HARRISBURG (February 4, 2016)—The Pre-K for PA campaign lauded Governor Tom Wolf’s continued commitment to expanding access to pre-k in Pennsylvania after he announced his plans today to propose a $120 million multi-year investment in his 2016-17 budget address on February 9. The plan calls for $60 million total investment in 2015-16 budget and additional $60 million in the 2016-17 budget.
The principal partners of the two-year-long campaign to increase funding for high-quality pre-k issued the following statement regarding this budget proposal:
“We are pleased that Gov. Wolf remains committed to make high-quality pre-k available to more kids. This proposed multi-year commitment capitalizes on the significant new $30 million investment in pre-k already adopted by the legislature in the budget passed at the end of December making it possible for over 6,000 children to enroll in pre-k for the remainder of this school year.
“Support for expanded access to pre-k has become a bi-partisan priority that has generated enormous energy among a diverse collection of stakeholders across the commonwealth. Our coalition, representing ten organizations and more than 13,000 supporters, urges the Governor and Legislature to kick off this next round of budget discussions by coming together behind a pre-k funding agreement that keeps us on track to serve all at-risk kids by 2019.
“A bipartisan agreement generated by a push for something as important as access to pre-k has the potential to significantly boost public confidence in our political process. It’s time to get behind pre-k because it speaks to Pennsylvanians and unites the many proud constituencies of our state who know our future is dependent on all kids entering school ready to learn.”
Pre-K for PA was launched in 2014 with the vision that every 3- and 4-year-old in Pennsylvania will have access to high-quality pre-k. This statewide coalition includes: Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children; Economy League of Greater Philadelphia; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids; Mission: Readiness; Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children; Pennsylvania Head Start Association; Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children; Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children; Public Citizens for Children and Youth; and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. www.prekforpa.org
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PennLive: Gov. Tom Wolf asking for $90 million more for preschool programs
February 4, 2016
Gov. Tom Wolf plans to ask the General Assembly to invest another $60 million into state funding for preschool programs in 2016-17 on top of $30 million more that he didn’t get in this year’s unfinished budget.
At an event in Philadelphia on Thursday, Wolf made a pitch to try to gain support for this proposed investment that would raise the current state funding for preschool programs of $166.5 million to $256.3 million next year if fully realized.
An increased investment of that size would allow 14,000 more children access to preschool, based on information released by the Wolf Administration earlier this year.
“We have a choice in Pennsylvania. We must choose a path that funds our schools, eliminates our deficit, and puts Pennsylvania back on track,” Wolf said. “I believe that Pennsylvania should be among the many states that provide universal pre-kindergarten for children and I will work to make this a reality.”
The new preschool funding that the governor seeks for this year and next would be divided between Pre-K Counts and the state supplement to federal funding for Head Start.
It would direct $50 million of next year’s money and $20 million of the additional funding he seeks in this year’s budget for Pre-K Counts and $10 million more in each this year and next for Head Start, according to Wolf’s spokesman Jeff Sheridan.
This pre-budget announcement comes on the heels of one Wolf made on Tuesday, saying he intends to ask the Legislature to increase funding for basic education by $200 million next year on top of the $377 million he still wants for this year.
Studies have suggested avoids costs associated with grade repetition and special education, reduces the likelihood of students dropping out of high school, boosts their employment opportunities and mitigates problem behavior that can land them in the criminal justice system.
According to a study released last month by the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children and Pre-K for Pa campaign, only one in six of the state’s 3- and 4-year-olds – nearly 300,000 – were enrolled in high-quality preschool programs and 70 percent of about 175,000 preschoolers at risk of school failure lacked access to these programs. (See below for a county breakdown of those numbers.)
Wolf last year sought a $120 million increase in funding for Pre-K Counts and Head Start but the $23.4 billion budget that he signed into law in December provided for a $30 million bump instead. Wolf said he wants to see double that amount included in the finalized 2015-16 budget and another $60 million in next year’s budget.
When it comes to preschool, Republican and Democratic lawmakers stand in unison in their support of providing more funding and consider it a wise investment. It also has the support from children’s advocacy groups, district attorneys and military leaders.
Pre-K for Pa, a coalition of groups pushing for increased access to quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds, applauded news of Wolf’s call for increased preschool funding.
“Our coalition, representing ten organizations and more than 13,000 supporters, urges the governor and Legislature to kick off this next round of budget discussions by coming together behind a pre-k funding agreement that keeps us on track to serve all at-risk kids by 2019,” according to the group’s statement.
Read the entire article here.
York Dispatch: Wolf wants additional $60M for early education
February 4, 2016
Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday proposed an additional $60 million in state funding for early childhood education for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
The announcement comes on the heels of his proposal to up state education funding by $200 million for 2015-16, but before the completion of the current fiscal year’s long-stalled state budget.
