Monday, February 22, 2010

2010-2011 child care budget

Investing in a brighter future for Pennsylvania
through quality early education

Whether you define success for Pennsylvania as a strong economy, effective schools, reduced crime, or thriving communities, early education is key. Research shows that early education:
• Provides more regional economic stimulus than any other sector ;
• Is important to community growth, sustainability and diversity as working families need access to quality, reliable education ;
• Promotes healthy brain development in the critical first five years;
• Helps children, especially those at risk for school failure, build early language, math and social skills to enter school ready to learn; and
• Provides long-term benefits that a child carries throughout his/her life, making them more likely to graduate high school, attend college, have higher earnings and own a home.

Pennsylvania’s early education continuum is:

Providing quality early learning opportunities for children throughout Pennsylvania that work well together
Pennsylvania’s early education programs are based on quality standards that align with each other, through kindergarten and beyond.
• All programs use the Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards to guide curriculum, child observation and assessment.
• Teachers and directors can follow the Early Childhood Career Lattice and get help to earn professional credentials and college degrees to increase their skills and remain in the field for a lifetime.

Establishing strong accountability across the system
Pennsylvania has a comprehensive accountability system to ensure that quality expectations are met and public funds are used appropriately.
• Regular reporting on teacher qualifications, classroom demographics, and financial expenditures required; onsite review of policies and practices for most programs.
• Independent assessors use the nationally-recognized Environment Rating Scales to assess classroom quality and teacher interaction.
• Pennsylvania’s Early Learning Network collects information of children’s participation in early childhood programs and their developmental progress to help teachers better guide children’s growth and help the state evaluate program effectiveness.

Supporting leadership in local communities
As parents demand more quality early learning opportunities, local communities need to share information on why quality early education is important and what opportunities are available.
• Pennsylvania’s Early Learning Council and advisory committees provide feedback and guidance on Pennsylvania’s policies and share information through their leadership networks.
• Early Childhood Community Engagement Groups bring together early education programs, schools, and other organizations serving children to educate their communities on early learning opportunities
In 2010-2011, Pennsylvania will:
1. Strive for higher quality and increased access by implementing Keystone Babies, a quality initiative for at-risk infants and toddlers; and develop a Director’s Toolkit for Continuous Quality Improvement.
2. Refine accountability and document positive outcomes for children by incorporating additional programs into the Early Learning Network.
3. Support local leadership by implementing the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) Early Childhood Leadership Program.

The Governor’s proposed budget for early education for 2010-2011 will:

Serve additional families in:
• Early Intervention – Expanding to reach 81,696 children (34,384 infants and toddlers and 47,312 preschoolers) by adding 1,172 infants and toddlers and 1,229 preschoolers.

Sustain progress in:
• Child Care Works Subsidized Child Care Program – Sustaining to reach approximately 134,400 children (monthly average).
• Keystone STARS – Sustaining higher quality early learning opportunities for over 177,000 children and making it possible for programs to achieve higher STAR levels.
• Nurse-Family Partnership –Sustaining to reach more than 4,200 children and families.
• Parent-Child Home Program – Sustaining to reach approximately 1,500 children and families.

Reduce services to children in:
• Head Start Supplemental – Services to 117 children will be removed, which would lower the children served from 5,743 to approximately 5,626 children.
• Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts – Services to 68 children will be removed, which would lower the children from 11,800 to approximately 11,732 children.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Pa Budget update from BUILD Listserve

UPDATED Child Counts for PA Pre-K Counts and Head Start Supplemental in Governor’s Proposed Budget
On February 9, OCDEL distributed information on estimated children that would be served in OCDEL programs in the Governor’s budget proposal for 2010-2011. At that time, OCDEL indicated that the numbers of children served for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and Head Start Supplemental may be subject to change due to the proposed reduction in funding carried forward from mid-year cuts in this fiscal year (2009-2010). After a more detailed review, OCDEL has determined that fewer children would be served in Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and Head Start Supplemental in the Governor’s proposed budget:
Early Intervention (Infant, Toddler, and Preschool) will increase children to be served: An additional 1,100 infants and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities will be added to bring the total number of children served to 34,384. An additional 1,200 preschoolers will be added to bring the total number of children served to 47,312.
PA Pre-K Counts and Head Start Supplemental will decrease children to be served:
• Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts – Services to 68 children will be removed, which would lower the children from 11,800 to approximately 11,732.
• Head Start Supplemental – Services to 117 children will be removed, which would lower the children served from 5,743 to approximately 5,626.
Other programs will be sustained, preserving services, as follows:
• Child Care Works Subsidized Child Care Program – Sustained to reach approximately 134,400 children (monthly average).
• Keystone STARS - Sustaining higher quality early learning opportunities for over 177,000 children and making it possible for programs to achieve higher STAR levels.
• Nurse-Family Partnership - Sustained to reach more than 4,200 children and families.
• Parent-Child Home Program - Sustained to reach approximately 1,500 children and families.
OCDEL’s budget one-pager and powerpoint have been updated to reflect these reduced services and are available online at http://www.pakeys.org/pages/get.aspx?page=EarlyLearning_OCDEL.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Budget in PA

