Sharon Herald: Pre-K Counts classroom helps meet community’s education needs
October 13, 2022
By: David L. Dye
HERMITAGE — Gathered in the Pre-K Counts Classroom, a group of young children listened intently Tuesday moprning as state Rep. Mark Longietti read a story about a witch.
Upon completing each page, Longietti, D-7, Hermitage, turned the book toward the children, who excitedly pointed out different characters as they followed along.
But while the children seemed to enjoy the special visit Longietti paid to the classroom — located at the Building Blocks Child Center in Hermitage — the classroom itself represented a special opportunity for the preschoolers, center Senior Director Carrie Brown said.
According to a press release, 1,690 eligible children 3 and 4 years old live in Mercer County, but 1,090 of them lack access to high-quality, publicly-funded pre-kindergarten classes.
To help meet that need, the Building Blocks Child Center’s Pre-K Counts Classroom, which features slots for eight children, gives eligible-income students the opportunity to receive that education at no cost to families.
When parents learn about the Pre-K Counts program, Brown said their response is always positive – often intermixed with excitement, joy and even surprise that the program exists.
“I think Pre-K Counts is something where the community is just getting to know it better,” Brown said.
United Way of Mercer County CEO and President Carla Regginello said in the press release that access to high-quality pre-K is an important part of a child’s opportunity to lead a prosperous life.
A study by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill showed that kids enrolled in Pre-K Counts outperformed kindergarten peers who did not have access to pre-K. That advantage is equal to four or five months of learning gains, the release states.
“These outcomes are significant because language and math skills have been shown to be the school readiness skills that most strongly predict later academic achievement,” Regginello said.
Regginello added that recent polling data showed 90 percent of registered voters in Pennsylvania agreed that early care and education are important investments that help set kids on a path to leading healthy and productive lives.
Longietti, Democratic chair of the state House Education Committee and the co-chair of the General Assembly’s Early Childhood Education Caucus, said there has been “tremendous” bipartisan support for early learning in Pennsylvania.
“When you look at budget line items, we’ve steadily increased that line item by a greater percentage than any other budget line item,” Longietti said.
Although Longietti said there is still work to be done since about half of Mercer County’s children are still unserved in pre-K, the statewide average on unserved children is closer to 64 percent.
Brown credited Longietti with his work in securing the funding for Pre-K Counts, both in terms of the grant for Building Blocks Child Center and the statewide funding toward serving three- and four-year-olds.
Pennsylvania’s 2022-23 budget included a $60 million increase for the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Program and a $19 million increase for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program.
As Longietti enters his final days in the state House — he announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election — he said the visit to Building Blocks Child Center was also a reflective moment. His first state budget as a legislator, in 2007, marked establishment of the Pre-K Counts program at the end of a “long, hard-fought budget” process.
Seeing the expansion and effects of the program 16 years later was very gratifying, he said.
“The wonderful thing is when you see these beautiful kids and their smiling faces, they’re so excited to learn and have this opportunity to learn those social skills and have that foundational learning that they need to succeed when they arrive in kindergarten,” Longietti said.
The Building Blocks Child Center opened in 2009, and serves children 6 weeks to 12 years old, Brown said. The center has received a grant of $80,000 for the 2022-23 period, according to the state Department of Education.
Brown said that grant made the Pre-K Counts Classroom possible, and she plans to reapply for another grant in 2023 to expand the classroom and allow an additional 10 students.
“Following that, honestly, the sky is the limit,” Brown said.
Read the article here.
Gov. Wolf visits Allentown’s Volunteers of America Children’s Center
On Friday, Sept. 9, Governor Tom Wolf joined childhood advocates and state lawmakers to highlight his accomplishments in increased funding for early childhood education during a visit to the Volunteers of America Children’s Center in Allentown.
In this year’s budget alone, the Wolf Administration has secured a $79 million increase in early childhood education, providing more children and families in Pennsylvania with access to high-quality early learning programs through Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program (HSSAP).
“Early childhood learning programs are good for children, but they’re also good for families and our economy, too,” said Gov. Wolf. “Think about it – parents and caregivers rely on affordable, accessible childcare so they can go to work. When we ensure that high-quality early learning programs are available for children, we are making a direct investment in our communities and our commonwealth’s economy. At a time of record inflation and families feeling the pinch of soaring costs for childcare, these investments are even more critically important.”
Over his two terms in office, Gov. Wolf has helped to increase early childhood funding by $254 million, which has allowed more than 21,000 new slots to open up for Pennsylvania children in Pre-K Counts and Head Start Supplemental Assistance programs across the commonwealth.
Read the full article here.
NPR: In Allentown, Gov. Wolf celebrates early learning funding, unveils free breakfast program
September 9, 2022 by Sarah Mueller
Gov. Tom Wolf visited the Volunteers of America Children’s Center in Allentown to celebrate increased state funding for early education in this year’s budget.
He also came with a big announcement: free breakfast for every child enrolled in school this academic year. It takes effect Oct. 1 and will benefit more than 1.7 million children at a cost of about $21.5 million.
Wolf briefly played parachute with a group of small children at The Children’s Center before holding a news conference.
Lawmakers approved an additional $79 million in this year’s state budget, targeted for high-quality preschool programs through Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program.
Wolf says it’s OK to celebrate all of the strides his administration has made on this issue over his eight years of leadership.
“But as soon as we finish patting ourselves on the back, I think we also need to understand we need to get back to work,” he said. “We need to recommit ourselves to doing more.”
Children’s Center Director Betty Druckenmiller says the facility is only at 60 percent capacity because she can’t find qualified staff to fill vacant positions.
“I have an empty classroom and shortened hours and we would absolutely add more people if we had the qualified teachers to do it,” she said.
Read or listen to the full story here.
WFMZ: Wolf visits Allentown to highlight early childhood education funding
September 9, 2022
Gov. Tom Wolf stopped in our area Friday to highlight a big funding boost for early childhood education.
Wolf visited the Volunteers of America Children’s Center in Allentown.
This year’s budget included a $79 million increase for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program.
Read the full article
here.
By Jenny Roberts | May 27, 2022
Lehigh Valley officials and community leaders are calling for increased funding for early child care and pre-kindergarten education to address a worker shortage exacerbated by the pandemic.
Lehigh Valley Children’s Centers hosted a discussion Thursday at one of its Allentown locations in partnership with Pre-K for PA and Start Strong PA Campaigns to urge state policymakers to provide an additional $115 million in state and federal child care funding in the 2022-23 Pennsylvania budget. The money would increase the hourly wages of child care workers by $2. Right now, the average child care worker makes less than $11 an hour.
Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed budget would keep child care services and assistance funding flat for the third year in a row.
Read full article here.
Pa. First Lady Frances Wolf, educators, discuss proposal for increased funding for Pre-K
By Zoë Read | April 20, 2022
Pennsylvania First Lady Frances Wolf moderated a virtual panel discussion with early childhood educators on Wednesday to discuss Gov. Tom Wolf’s early childhood education spending plan. Wolf’s budget proposal includes $1.55 billion in basic education funding.
The plan calls for a $60 million increase in Pre-K Counts, a program that provides free half day or full day Pre-K for kids from households earning lower incomes, and kids with disabilities. Wolf’s office said that would allow 2,300 additional children to attend preschool. Wolf also proposed a $10 million increase for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program.
“We know that children who participate in high quality Pre-K programs perform better in school, and they are more likely to graduate and to earn more throughout their lives afterwards,” Frances Wolf said during Wednesday’s virtual event.
During the panel discussion, Robin Rohrbaugh, CEO of Community Progress Council in York, spoke of the importance of expanding access to early childhood education.
