York Daily Record: Advocates push for pre-k funding
January 20, 2016
Early childhood advocates called Wednesday for the state to step up its role in the funding of pre-kindergarten, saying philanthropic organizations don’t have the resources to meet the needs on their own.
As other states have increased their commitment to early childhood education programs, Pennsylvania has lost ground, advocates said Wednesday at a news conference at York Day Nursery, hosted by area United Way organizations and members of the Pre-K for PA campaign.
Over the past five years, the state dropped four spots to rank 15th in the nation in pre-k access for 3-year-olds and fell six spots to 30th when it came to 4-year-old children, according to data included in a report issued Wednesday.
Bob Woods, executive director of the United Way of York County, said it was 1994 when the organization partnered with the York County Community Foundation and Penn State York to create Focus on our Future, a school readiness initiative. It was a no-brainer for most involved to invest significant resources in quality early care, he said. Years and millions of dollars later, he said, only a small percentage of children are being reached.
“The United Way and our community partners simply don’t have adequate resources to reach all children and youth. Government must be the largest investor if we are to ensure that all children benefit,” he said.
Joan Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, said that there’s broad, bipartisan agreement that pre-kindergarten works for children, but it’s not funded at a level to ensure every child who could benefit has access.
Gov. Tom Wolf had wanted $120 million additional for Pre-K Counts and Head Start in his proposed budget for 2015-16. The partial budget he signed in late December expanded funding by $30 million.
Benso said one could assume he’d maintain that, and look for a $60 million increase in 2016-17 budget, but she hopes he goes after the full $120 million. Continuing funding at that pace would allow Pennsylvania to make pre-k available to all children at risk of academic failure by 2019, she said.
Asked if Wolf would again push for a $120 million increase in 2016-17, Wolf spokesman Jeff Sheridan said “we’re going to continue to fight for increased funding for early childhood education.”
York Day Nursery has three pre-kindergarten classrooms, including one Pre-K Counts classroom.
In those classes, teachers observe and assess children to determine their needs, and plan their teaching around their students’ needs and interests, said Lisa Rumsey, interim executive director of York Day Nursery. They read to them, work on pre-reading skills and put books in the hands of parents to help them support their children’s learning.
Read the full article here.
Citizens Voice: Report: 80 percent of county’s children lack access to quality pre-K
January 20, 2016
WILKES-BARRE — In Luzerne County, only one in five children has access to a high-quality, publicly funded preschool program, according to a new report by an advocacy group that came to the city Tuesday to demand an increase in state funding.
The other 80 percent of the county’s 3- and 4-year-olds are enrolled in inadequate programs, or none at all, the group’s research revealed.
Those children will be behind when they start school and will be more likely to be a strain on social services and the criminal justice system — which are far more costly than properly funding pre-kindergarten programs, advocates argued during a news conference at the Wilkes-Barre YMCA.
“There are few investments that have as much of a profound impact on kids’ lives as a high-quality, pre-K program,” said Joan Benso, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Partnership for Children. “The lack of access is a troubling statistic.”
In other parts of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the percentage of children without access to quality pre-K programs ranged from 88 percent in Monroe County to 53 percent in Wayne County. In Lackawanna County, the number was 63 percent, according to the report, titled “The Case for Pre-K in PA.”
Overall, the contribution from the state of Pennsylvania toward pre-kindergarten programs is “woefully inadequate,” Benso said.
“Other states have made this a high priority and they’re kicking our butts,” Benso said.
Read the full article here.
WTAJ TV: Teachers, officials concerned over Pre-K funding
January 19, 2016
Mapleton, Huntingdon County, Pa.
Pre-K programs in Huntingdon County aren’t letting the ongoing budget impasse stand in their way.
For the first time since Thanksgiving, preschoolers made their way back to their classes once again. Nine of the county’s program temporarily closed their doors due to the lack of funding.
Temporary funding from Governor Tom Wolf recently reopened preschool classrooms. Jessica Deline’s class at Mapleton-Union Elementary School was one of them.
“It’s good to be back, we’re excited to have the kids back,” Deline said.
At one point, the county thought they would have to borrow money to keep their programs running. School officials said they are thankful for the $5.7 million funds from Harrisburg, but they are always wondering if program will continue to operate.
“We’ve lost other federal funds that we count on to provide teachers, to provide programs, to provide services, that’s kind of frustrating,” Brett Gilliland, Mount Union Area School District’s superintendent said.
Read the full article here.
