WTAJ TV: Pre-K programs threaten to close
By Christian Heilman
Huntingdon, Huntingdon County, Pa.
Last week, the house voted down Governor Tom Wolf’s latest proposal mostly on party lines.
This is the longest the state has ever gone without a budget being passed. Thursday, a group of educators are asking lawmakers to come to an agreement
State funded Pre-k programs in Huntingdon County say they’ve borrowed enough money until Thanksgiving. If the budget doesn’t pass, they want Harrisburg to know Pre-K classrooms could close.
You could say Pre-K teacher Kelly Corliss is a lot of things… Including a mediator.
Kelly Corliss, Head Start Teacher, said, “Everybody has different personalities so whenever they come here you have kind of a melting pot.”
She’s been teaching these kids how to share — and excel — before they get to kindergarten.
“Head start is extremely important,” she said. “This is their first school experience for every one of them.”
The time spent in the classroom — and on the playground — could be in jeopardy if a budget doesn’t pass soon. Corliss says it could set her kids back.
Corliss said, “Depending on how long it takes to pass this budget, I”m going to have to start from day one all over again.”
Louise Ketner, Executive Director, said, “We would not take lightly needing to close our doors and we really hope we don’t have to but we can’t continue on.”
About 120 kids could be out of class if there’s no state budget by Thanksgiving. It’s scaring parents whose children rely on these programs.
Danica Coulter, Pre-K Parent, said, “Now what are we supposed to tell them? You can’t go anymore because there’s no money?”
Read the full article here.
PA HomePage: Budget Impasse Could Close Carbondale Pre-K Counts Program
With every passing day, social service agencies say the lack of a Pennsylvania budget is hurting thousands of people statewide.
The owner of a pre-school program in Lackawanna County say she will have to shut down one of her classrooms in the next few weeks if an agreement isn’t reached.
The owner of ABC Academy on North Main Street in Carbondale says she’s been able to keep the doors open for her Pre-K Counts classroom for the last three months with no money from the state.
The state of Pennsylvania funds the entire program so she doesn’t think she’ll be able to go forward for another 30 days without a solution.
The smiling faces of the children in the classroom may show them as some of the youngest victims in this state budget showdown.
The students are only three and four years old.
There are 19 kids total in the class.
The kids could all be forced to stay home if their Pre-K Counts classroom doesn’t get some funding.
With no money coming in, the owner of the facility says there will be no other choice.
“We need money to pay our bills and certainly teacher salaries and things like that so we’re hoping our legislators will make a move on this,” owner/director Doreen Damskov said.
Melissa Biedenkapp has worked at the ABC Academy for 18 years.
She dreads having to explain why the closure may be needed to this group of kids that is already naturally curious.
“They have a hard time understanding things like: you’re not here today because the budget didn’t pass. It’s very difficult for them to understand,” Biedenkapp said.
Read the full article here.
Lancaster Online: Letter to the Editor: Wolf pre-K funding would serve Pa. well
Reducing crime and limiting its future costs are some of the key reasons Gov. Tom Wolf and Republican lawmakers included increased funding for high-quality pre-K in their respective budget plans.
There is good reason for making this increased investment. High school dropouts are three and a half times more likely than high school graduates to be arrested, and more than eight times as likely to be incarcerated. Pennsylvania houses nearly 50,000 state prison inmates costing the commonwealth about $2 billion each year. Half of these inmates failed to earn a high school diploma.
Research is clear that front-end education investments in high-quality pre-K improve graduation rates and help prepare kids for more successful lives.
The Republican budget plan would provide access to an additional 3,500 of the more than 200,000 3- and 4-year olds in our state who lack access to high-quality pre-K each year. That includes 79 percent, or about 11,000 of Lancaster County’s 14,000 3- and 4-year-olds who do not have access to high-quality pre-K because it doesn’t exist nearby or their families cannot afford it.
While we certainly commend the Legislature for this added investment, the 175 district attorneys, police chiefs and sheriffs throughout Pennsylvania who are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids are hopeful that a final state budget will allocate additional resources as Gov. Wolf has proposed to serve an additional 14,000 at-risk children who lack access to high-quality pre-K. For law enforcement, this would be filling a crime-prevention gap.
Bruce R. Clash
Pennsylvania State Director
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
Harrisburg
Read the Letter to the Editor here.
Patriot News: Those hardest hit by latest Pa. state budget veto says there’s enough blame for everybody
By Charles Thompson
The next best chance to ease the squeeze from Pennsylvania’s protracted state budget stalemate fizzled Tuesday when Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed an emergency stopgap funding bill.
It sets up a situation, statewide, where a budget stalemate that’s been invisible for most Pennsylvanians to date could soon start hitting a lot more of us in ways large and small.
Consider:
* In Carbondale, the school board has authorized the superintendent to explore a temporary closure of schools.
* In Harrisburg, some pre-kindergarten classes are being cancelled.
* In Scranton, mid-day meals at senior centers may be suspended.
* In various counties across the state, supports to families with adult children with intellectual disabilities are being eroded, and key learning opportunities for children from birth to age five with development delays are threatened.
There’s a rising tide of anger and frustration, to be sure.
But most human service providers who will be among the first to feel the effects of Tuesday’s veto seemed inclined to blame both Wolf, the veto-maker, and the state legislators he’s negotiating with for their troubles.
