Philly Voice: Pennsylvania budget battle threatens to close pre-K programs
Layoffs begin to affect state services as impasse nears fifth month
BY MICHAEL TANENBAUM
PhillyVoice Staff
As Pennsylvania’s budget stalemate nears the 5-month mark, state-subsidized pre-kindergarten programs across the Commonwealth are in danger of shutting down, school advocates said Friday.
A spokeswoman for the coalition Pre-K for PA, Kate Phillips, told the Associated Press that organizations responsible for educating at least 800 children will close their doors by November 10 if funding is not secured. Meanwhile, more than 14,000 children served by the state’s Pre-K Counts program for low-income families could soon be impacted by the ongoing impasse.
Friday marked Pennsylvania’s 115th day without a budget, well beyond the 101 days that nearly crippled the state in 2009. Already, layoffs are beginning to affect social and human services organizations whose programs rely on state funding to assist the elderly, the homeless and victims of domestic violence.
Statewide, school districts and counties have established cash conservancy methods and taken out loans to make up for the deficit in state funds. The Philadelphia School District has not received approximately $400 million from the state as a result of the impasse, according to district spokesman Fernando Gallard. It has taken out $275 million in short-term loans to maintain the cash flow necessary to operate.
Read the full article here.
ABC News: Pre-K Programs May Close Due to Pennsylvania Budget Battle
By MARC LEVY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Oct 23, 2015
Some early childhood centers certified under Pennsylvania’s state-subsidized pre-kindergarten program are starting to tell parents that they will close because of the state’s four-month-old budget stalemate, advocates said Friday.
Kate Philips, a spokeswoman for the Pre-K for PA coalition, said that organizations closing their doors by Nov. 10 educate at least 800 children in the state’s Pre-K Counts program. Children from low-income families qualify for Pre-K Counts, which serves nearly 14,000 children.
This year’s prolonged budget impasse has blown past the 101 day-stalemate of 2009 — Friday was the 115th day — and around the state, layoffs are mounting because social and human services organizations have not gotten state funding that they counted on.
A United Way of Pennsylvania survey of 282 organizations through Oct. 11 reported almost 700 employees who have been furloughed, had hours reduced or worked without pay. More than 500 others lost employee benefits, the United Way said.
School districts and counties are taking out loans, tapping reserves or letting bills pile up. Programs in some areas are piling up waiting lists, including in-home domestic help for the elderly and relocation aid for domestic violence victims or the homeless.
In northeastern Pennsylvania, the Growing Place in Brodheadsville sent a letter home Thursday to Pre-K Counts parents that it is closing the program after next Friday and will not reopen until a budget is passed.
Read the full article here.
ABC 27: Pre-K schools feeling the squeeze of the budget impasse
By Mark Hall
Published: October 23, 2015, 10:30 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – A lot of pre-kindergarten learning centers state wide are facing tough decisions.
Some are taking out loans to keep their doors open while others are considering shutting down until the budget impasse ends.
According to Pre-K For PA coalition, they have confirmed that 19 providers will be closed by November 10, affecting 884 kids and families and an additional 16 confirmed they will close by December 30, affecting 1345 kids and families.
Bright Futures Learning Center in Steelton is feeling the pinch.
They have been cutting back their hours, and several senior employees have not received a paycheck in several weeks.
Laura Pryor is an administrator at the Steelton facility. She says things are not looking good, and closing down until a budget is reached, is still an option. “We are looking at 86 children who may be displaced very shortly if the budget is not passed,” said Pryor, We have 13-15 teachers that could be laid off and displaced from employment.’
Read the full article here.
Pocono Record: Brodheadsville preschool to close due to state budget impasse
By Lynn Ondrusek
Pocono Record Writer
Posted Oct. 22, 2015
Friday marks 115 days that Pennsylvania has been without a budget, and one local preschool is feeling the pinch.
It’s more than a pinch, actually.