Times-Leader: New push for increased pre-school access launched at Wilkes-Barre YMCA
January 19th, 2016
WILKES-BARRE — They came with a bag of books and asked for half a billion dollars, and while the aim was the same for both books and bucks — to help tots under age 5 get ready for school — the scope was obviously very different.
The books were doled out to a class of clamoring pre-kindergarten students at the Wilkes-Barre Family YMCA, after leaders of several non-profit advocacy groups released a new report “The case for Pre-K in PA,” and called for a dramatic boost in state money for high quality pre-school programs.
United Way of Wyoming Valley President Bill Jones noted one third of Wyoming Valley’s children are in poverty, adding often-cited research shows “statistically these children are more likely to grow up having social and emotional problems, drop out of school, be less healthy and experience addictions and commit crimes.”
Jones noted the agency has shifted focus to school readiness and now spends $370,000 annually “in early care and education programs, and $395,000 in other education support services support services.” But, he added, “The United Way and our community partners simply don’t have adequate resources to reach all the children in need. We must encourage our state government to consider its investment to ensure all children benefit.”
The National Institute for Early Education Research annually ranks states that offer publicly funded pre-k by the percentage of children with access to high quality pre-k, and Jones noted in the last five years the Keystone state slipped from 11th to 15th for children age 3, and from 24th to 30th for age 4.
PA Partnerships for Children President Joan Benso put a number on what she believes the state should do: Increase pre-k money by $500 million in five years. Availability of public resources to help provide pre-k for at-risk children — low income, English language learners and those with disabilities is “woefully inadequate,” she said.
The state is at a competitive disadvantage with neighbors, Benso said, noting 94 percent of children attend high quality pre-k in West Virginia, 54 percent in New York, 42 percent in Maryland and 35 percent in New Jersey. By comparison, only 26 percent attend pre-k in Pennsylvania.
Read the full article here.
Pottstown Post: New Report Advocates More Pre-K In PA
January 19, 2016
HARRISBURG PA – Pennsylvania needs to increase its commitment to making high-quality pre-kindergarten available to at-risk children, according to a new report.
Called “The Case for Pre-K in PA,” issued by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, the report says the state is home to more than 175,000 3- and 4-year-olds in low-income households, but during 2014 about 70 percent of them lacked access to publicly funded pre-K.
Michael Race, the group’s vice president of communication, says offering high-quality pre-K has long-lasting effects. “It increases graduation rates, reduces dropouts, increases the likelihood of going on to college, and basically helps create a better workforce that benefits communities and the Commonwealth as a whole.”
The Pottstown School District been recognized by several organizations as being among Pennsylvania’s leaders in providing the kind of pre-K classes advocated in the report. The document claims that investing $470 million in pre-K over the next three years would more than double the percentage of children who have access to early-learning programs.
In Maryland, 42 percent of 4-year-olds have access to pre-K, 54 percent in New York and 94 percent in West Virginia. In Pennsylvania it’s only 26 percent, according to Race. The “Pre-K for PA” campaign, a statewide coalition, had asked for an additional $120 million for early childhood education this year. The state budget, if approved, adds an extra $30 million.
Philanthropic groups, such as United Way of Pennsylvania, also have promoted pre-K around the state. As Race points out, they can’t do it alone. “There’s only so much we can do in the private sector to make it available,” he says. “The state is the one that really has the resources to grow pre-K considerably, and that’s what we’re asking them to do.”
Read the full article here.
Post-Gazette: Report says Pennsylvania lags in pre-K education
January 18, 2016
Pennsylvania trails most neighboring states in access to publicly funded, high-quality, pre-K education, with only 1 in 6 children in the state enrolled in such a program, according to a report released last week by a Harrisburg children’s advocacy organization.
About 120,000 3- and 4-year-olds statewide, many of whom are from low-income families, are at risk of school failure because they don’t have opportunities for early childhood education, said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children. That figure includes more than 12,500 children in Allegheny County.
“When we make this investment, we help kids, we help the communities, we help schools, we improve kids’ lives,” she said at a news conference Thursday at the Small World Early Learning & Development Center in Downtown.
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, by contrast, the figures are 94 percent, 54 percent and 42 percent, respectively.
Grant Oliphant, president of The Heinz Endowments, called the foundation’s contributions to early childhood education “some of the most effective dollars that we’ve invested.”
“We can see over a 20-year time frame that those investments in kids have had a profound impact on their ability to learn and their later success in school,” he said. “That translates eventually into their success in life, their success in the workforce, their success as citizens of the commonwealth.”
Read the full article here.
