Erie Times: Pre-K advocates push for more funding
By Erica Erwin
January 14, 2016
Prekindergarten advocates Thursday pushed the state to increase its commitment to making high-quality prekindergarten more accessible — and laid out a strategy to do so.
A new report, “The Case for Pre-k in PA: Smart Investment in Kids, Communities and the Commonwealth,” found that an additional investment of $370 million in high-quality pre-K over this fiscal year and the next three fiscal years would make pre-K accessible to more than 47,000 Pennsylvania 3- and 4-year-olds who are at greatest risk of academic failure.
An additional $100 million would provide high-quality pre-K to about one-fifth of 3- and 4-year-olds in middle-income households — about 23,500 children, the report by the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children found.
Taken together, a total investment of $470 million would make high-quality pre-K available to more than 40 percent of the state’s 3- and 4-year olds, compared with fewer than 20 percent who benefited in 2013.
The United Way of Erie County is one of the supporters of Erie’s Future Fund, which provides preschool scholarships to 3- and 4-year-olds from low-income families. Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children estimates more than 2,400 Erie County children do not have access to high-quality pre-K.
Read the full article here.
Centre Daily Times: Local educators respond to State of the Union address
BY BRITNEY MILAZZO
January 13, 2016
It was a touching State of the Union address Tuesday night for at least one instructor at Penn State’s College of Education who said it made her proud to be an early childhood educator.
Linda Duerr said she was emotional when she saw President Barack Obama get a standing ovation when he mentioned prekindergarten should be available to all families in the country with young children.
“That’s a first,” she said. “It was the first time I have ever seen Congress stand up no matter what party, during the very brief mention to pre-K being more accessible for children. It was mindblowing for me, and gratifying.”
Obama has a vision to provide pre-K for all.
At least that’s what he said in his last State of the Union address Tuesday night when he spoke about presecondary education.
And it’s something he’s addressed the past couple of years.
But it’s also a vision that stretches beyond federal government.
A Pennsylvania-based campaign was established in 2014 to make sure every 3- and 4-year-old in the commonwealth has access to high-quality pre-K by 2018.
Pre-K for PA, according to the initiative’s website, has about 11,000 members involved in the fight to enhance preschool education.
The Pre-K for PA campaign supports an investment of $120 million in the 2015-16 fiscal year, allowing high-quality pre-K for an additional 14,000 children, a report from the initiative said.
But the fight is still there to get more pre-K or preschool programs in Centre County, especially in rural settings.
The biggest issues in pre-K are accessibility, affordability and quality, local educators said.
From educators
Some local educators said they’re seeing little effects of what Obama aimed to do, though they’re hopeful that could change.
“What needs to happen in order to get pre-K, especially in an area like Bald Eagle that doesn’t have any programs, of course, is funding,” said Jim Orichosky, Wingate Elementary School principal and district director of elementary education. “Funding is huge, and the ideal situation is that Bald Eagle, as a school district, would have its own fully funded pre-K program.”
Bald Eagle Area, according to district spokeswoman Rose Hoover, is a rural school district with about 1,670 students in four elementary schools and a combined middle and high school.
A full-day preschool program through CenClear Child Services, is, however, offered at Port Matilda and Wingate elementary schools.
Orichosky said the Philipsburg-based provider offers the program at no cost to the district. But it’s not available to all families of young children who live in the district.
“It’s income based, which I think is important, because you have families who work hard and want the best for their child, but cannot afford some programs,” Orichosky said. “On the other hand, there are other families in similar situations, but don’t meet requirements, which prevent them from sending their children to preschool.”
The CenClear preschool within the district serves 18 children, all 4 years old, Orichosky said.
“I think it’s a world education problem,” Orichosky said. “We’re not the only area. We had a lot of churches that had preschool, but they’re not functioning anymore. Our parents would have to go to Bellefonte or State College for preschool programs if they’re not eligible for CenClear. It’s inconvenient. We should be able to have a local preschool.”
Pre-K benefits
Educators think preschool should be a prerequisite for students heading into kindergarten.
And Duerr said it isn’t just about academics.
Read the full article here.
WJET TV: United Way calls for investment in pre-k programs
By LEANNE STUCK
01/13 2016
ERIE, Pa.
The United Way of Erie County and Pre-K for PA team up to call for stronger state investments in pre-kindergarten programs.
A new report reveals that if more money is invested into pre-k programs, the state would be able to provide education for most at-risk children throughout the state.
The report reveals more than 40 percent of children in the commonwealth will benefit from the stronger investments.
The United Way and Pre-K for PA are calling on state representatives to make the changes in Harrisburg.
Read the full article here.
New Report Details How Pennsylvania Can Step Up Investments in High-Quality Pre-k
United Way of Erie Co., Other Philanthropies Stress Need to Reach More At-Risk Children
ERIE, PA (Jan. 13) – Pre-k advocates, including United Way officials, today called on Pennsylvania to increase its commitment to making high-quality pre-k more accessible to the commonwealth’s young learners, particularly those at greatest risk of academic failure due to economic disadvantages.
The push to increase pre-k access is bolstered by a new report – “The Case for Pre-k in PA: Smart Investment in Kids, Communities and the Commonwealth” – that outlines a multi-year investment strategy Pennsylvania can implement to provide high-quality pre-k to most at-risk children, as well as some middle-income children.
“High-quality pre-k has broad benefits for students, schools and communities, ranging from improving school readiness and graduation rates to reducing the need for special education services and criminal justice costs,” said Joan Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, which produced the report. “Yet too few young learners are benefiting from this once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity, and many of those missing out are at-risk kids.”
The report finds that if Pennsylvania were to increase state funding for high-quality pre-k gradually over this fiscal year and the following three years, we could make high-quality pre-k available to more than 40 percent of the commonwealth’s 3- and 4-year-olds, compared to fewer than 20 percent who benefited in 2013.
United Way of Erie County President Bill Jackson noted only about 30 percent of Erie County’s 3- and 4-year-olds – 2,125 out of 6,864 children – were in publicly funded, high-quality pre-k last year. More than 2,400 of the county children who missed out on pre-k are in lower income households, a factor that puts them at risk of academic failure.
“We know from research that high-quality pre-k can have the greatest benefits for these at-risk children in terms of preparing them for kindergarten and putting them on the solid road to success in school and beyond,” Jackson said.
United Way of Pennsylvania President Kristen Rotz noted many United Way affiliates across the commonwealth have made school readiness a priority issue, and high-quality pre-k is “among the best and most cost-effective initiatives for preparing children for success in school and beyond.”
“United Ways and other community-based philanthropic organizations have made great efforts over the years to promote high-quality pre-k as a critical part of developing well-educated children and strong communities,” Rotz said. “But as with so many efforts to strengthen communities, it takes a collaboration. In this case, we need the commonwealth to bolster its efforts to fund high-quality pre-k programs to reach those children who are missing out.”
The “Case for Pre-k in PA” report was prepared by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC), a founding partner of the statewide, nonpartisan Pre-K for PA campaign. The report and supporting information, including county-level data on pre-k access, can be found at www.papartnerships.org or www.prekforpa.org.
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Pre-K for PA Says Pre-Kindergarten Funding is a Good Start; Urges Legislature to Return to Work
Coalition says funding does not go far enough to address the more than 200,000 PA kids missing out on high-quality pre-k
HARRISBURG (December 29, 2015)—The Pre-K for PA campaign recognized today that the increased funding for high-quality pre-k programs that resulted from the adopted partial-year 2015-16 budget agreement is a good start, but urged the legislature to return to Harrisburg and deliver a full budget that adequately funds pre-k. The partial-year budget currently invests $25 million in new Pre-K Counts funding and $5 million in new funding for Head Start.