The Growing Place’s Pre-K Counts program in Brodheadsville will be shutting its doors at the end of next week if a budget isn’t in place, said Executive Director Lisa Eick.
The state-funded program has not been getting the money it needs because of the budget impasse in Harrisburg. Eick said The Growing Place has been funding the program on its own — $40,000 in staff salary alone, so far, plus expenses for the program and nutrition service — since it opened for the school year in August.
“We can only fund it for so long on the backs of ourselves,” she said Thursday afternoon, adding that 68 students and seven employees will be affected by the closing.
Parents were sent home with letters Thursday explaining the situation. Eick said they will send the students home with a lot of activities to do during the break. They are telling the students the closing is a fall break.
“We really don’t want the kids to become pawns in the game,” she said. “We told the children that this is an adult issue.”
Eick said the budget impasse went 100 days in 2007. She thought there was “no way” it would go as long this year.
Read the full article here.
Huntingdon County Head Start and Pre-k Advocates Urge Lawmakers to Resolve Budget Impasse as Classrooms Face Uncertain Future
Education Officials, Human Services Providers, Parents & pre-k advocates gather to urge Gov. and Legislature to Act Swiftly on Budget with Increased Investment in Pre-k
HUNTINGDON COUNTY (October 15, 2015)– As the budget impasse continues in Harrisburg, the Huntingdon County Child and Adult Development Corporation, which currently enrolls 120 pre-k kids in seven classrooms across the county, says it ability to keep the doors open depends on the approval of yet another bridge loan. If approved, the loan will keep HCCADC’s 7 state funded Pre-K Counts and Head Start classrooms open until roughly Thanksgiving.
“It is extremely difficult to operate ‘state-funded’ early learning classrooms with no state funding,” said Louise Ketner, Executive Director of Huntingdon County Child and Adult Development Corporation. “Due to the impasse, we have already had to close our adult education and family literacy programs. Now we are trying to secure our third loan to keep our pre-k kids enrolled and our 17 teachers employed.”
As the budget impasse stretches on to its 106th day, Pre-K Counts and Head Start Supplemental grants have not gone out to pre-k providers across the Commonwealth – forcing them to operate off of reserves, lines of credit, bridge loans, or ultimately consider closures and layoffs.
“We had actually hoped to open an additional classroom this school year to help off-set the high demand for pre-k in Huntingdon County,” continued Ketner. “This all speaks to the fact that our state legislators and Governor Wolf must get to work and pass a budget that keeps pre-k kids in class and takes a step towards reducing the unmet need for these services in our community.”
Stephanie Mock of the Pre-K for PA Campaign stressed the importance of pre-k. “High-quality pre-k is a critical investment in the future of our children. Higher graduation rates, lower criminal activity, greater lifetime earnings, lower rates of special education are all connected by research to quality pre-k programs,” said Mock.
“As a parent, you see the important progress that your child makes in that year of Head Start,” said Danica Coulter, a parent of an enrolled student. “I would really hate to have my child miss out on a full year of pre-k because of this state budget impasse.”
The Pre-K for PA Campaign continues to encourage Governor Wolf and legislative leaders to return to the negotiating table and pass a budget with a significant investment in pre-k that gets us on the path to serving more of the 200,000 thee and four-year olds without access in the Commonwealth.
According to data from the campaign, each year (under FY 2014-15 funding levels) more than 70% of three- and four-year-olds in Huntingdon County do not have access to high quality pre-k.
“These 200,000 kids don’t get a “do-over” if they miss out on high-quality pre- k,” continued Mock. “For them, this budget negotiation must include $120 million of new state funding so that programs like this one can expand to serve more of the kids without access right here in Huntingdon County.”
The Pre-K for PA campaign believes that high-quality pre-k should be available to all children – beginning with those most in need. Advocates say that to accomplish this Pennsylvania needs to aggressively ramp up its investments over the next four years.
“This will take about $400 million in additional state investments over the coming years,” said Mock. “The greater the funding increase for Pre-K in this budget – the closer we get to that goal.”
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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