The additional funding for next year’s budget, Wolf said in a press release, is contingent upon lawmakers passing the bipartisan budget compromise bill that fell apart at the end of December, as each investment is intended to build on the one prior.
Wolf had originally hoped to put $120 million in state funds toward early childhood education for the 2015-16 budget, an amount he halved over the course of the negotiation process. The partial budget he signed in late December added only $30 million, though he hopes to get to the $60 million figure by the time the final budget deal passes, according to the press release. Should lawmakers agree to a total of $120 million over the next two years, an additional 14,000 slots would become available to Pennsylvania 3- and 4-year-olds through the Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program.
“We have a choice in Pennsylvania. We must choose a path that funds our schools, eliminates our deficit, and puts Pennsylvania back on track,” Wolf said during a press conference in Philadelphia. “I believe that Pennsylvania should be among the many states that provide universal pre-kindergarten for children, and I will work to make this a reality.”
Only 30 percent of Pennsylvania children in families earning up to three times the federal poverty level are enrolled in high-quality pre-K programs, a percentage which is significantly smaller in York County.
Read the full article here.
Gant News: LTE: United Way Asks for Commonwealth’s Support of Pre-K Programs
February 3, 2016
Dear Editor:
Members of the Clearfield Area United Way believe in early-learning/school readiness. CAUW member agencies are making differences in the lives of children daily; our Reading Ripples program has distributed 3,500 books to area children.
Research continues to confirm that high-quality Pre-K programs are among the best and most cost-effective initiatives.
Pennsylvania is home to nearly 300,000 3- and 4-year-olds, including 1,700 in Clearfield County. Only a small fraction of these children are enrolled in publicly-funded Pre-K programs.
Many of those missing out are those at risk of academic failure. In fact, 542 kids in all lacked access to a publicly-funded, high-quality Pre-K program last year.
Community philanthropic organizations have made efforts to promote high-quality Pre-K programs but cannot get the job done alone.
We need the Commonwealth to bolster its efforts to fund Pre-K programs and to reach those children who are missing out.
A new report by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children and the non-partisan Pre-K for PA, outlines a multi-year investment that could help reach nearly 71,000 additional 3- and 4-year-olds over a four-year span.
If Pennsylvania were to follow through on the investment strategy proposed, it could make publicly-funded, quality Pre-K available to more than 40 percent by 2019. This is compared to the fewer than 20 percent who benefited in 2013.
We could reach all of our Commonwealth’s at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds and help them to succeed.
United Way and other organizations across Pennsylvania have been doing their part to make Pre-K a priority because we know it works.
It benefits our children, our communities and our entire Commonwealth. We are requesting the Commonwealth to step up now and make Pre-K a budget priority this year and in the years ahead so our region’s children can reach the fullest potential.
Sincerely,
Nancy M. Pinto
Clearfield Area United Way
Reading Eagle: Editorial: Pre-K programs vital for development of youngsters
February 2, 2016
A recent report by a children’s advocacy organization in Harrisburg shined a bright light on the alarming condition of childhood education in Pennsylvania.
An article about the report by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette appeared in the Reading Eagle under the headline “Report: Pa. lags in pre-K education.” A second headline read, “Lack of opportunities puts roughly 120,000 at risk of school failure, it says.”
Failing in school is just one of the many risks older children and adults face when they lack a quality early childhood education.
Pennsylvania trails most neighboring states in access to publicly funded, high-quality, pre-K education, with only one in six children in the state enrolled in such a program, according to the report by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.
The report, “The Case for Pre-K in PA,” noted that over five years, Pennsylvania dropped from 11th to 15th in the nation in pre-K access for 3-year-olds and from 24th to 30th for 4-year-olds, according to research from the National Institute for Early Education Research.
In Pennsylvania, such programs are available to 26 percent of 4-year-olds. In West Virginia, New York and Maryland, the figures are 94 percent, 54 percent and 42 percent, respectively. Only New Jersey comes close to Pennsylvania in failing to recognize the importance of early childhood education, with 35 percent.
The Republican-crafted budget that Gov. Tom Wolf partially signed in December included $25 million for pre-K education and $5 million for Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program over the previous year’s levels. That’s not enough.
The HighScope Perry Preschool Study has shown that without early childhood education, at-risk children are 25 percent more likely to drop out of school, 60 percent more likely to not attend college and 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime, according to an article on the Rasmussen College website.
“The study found that adults at age 40 who had the preschool program had higher earnings, were more likely to hold a job, had committed fewer crimes, and were more likely to have graduated from high school than adults who did not have preschool,” the article said.
A local early learning center hit hard by the budget fiasco is Live N Learn Station on South Fifth Street in Reading. It was shut for several months, we reported on Jan. 7. That means the 56 children at the center stopped learning until Wolf signed off on a portion of a Republican-crafted budget, sending needed funds to centers like it across the state.
Read the full editorial here.
