|
Report: Pennsylvania at risk of losing ground on preschool progress |
The strong gains Pennsylvania has made in the past decade to increase access to pre-kindergarten programs are starting to erode, according to a new national study by the nonpartisan National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER).
The State of Preschool 2011: State Preschool Yearbook shows the percentage of Pennsylvania 4-years-olds benefiting from state-funded pre-kindergarten programs increased to 16 percent in 2011, up dramatically from only 2 percent in 2002. As a result, Pennsylvania’s “access ranking” among states moved upward from 33 in 2002 to a high of 24 in 2010, but it fell slightly to 25 in 2011.
In other words, access to pre-kindergarten in Pennsylvania is starting to slip after years of strong gains.
NIEER Director Steve Barnett expressed concern that pre-K accessibility in Pennsylvania could be further harmed by the failure to fund the Accountability Block Grant program. ABG funds are used, in part, to support pre-kindergarten and other evidence-based practices to improve student achievement, such as full-day kindergarten.
In the current school year, $100 million in Accountability Block Grant funding has been made available to school districts, but Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget for fiscal 2012-13 eliminates all funding for ABG. Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is seeking restoration of $100 million in ABG funds in fiscal 2012-13.
“If Pennsylvania wants to build and maintain a competitive, world-class workforce, we should be making investments in early learning a priority and work to expand efforts to provide high-quality early learning opportunities,” PPC President and CEO Joan Benso said.
In addition to restoration of ABG funding, PPC also is calling on state lawmakers and the governor to:
- Restore Pre-K Counts in the 2012-13 budget to the $82.8 million appropriated in the enacted 2011-12 budget to maintain an annual service level of 11,400 children.
- Restore the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program line item (which supplements federal Head Start funding) to the nearly $37.3 million appropriated in the enacted 2011-12 budget to maintain an annual service level of 4,900 children next year.
Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, Head Start and public school pre-kindergarten are among the best investments we can make in children’s education. Every dollar invested in these programs helps prepare our youngest learners for success in school and in life. It also saves the commonwealth much more money in the long term, by reducing the need for special education and remedial instruction, increasing the likelihood of graduation and college enrollment, and decreasing dropout rates, crime and incarceration.
High-quality early learning is especially beneficial to children whose educational opportunities are hindered by poverty or other circumstances. When at-risk children benefit from early learning investments like Pre-K Counts or the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program, they enter K-12 better prepared and less likely to struggle to keep pace with their peers.
Economists and business leaders are increasingly convinced that high-quality early education is a sound investment - creating a productive workforce, stimulating the economy, and yielding significant financial returns. The question is not how can we fund worthwhile programs like these, but rather, how can we afford not to?
###
Stay on top of the latest news affecting Pennsylvania's children by following Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children via social media:

