Observer-Reporter: LTE: Pa’s child care providers must be saved
April 6, 2020
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many groups cautioned about the lack of affordable, high-quality child care for Pennsylvania’s working families and the impact on our economy. When families can’t find child care or afford it, that serves as a barrier to employment. Groups like the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission and ReadyNation estimated that the economic impact of insufficient infant / toddler child-care cost our commonwealth $2.5 billion annually. In short, the economy depends on working families and working families depend on child care.
Today, that child-care system is largely shut down like most sectors of our economy, causing real problems for essential workers across the state. This economic shutdown is also exposing the fragility of the child-care system. According to a new survey, nearly one-third of child-care providers indicated that they would go out of business if this economic shutdown lasts for more than a month. This begs an important question, “How will Pennsylvania families go back to work when businesses reopen if child-care providers do not?”
As leaders consider immediate economic stimulus options for the commonwealth, efforts to stabilize child-care providers must be a priority. Stimulus funding must be prioritized to strategically position our commonwealth for a speedy and robust economic recovery. As such, Pennsylvania’s child-care system must be saved.
State representative, 48th District
The Fred Rogers Co.
Read the LTE here.
Express-Times: LTE: Closed child-care services need support to get through COVID-19 crisis
By: Gail Reaser April 2, 2020
My business partner and I have owned and operated The Children’s Garden for 16 years. Since this time we’ve achieved and maintained a Star 3 rating, which designates high-quality child care in Pennsylvania. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, like so many of my colleagues in early learning who are also small business owners, we’ve had to close our child care center.
We want nothing more than to be able to reopen when this health crisis has passed, and provide child care and early learning in a caring and high-quality environment for the 75 families counting on us and our staff of teachers to return to work.
I’m worried about how our economy will recover if child care centers close for good. The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the fragility of the system. We’ve always operated on the slimmest of margins, but this will force so many to shut their doors for good.
Child care is an industry upon which all other industries rely. We are all doing our best to keep people safe by closing down our businesses. The likelihood of these valuable community assets reopening without some support is very low.
Once we are past this health crisis and businesses reopen, early care will be needed more than ever in order to restore our workforce and economy. Without some sort of stimulus the threat of child care centers closing for too long is that they may never reopen.
Gail Reaser
Northampton
Read the Letter to the Editor here.
Morning Call: Letter to the Editor: Teacher: Why Quality Pre-k Programs are Important
August 30, 2019
When my students walk in on that first day of kindergarten, children who didn’t attend high-quality pre-K are usually not as prepared for learning and often struggle to keep up with the children who did. They are more hesitant to make friends, less confident to ask or answer a question, aren’t prepared for the flow of the school day, and they aren’t as ready to learn.
Teachers statewide, including me, thank our lawmakers for their votes in June to approve $30 million more for pre-K in the 2019-20 state budget. However, more needs to be done.
We need to continue seeing the support of our lawmakers until all children in Pennsylvania have access to a high-quality pre-K program. It is our best chance to prepare every child for success in kindergarten and in life.
Amy Bell
Read the Letter to the Editor here.
Times Observer: LTE: Every Child is Worthy
May 20, 2019 by Kenneth Klakamp Warren County Sheriff
People usually think of law enforcement as the guys who put the bad people away for their crimes – and that’s partially true. In my more than four decades in the Warren County Sheriff’s office, I often see people at their lowest points, whether they’re facing a judge in court or being transported to or from the County jail. Sometimes I’m transporting the kids or grandkids of offenders from early in my career.
Offenders who commit crimes deserve to face punishment. But if I had a tool that I could use to keep the kids of Warren County on the right path and keep them out of trouble in the first place, I would do everything in my power to deploy it. That’s why I support high-quality pre-K programs, which help to instill good behavior and social norms and put children on early paths to educational success.
My colleagues in the Pennsylvania Sheriffs’ Association agree and support the need for increased investment in pre-k programs, which provide an average “profit” to society of up to $27,000 for every child served. That means that the $50 million in increased funding proposed for the Pre-K Counts and Head Start State Supplemental Assistance Programs in the 2019-20 state budget could end up saving Pennsylvania nearly $150 million in societal benefits over these preschoolers’ lifetimes.
