School for poor children, which has faced criticism over how few students it helps despite its riches, has proposed to spend $350 million on six centers throughout Pennsylvania to offer free infant and early childhood services to 900 kids.
The Early Childhood Resource Centers — if approved by a Dauphin County court — would be the first time the privately funded charitable school, with assets around $15 billion and 2,100 students, has offered to help impoverished children outside of its residential campus in rural Hershey.
The Hershey School controls the highly profitable Hershey Co. candy giant, which finances it with a torrent of stock dividends.
The plan requires the approval of Dauphin County Orphans’ Court to determine whether the project should be financed and is consistent with the Hershey School’s mission, which is guided by Milton and Catherine Hershey’s 1909 deed creating an orphanage and trade school.
In court papers on Wednesday, the charity’s attorneys said “circumstances demonstrate the impracticability” of using all of its cash for the residential campus, which has more than 170 group homes as well as schools for grades K-12.
“This is a major step forward,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Wednesday. “It demonstrates a new approach and a new direction for Hershey.”
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“Nine-hundred kids a year is a lot of kids for one entity to step forward and fund,” said Donna Cooper, executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, a child advocacy group. But given the scale of the unmet needs in Pennsylvania, she said, “my real question is: Can they do more?”
Experts say early childhood programs are the most effective at building children’s social skills, improving educational outcomes, and breaking the cycle of poverty. In Pennsylvania, limited state funding means that most kids who need early childhood education don’t get it. In 2019, 64% of 4-year-old children in the state were not enrolled in publicly funded pre-K or Head Start programs, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.
“I just have to believe that given the enormity of the Hershey corporate entity, there’s the opportunity to do much more, and there’s certainly much more need,” Cooper said.
Read the full article here.
Pocono Record: LTE: Pennsylvania Needs to Invest in Pre-K Programs
June 5, 2020
As Executive Director of Pocono Services for Families and Children, I want to add my support to the Pre-K for PA and Start Strong PA campaigns to ensure high-quality preschool education and care for all Monroe County children. In our community alone, there are nearly 3,000 children ages 3-4 that are income eligible for Pre-K classrooms, but only 584 children are served. We need a much stronger commitment to ensure every child has the opportunity to be ready for success entering kindergarten and throughout their educational journey!
The State Department of Economic Development has long recognized the direct link between high quality childcare and education and the economic advantages that come to communities who invest in developing greater access to these opportunities. These are also the communities, who are recognized by businesses, as ones with potentially more qualified, committed employees and an overall higher quality of life. This is why we need to advocate for the State to increase its investment in this high-yield return for our community.
Providing the opportunity for success to our youngest citizens will ensure a strong future.
Tim Lee, Executive Director, Pocono Services for Families and Children
Read the full Letter to the Editor here.
Lehigh Valley Live: LTE: Child care providers getting some financial help in PA
June 3, 2020
The stimulus bill passed on May 28 by the Pennsylvania Legislature showed that our elected officials can work together. I am so thankful that the bill includes $116 million for child care and also money for pre-k and Head Start.
My high quality, STAR 4 child care program has been closed since March 17. During that time I have been trying to prepare my facility, find and purchase necessary personal protective equipment, pay my bills and support my staff — but the money is running out.
These funds will be critical in ensuring that when my families go back to work I will be able to care for and educate their kids. Without these funds, I am not sure I would be able to reopen and that would mean more than 100 families would not have the security and support they need to go back to work.
If we can’t support our families, how will our economy ever recover? Child care matters to everyone — children, families, staff, businesses small and large, and the economy! The importance of child care is now essential, more than ever before.
Michele McEllroy
Owner-director, Cuddle Zone Learning Center
Allentown
See the Letter to the Editor here.
South Philly Review: Fiedler hoping to bring funding to childcare centers
June 3, 2020 by Mark Zimmaro
Local legislators are hoping to free up federal money to help endangered Pennsylvania childcare centers reopen after the pandemic.