From: Ben Tulchin and Julie Lein, Tulchin Research
Re: Pennsylvania Statewide Survey Finds Strong Support for
Quality Early Childhood Education Summary
Even with severe budgetary constraints facing their state, Pennsylvania voters strongly believequality early childhood education should be a top priority for state lawmakers. An overwhelmingmajority of voters – across all regions of the state – support continued government investment inquality early childhood education. Voters also strongly oppose rolling back the progress thelegislature has made on the issue. A majority of voters say they are even more likely to supportinvestment when informed of the long-term economic benefits of quality early childhoodeducation: budgetary savings through reductions in criminal activity, remedial education, andhigh-school drop-out rates.
Strong Support for Quality Early Childhood Education Across Pennsylvania
A recent survey found overwhelming support for quality early childhood education throughout
the state. Specifically, over four in five voters (81%) support providing early childhood
education to all children in Pennsylvania. In contrast, only one out of six voters (16%) oppose itand even fewer (3%) do not have an opinion.
Statewide Support for Quality Early Childhood Education

Do you support or oppose providing quality early childhood education to all children
in Pennsylvania?
Support
Oppose
Don’t know

Pennsylvania Statewide Survey Finds Strong Support for Quality Early Childhood Education
From Erie to Philadelphia, support of quality early childhood education programs is consistent across the state.

In the T, the rural swath of the state outside of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, voters indicate strong support for quality early childhood education, with 88 percent in the Scranton- Wilkes Barre media market, 81 percent in Johnstown-Altoona, and 69 percent in Harrisburg-Lancaster-York favoring the programs;

In Western Philadelphia, three in four voters (75%) in the Pittsburgh media market favor early childhood education;

In Southeastern Pennsylvania, over four in five voters (81%) favor early childhood education, including an overwhelming 96 percent in Philadelphia, 80 percent in the suburbs, and 87 percent in the Berks-Lehigh area.

Support for the programs also crosses ideological lines. Approximately seven in ten conservatives (70%) favor quality early childhood programs, while nine in ten self-described liberals (92%) and moderates (88%) also express support.
Voters Want Government to Help Provide this Service
Not only do voters strongly favor quality early childhood education, but they want the government to help fund this service. Specifically, by nearly a three-to-one margin, Pennsylvania voters believe that government should fund quality early childhood education to children in the state (71% in favor – 26% opposed).
Support for Investment in Quality Early Childhood Education Should the government help fund quality early childhood education to children in the state?
Yes
No
Don’t know 71% 26% 4%
Pennsylvania Statewide Survey Finds Strong Support for Quality Early Childhood Education
Voters express a commitment to continue the investment Pennsylvania has already made, with three in four voters (75%) favoring reliable and affordable education for children in quality early childhood education programs.
Voters also firmly oppose cutting funding for quality early childhood education programs for children 0 to 5 years of age in order to balance the state’s budget. Even in the context of addressing Pennsylvania’s budget deficit, three in five voters (62%) oppose slashing funds for early childhood education, with only one in three voters (33%) in support. The two-to-one margin is indicative of voter priorities toward maintaining funds for these programs.
The Positive Outcomes of Quality Early Childhood Education Increase Support
for the Cause
When informed of quality early childhood education’s long term economic benefits and future cost savings, an overwhelming majority of voters say they are more likely to support the cause. Voters reported they were more likely to favor quality early childhood education after learning that the programs have been shown to:

Reduce high school drop-out rates (69% more likely);

Save money through reduction in criminal activity and remedial education (68% more likely);

Reduce incarceration rates by 50 percent (67% more likely); and

Reap higher rates of return than other social investments (67% more likely).
Reasons for Supporting Quality Early Childhood Education Programs Reporting More Willingness to Support
High quality early childhood education programs can reduce high school drop-out rates.
69% According to the Federal Reserve Bank, for every dollar Pennsylvania spends on quality early childhood education, society reaps a return of up to 17 dollars through reduction in criminal activity, remedial education, and public assistance costs. 68%
High quality early childhood education reduces incarceration rates by 50 percent.
67% According to leading economists, investments in high quality early education programs have the highest rate of return of any social investment. 67%
Methodology
Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children (DVAEYC), Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children (PennAEYC) and the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children (PAEYC) hired Tulchin Research to conduct a poll measuring aspects of voter support for quality early childhood education across the state of Pennsylvania. From December 15 – December 20, Tulchin Research conducted a telephone survey of 650 likely voters in Pennsylvania, with 600 voters statewide and an oversample of 50 voters in the Southeastern PA. The margin of error is +/- 3.9 percentage points for the statewide sample.
Statistically valid results of this poll are available for most Pennsylvania media markets.