The principal partners of the nearly two-year-long campaign to increase funding for high-quality pre-k issued the following statement regarding this budget agreement:
“The release of funds and expansion will allow pre-k classrooms to remain open, reopen and serve some additional children for the remainder of the 2015-16 school year, but leaves too many kids behind during a crucial stage of their development. This represents a step in the right direction, but we remain hopeful that continued budget negotiations will yield additional funding in this school year to expand access to high-quality pre-k to more of the roughly 200,000 three- and four-year-olds in Pennsylvania without access.
“With such a broad and strong commitment by so many legislators and the Governor, our campaign remains cautiously optimistic that leaders in Harrisburg will continue to work together, both in this year and beyond, toward the goal of access to high-quality pre-k for all Pennsylvania three-and four-year-olds by 2019—ensuring that every child born today could benefit from at least one year of high-quality pre-k before he or she heads off to kindergarten. The Pre-K for PA campaign believes that high-quality pre-k should be accessible by all children with priority given to those most at-risk.”
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: Pennsylvania’s state budget talks, at loooonnnnng last, enter home stretch
By Charles Thompson
The six-month Pennsylvania state budget impasse – after months of political gridlock – is showing significant signs of breaking up.
That’s probably going to mean a tax increase for Pennsylvanians. (Negotiators from all sides are expected to meet this weekend to settle on a final mix of taxes and other income sources designed to raise $650 to $700 million in the current fiscal year; growing to more than $1 billion on a full-year basis.)
It will mean the single-biggest raw dollar increase in aid to public schools that this state has ever seen, plus significant boosts to aid for higher education.
And it’s possible that it may make some cultural history by bringing along a plan that, for the first time since creation of the state-owned liquor stores, would allow an adult to buy a bottle of wine at a supermarket or restaurant.
Now comes the hard part.
Budget negotiators from Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration and the Legislature’s Republican majorities have to closet themselves over the next few days to iron the last remaining hurdles that will turn this framework into a final deal.
And then, they have to sell the components of said deal to members in the state Senate and House, where the majority Republican caucus as recently as Tuesday took what may have been a last, final symbolic stand against increases in one of the state’s broad-based taxes.
One thing’s clear: collectively, the players – and everyone waiting on them – are a lot closer to a finalized, $30.8 billion spending plan then at any other time this year, and that’s created a palpable sense of anticipation.
“It’s pretty locked down, I think,” Dave Thomas, chief counsel to Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre County, said Thursday night.
That seemed remarkable in itself coming just two days after the House Republican caucus bolted from the so-called framework agreement announced on Nov. 10 and passed, with only GOP votes, a $30.3 billion plan that would require less in new taxes.
Rank-and-file Republicans said then they were angered at having to consider the possibility of raising taxes when they were settling than they had initially wanted in the areas of public pension and liquor reforms.
But after failing to pick up any Democratic votes in the House, and failing to budge the Senate Republican majority from the larger deal, House GOP leaders came back to the framework table Wednesday night.
Final votes could be cast at some point next week.
Here’s an assessment at the some of the remaining issues that must be ironed out (or avoided) before Wolf can sign his first budget.
The taxes:
Expect a free-wheeling discussion this weekend over the final mix of taxes to balance the budget. Leaders reached Friday all balked at giving their personal preferences.
“I think all four caucuses and the administration need to be part of that discussion and we need to come to a conclusion on that before any of the bills start flying,” said House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana County.
But sources close to the talks said Friday a number of options have been floated in the last week, including potential increases in either the state’s 6 percent and 3.07 percent personal income tax rates.
Wolf already proposed an income tax increase, coupled with a new tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas production, that was voted down in the House earlier this fall.
If that kind of broad-based tax is the play, it’s a once-a-decade type move that could be a very tough sell in the Legislature, particularly the state House where all 203 seats are up for election in 2016.
About the only thing that seems certain right now is some type of increase in Pennsylvania’s cigarette taxes.
Reed did say Thursday that GOP leaders will still attempt to negotiate for lower spending in the budget, but Wolf warned this week that he considers the current proposed spending level fundamental to the agreement.
“The budget that we all agreed to is $30.8 billion,” Wolf said, after a public appearance in Harrisburg.
Read the full article here.