State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, whose district covers parts of South Philadelphia, is introducing a bill with state Rep. Mary Jo Daley, a Montgomery County Democrat, to help workers and childcare centers weather the financial crisis. Fiedler is hoping to secure part of the $106 million in funding that the state received as part of the CARES Act.
“It’s imminent and it’s really important,” Fiedler said. “Right now, we’re seeing Philadelphia moving into somewhat of a reopening phase and we need to make sure childcare centers that are really at the heart of our economy and our families are able to open and have the support that they need. And quite frankly, they do not have that right now.”
There are 605 childcare providers who serve more than 44,000 children in Pennsylvania. The Start Strong PA and Pre-K for PA campaigns point to recent surveys that found nearly one-third of those childcare centers would not be able to reopen without funding.
“Pennsylvania has received $106 million in funding to support childcare providers through the Federal CARES Act,” Fiedler said. “And $51 million of that has been allocated, so there is money and we need to work very hard to get it out the doors to the folks who are in our communities and need it right now. Our hope is that this will draw bipartisan support. Children and childcare centers should not be a partisan issue. They are part of our lives across South Philly and across the state.”
Last week, Fiedler and Daley took part in a joint virtual policy hearing, which included state Sens. Judy Schwank and Lindsey Williams as well as parents and childcare workers from across the state. It allowed workers in the field to stress the importance of the funding.
The Children’s Playhouse Early Learning Center on Passyunk Avenue is one of those institutions that would be impacted. CEO Demaris Alvarado-Rodriguez said the center had more than 270 students before it closed on March 16. They expect only half to return when the state deems it safe to reopen. The fewer dollars coming in simply don’t stack up against fixed costs for most centers. Additional funding for extensive cleaning could help ease parents’ anxiety about returning their children to a safe environment.
“There is a significant cost to reopening our programs,” Alvarado-Rodriguez said. “In order to be able to successfully transition our students and families back from the pandemic, we need financial support, supplies and support from our legislators to ensure that our students are safe when they return.”
Read the full article here.
PA Stimulus Deal Saves Early Learning as Working Families Prepare to Get Back to Work
Advocates applaud legislature for substantial relief package for
child care / pre-k providers
HARRISBURG (May 28, 2020) — The economic stimulus bill that authorizes the spending of most of the
$3.9 billion in federal CARES Act funding includes $125 million in economic relief for the Commonwealth’s early learning sector, which will be critical in supporting Pennsylvania families returning to work.
The principal partners of the Pre-K for PA and Start Strong PA advocacy campaigns issued the following statement regarding the stimulus agreement:
“All Pennsylvania families will benefit from this agreement. Knowing that our economy depends on working families and working families depend on high-quality child care and early learning, the General Assembly and the Wolf Administration moved in a remarkably bi-partisan fashion toward a deal that will allow Pennsylvania to get back to work when the time is right.
“We applaud the prioritization of substantial federal resources in the stimulus authorization deal to help save the Commonwealth’s early learning sector for working families. This outcome, paired with level funding for early learning programs included in the stopgap state budget passed this week for at least the first five months of FY 2020-2021, will greatly aid in preserving child care and pre-k capacity in the coming months.
“In the wake of COVID-related closures, the Pre-K for PA and Start Strong PA campaigns — representing tens of thousands of Pennsylvania families — have illustrated the urgent need for relief, as Pennsylvania’s child care providers have incurred devastating losses over the past 2+ months. Stabilizing the Commonwealth’s child care and early learning system is a necessary strategy supporting our overall economic recovery.”
Pre-K for PA launched in 2014 with the vision that every 3- and 4-year-old in Pennsylvania will have access to high-quality pre-k. Learn more at www.prekforpa.org.
Start Strong PA launched in 2019 to support healthy child development, working families, and the economy by increasing access to and affordability of high-quality child care programs for young children. Learn more atwww.startstrongpa.org. ###