“I understand the fight for more money,” Gina Barkley, administrator of Bright Futures Learning Center of Harrisburg, said of Wolf’s veto Tuesday afternoon.
“But it feels like nobody considered that we would be the carnage in the meantime. It (the veto) is like a slap in the face, and I’m also offended that the senators and representatives are still getting paid while we work and we don’t get paid.”
The stopgap, if signed into law, was designed to get state funding flowing into schools and many human service programs through October, allowing maintenance of services while Wolf and Republican legislative leaders resolve their differences over taxes and spending.
Bright Futures, Barkley said, has already cancelled two pre-k classes because of a lack of funds and may have to close three others serving 86 kids within days unless its staff members agree to work without pay.
In Scranton, Kristen Kosin, executive director of Meals On Wheels of Northeastern Pennsylvania, voiced similar frustrations.
“I’m incredibly frustrated right now,” Kosin said, as she pondered the possibility of closing down the group meal service her agency provides at a number of senior centers around Lackawanna County by mid-October.
Read the full article here.
PA Budget and Policy Center: Way No. 4 – Pre-Kindergarten Funding
Pre-K Expansion Would Enhance Educational Opportunity and Economic Growth and Pay for Itself Many Times Over
14,000 more children statewide would gain entrance into pre-kindergarten
HARRISBURG (September 21, 2015) – Reporter Erica Erwin noted in The Erie Times-News earlier this year, “The push to make quality pre-kindergarten available to all 3- and 4-year-old children in Pennsylvania has the support of someone familiar with a different kind of battle. Senior Judge Michael Dunlavey, a retired two-star general in the U.S. Army Reserve, said access to early childhood education is connected to the nation’s ability to protect and defend itself.” Dunlavey spoke to a gathering of legislators and local business and community leaders in support of Pre-K for PA, a statewide, non-partisan campaign for high-quality pre-kindergarten access for all 3- and 4-year-old children.
Retired military officers and business leaders may not spring to mind as your typical advocates for early-childhood education. But over the past decade, they have become some of the strongest advocates for pre-kindergarten programs geared toward children at risk of later failing school.
These civic champions know that programs like Pennsylvania’s Pre-K Counts help children stay in school and avoid a life of crime. The payoff is down the line when more young adults join the workforce – or are eligible for military service. Rigorous long-term studies estimate that high quality pre-kindergarten provides a significant return on investment – every dollar spent returns as much as $17 in reduced crime, education and welfare savings as well as higher earnings and increased taxes paid in adulthood.
Gov. Tom Wolf took office this year with a commitment to making publicly funded, high-quality pre-K available to every 3- and 4-year-old child in Pennsylvania. Legislative support for early learning investments also is strong. The bipartisan, bicameral Early Childhood Education Caucus is the largest issue-focused caucus in the General Assembly.
Even so, Pennsylvania’s progress in making smart investments in early childhood education has been too slow. Only one in six three- and four-year-olds has access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-K programs.
Gov. Wolf proposes to increase early childhood education funding by $120 million (88%), with $100 million going to Pre-K Counts. This increase would result in the enrollment of 14,000 more children in programs that help them develop academically and socially prior to entering the regular classroom. (To see an estimate of new pre-K slots in your state House or Senate district, click here.)
The Republican budget would increase Pre-K Counts funding by $25 million, adding only about 3,500 slots (including those created by funding for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program. These 3,500 children would account for only about 1 percent of Pennsylvania’s 3- and 4-year olds. To compare the number of high quality, early-childhood slots added in your state House or Senate district under the Republican and Wolf budgets, click here). Slow expansion of quality pre-school hurts children and employers and reduces economic growth in a job market finally generating more opportunities for parents.
First grade teacher Lindsay Kiefer said, “Kindergarten teachers have a really tough time if students come in at varying levels of prior experience. Kids that come in with a pre-K experience are ready to take the next step. I had a little girl in my class who had the privilege of a great pre-kindergarten experience. She started the year with all of the basic skills and more importantly the confidence to tackle problems. With that great head start going into second grade, she was ready to dive in head first to grade-level topics and skills.”
Newspaper editors, civic leaders and Pennsylvanians from across the state have spoken out in favor of investment in quality pre-school programs.
For example, Snyder County District Attorney Michael Piecuch noted: “In Snyder County, 86 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds lack access to high-quality pre-K each year. In Northumberland County, 80 percent lack this access and in Union County, it’s 78 percent … I hope that the final negotiated budget will include more funding to expand access to high-quality pre-K, not only for its economic benefits but as part of a proven crime prevention strategy.”
Parent Jennifer Cebrick wrote, “Lawmakers and Gov. Wolf need to work together to create a budget that expands access to high-quality pre-K as much as possible so more children can benefit the way my kids did.”
Kiwanis leader Laura Katrenicz noted that, “Pre-K programs benefit not only the child, but also the community. High-quality pre-K reduces crime, supports economic development and growth, and saves taxpayer money that can be reallocated to other community needs.”
As the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette warned: “Only 31 percent of 4-year-olds [in Pennsylvania] attend preschool, most through public initiatives such as Head Start … What they don’t spend on early education today could be wasted on prisons tomorrow.”
Read more on Why the Budget Matters: Let Me Count the Ways.