Simply put, every person diverted from criminal activity saves society money and, more importantly, makes our communities safer.
Some children don’t get the emotional support and attention at home that they need to become good citizens. A high-quality pre-k program helps meet that need for positive affirmation and attention, while also supporting parents in developing appropriate skills.
While Pennsylvania spends about $43,000 per prison inmate, we spend three times less on public school students and five times less on pre-K students. Investing in these kids when they’re young – and when we have a chance to curb some of this negative behavior – would significantly cut the $3.2 billion Pennsylvania spends every year on state and local incarceration. While those of us in law enforcement are tough on crime, we recognize that fewer people filing through the criminal justice system frees up resources that are better spent on schools, job creation, and economic growth.
Every child is worthy. They are our greatest asset and our future leaders, but if we aren’t giving them a chance, then we – as a community – don’t get a chance to thrive. We must make these investments now to improve our society for the future.
We have a choice to make, and it comes down to dollars and common sense. If we invest in our children today, we will pay far less for the costs of crime and lack of educational successes in the years to come. We’ve all heard the saying, be “smart on crime.” Let’s put that saying into action here in Pennsylvania and make the smart investment in pre-k.
West Chester Daily Local News: Police Chief: Investing in Pre-K Pays Off
May 17, 2019 by Scott Bohn, West Chester Chief of Police
I have seen a lot of trends come and go in my 33-year law enforcement career, 32 of which I’ve spent in West Chester.
One trend I’d like to see continue is Pennsylvania investing in evidence-based high-quality pre-kindergarten programs that make a positive difference in the lives of children, families and communities here and throughout the Commonwealth.
My job, and the job of our law enforcement officers, is to protect the community and put those who commit serious crimes behind bars. But with the state spending more than $2 billion a year to incarcerate inmates at roughly $43,000 each–which is three times as much that we spend on K-12 students and five times more than we spend on pre-k students– a better and less expensive way is to prevent as many children as possible from becoming involved in crime in the first place.
Certainly, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. High-quality pre-k programs have been demonstrated to reduce future rates of crime, cut the costs of special education and grade retention and increase students’ future wages. The benefits of society are estimated at a “profit” of up to $27,000 for every child served. Applying these cost savings to the 5,500 additional low-income children who would be served by the proposed $50 million funding increase for the Pre-K Counts and Head Start State Supplemental Assistance programs in the 2019-20 state budget could result in almost $150 million in societal benefits in Pennsylvania throughout these preschoolers’ lifetimes.
In order to stop pumping increasing amounts of money into incarceration, we need to put more resources up front where we can see a positive impact for our communities–even if it is in the long run.
Investing in high-quality pre-k is an example of one of the partnerships that is so critically important in preventing crime and unwanted behavior in our communities. A strong parental component, which high-quality pre-k can strengthen, is also key. Early education provides an essential foundation, especially for our disadvantaged youth, so that they do not fall behind, take the wrong path, or become victimized themselves.
We can’t afford to skimp on our children’s formational education, when they are learning to get along with others, respect authority, follow directions and form healthy relationships. When children are engaged in high-quality pre-k, our communities are stronger.
Pennsylvania taxpayers should look at the results we see in our communities from high-quality pre-k programs. It is clear that these dollars represent a smart return on our investment, and the Legislature should continue to prioritize these programs.
While we all know that “crime doesn’t pay,” Pennsylvania is increasingly paying for crime, over $3.2 billion annually on incarcerating adults at the local and state levels. Let’s make the shift from paying for crime to investing in our future and increase funding for pre-k today.
View the Letter to the Editor here.
Times-Leader: LTE: Support High-Quality Pre-k Funding
May 6, 2019
It speaks volumes that more than just teachers and education officials are stepping up to the plate advocating for additional investment in high-quality pre-k.
As was reported in last week’s Times Leader article, law enforcement officials are pushing for an increase in state funding for early childhood education, repeating the well-documented evidence that money spent on pre-k can pay huge dividends later in life by — among other things — keeping them from growing up into criminals.
There is no better way to start our children off on the path to success than ensuring they have a solid foundation early in life. I urge our state lawmakers to include Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed $50 million increase in high-quality pre-k funding in this year’s budget.
Susan M. Dinofrio
Executive Director
Child Development Council of Northeastern PA
