Gov. Wolf applauds state investment but warns more than cash is needed for early learning
October 12, 2021
An additional $30 million in state funding for early childhood education in 2021-22 will provide early learning programs for an additional 3,200 Pennsylvania children this school year.
But the investment isn’t all that is needed to ensure that children from six weeks to kindergarten age have the opportunity for quality education and care, Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday.
Wolf joined local early education advocates, educators and elected officials at the Gilson Child Development Center on Payne Avenue in Erie to celebrate the increased funding and warn that more needs to be done to provide a solid foundation for later learning.
“It’s not all that we need,” Wolf said. “There’s also a need to figure out how to make this system work better. We need to reinvent and drastically transform this industry. It’s that important.
“We also need to pay our teachers more, tens of thousands of dollars more, in the professional range,” Wolf said, commensurate with the important work that they do.
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Governor Wolf visits Gilson Child Development Center
October 12, 2021
Governor Tom Wolf made a visit to Erie on October 12th.
The governor announced an investment in early education that will impact thousands of children in the upcoming school year.
Governor Wolf took a tour of Gilson Child Development Center in Erie.
“Families are finding it very hard to get child care. Early childhood education is a barrier to getting ourselves back on economic track and part of the reason I think is because we don’t provide enough resources like CDC,” said Governor Tom Wolf, (D), Governor of Pennsylvania.
The governor discussed the importance of investing in high quality pre-k in Pennsylvania with local elected officials at the Gilson Child Development Center in Erie.
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$30M more in Pa. funding boosts pre-K learning, Wolf says in Lehigh Valley visit
Sep. 30, 2021
The first years of development for Pennsylvania children took center-stage Thursday in Allentown, as Gov. Tom Wolf visited to announce millions in new funding for pre-K education and child care.
Wolf toured Community Services for Children’s The Learning Hub at 101 N. Sixth St. in Allentown to highlight, in part, a $30 million increase in state funding for pre-K education. That should equate to 2,900 more children in Pre-K Counts and 300 more children in Head Start programs, representing a bipartisan victory after the Republican-controlled Legislature included the spending in the state budget that runs through June 2022.
“We all suffer when we don’t do an adequate job in providing for early childhood education and child care,” the Democratic governor said, noting he’s doubled the state’s investment in early childhood education during his seven years in office.
The $30 million represents an increase to the previous $145 million secured by Wolf for early childhood learning programs, according to the governor’s office.
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State budget boosted early childhood ed by $30 million
July 20, 2021
Gov. Tom Wolf joined lawmakers and advocates for early childhood education Monday to tout the benefits of a $30 million boost in funding for Pre-K Counts and Head Start programs included in the 2021-22 state budget.
“Early childhood education programs set students up for success,” Wolf said at a press conference in Reading. “When our children are successful in school and beyond, that sets our commonwealth up for success, too.
“That’s why I’ve fought so hard to support early learning in Pennsylvania – doubling its investment – and this year’s budget increased our investment in quality early childhood education once again.”
The funding included in the budget includes $25 million to add 2,800 children to Pre-K Counts programs – half-day and full-day pre-kindergarten programs, which are designed to help children who are at least 3 but haven’t entered kindergarten, are at risk of school failure and living in families earning up to 300% of the poverty level. For a family of four, that’s $73,800.
The funding also provided $5 million for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program, which will help 470 children. Head Start programs are designed for children ages 3-5 and are targeted at children in families with income below the federal poverty line, which for a family of four is $24,600.
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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf pushes Pre-K expansion
Jul 8, 2021
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf will be in Lancaster Thursday, promoting the state’s plan to expand pre-kindergarten.
The 2021 to 2022 Pennsylvania state budget, which was signed into law at the end of June, increased funding for Pre-K expansion by $30 million.
On Thursday, Wolf will join community leaders, students and parents at the outdoor learning center at the Community Action Partnership in Lancaster to discuss the importance of investing in early childhood education.
Proponents say the increased budget will allow for more than 3,000 additional children to attend Pre-K in the upcoming school year. Leaders with the group Pre-K for PA support the funding, saying:
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Parents seeking child care struggle with access, costs
June 26, 2021
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) —
As Megan Garman’s due date approached, she began making calls to several child care centers in the Johnstown area to get her daughter enrolled, but found herself signing up for waiting list after waiting list.
“It’s very, very stressful,” she said.
Garman began her search more than one year ago and is still waiting for a slot to open up. Thankfully, she said, a family member was able to fill in, but the working mother knows that’s not a permanent solution.
Every few months, she calls the centers again to see if her family has moved up on the waiting lists and hopes for the best.
“It’s like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel,” Garman said.
The Johnstown resident’s story is not uncommon in Pennsylvania, which suffers from a lack of access and affordability for child care and early childhood education facilities.
There are more than 500,000 Pennsylvanian children under the age of 5 and about 300,000 infants and toddlers who need child care, according to advocacy group Start Strong PA. Roughly half in both categories are eligible for Child Care Works – a state subsidized program that provides low-income families with access to reliable, quality programs.
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