In this Issue

• Child Care WAGE$ Florida WORKS!
• Spotlight On: Afterschool Initiatives
• Forum Corner
• Children's Week at the Capitol Largest Turnout in Years
• Worst to First: A Campaign to Put Florida's Kids First
• Attend the One Goal Conference: Building the Future Together
• Celebrate Provider Appreciation Day May 8
• Legislative Updates
• State and National News
• Early Learning Coalition Briefs
• Calendar of Events

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Aimed squarely at policy-makers responsible for setting the standards in Florida statute, and the executive branch and their counterparts which have consistently resisted efforts to raise the bar, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) ranks Florida second to last, once again. The report states, "Children in Georgia or Alabama will have access to a program that meets eight or 10 of the NIEER quality benchmarks, respectively, whereas programs in neighboring Florida are required to meet only four of the benchmarks."

Somewhat lost in the statistics are the faces of children behind the facts. Not providing each of the 133,846 four-year-olds a high quality pre-k education compromises their learning potential with all the human and financial costs to come.

The quality benchmarks established by NIEER are based on brain science backed up by convincing research, and not on political ideology or sociological rhetoric.

Meeting the quality standards and requiring a bachelor degreed teacher in each pre-k classroom, as is done in Alabama, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas to name a few, would improve Florida's readiness rates, which fell by 4% in the past year. This would result in subsequent years in reducing the kindergarten through fifth grade failure rate, which is shockingly high.

The financial benefits are astounding. The annual cost to increase the quality of Florida's pre-kindergarten teachers according to a fiscal impact statement provided recently by the Agency for Workforce Innovation hovers around $60-million, or $276-million LESS than the ANNUAL cost of school non-promotion in the elementary years. Long term costs of NOT PROVIDING high quality pre-k are projected to exceed $800,000,000.

Children taught by bachelor degreed teachers experienced educational gains in print, math and reading up to 70% higher than those taught by lesser degreed personnel.

These results - and their life-long impact on children - clearly move the debate to a level of fiscal and moral imperative.

Highlights of NIEER Press Release:

Florida's Voluntary Prekindergarten program ranks second highest in the nation for access, but the state ranks close to the bottom for funding provided and quality benchmarks met.

Florida enrolls 61 percent of the state's 4-year-olds, trailing only Oklahoma for the percentage of children enrolled. However, with funding levels at $2,500 per child - well below the national average of $4,061 per child - the state ranks 34th out of the 38 states providing preschool education (Children's Campaign Editor Note: Florida's current reimbursement rate is $2,190 for summer and $2,575 for school year program.)

Florida joins California and Texas in having the largest populations of children and serving the most children in pre-K, but meeting the fewest quality benchmarks.

Nationally, there was an impressive expansion in enrollment and spending. However, it cautioned that the recession may reverse the trend, curtailing early education opportunities for children in lower and middle-income families.

Across the country, the annual report showed an overall increase in state-funded programs by more than 108,000 children for 2008, which brought enrollment nationally to more than 1.1 million children in the 38 states that operate programs. Spending on public preschool rose to almost $4.6 billion.

Due to the economy and declining state revenues, however, the immediate future of state-funded preschool is uncertain. In most states, expenditures on pre-K are entirely discretionary and therefore easier to cut than expenditures for K-12 education and other programs.

The report recommended a new federal initiative to help states increase pre-K enrollment rates and meet higher levels of quality.

Download The State of Preschool 2008 report

*Article courtesy of the Children's Campaign

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According to the 2007-08 VPK Readiness Rates released today, 54 percent of students who completed Florida's VPK program last year demonstrated overall classroom readiness compared to 42 percent of students who did not attend VPK.

"Children are born with an incredible capacity and desire to learn," said Commissioner Smith. "The VPK results announced today show us that by tapping into this potential at the earliest of ages we are ensuring that our students are getting the head start they need to succeed in both school and life."

"These latest results reinforce that children who participate in Florida's VPK program are better equipped to embrace a lifetime of learning," said Agency Interim Director Lorenzo. "Quality early learning experiences provide the foundation that children need to be avid learners, caring citizens and ultimately conscientious contributors to our workforce and our future."

VPK Readiness Rates measure how well a VPK provider prepares four-year-olds for kindergarten. Providers are rated on a scale of zero to 300 based on how well their students performed in the three key early learning areas of alphabet recognition, sound recognition and classroom readiness. Parents can find out more about the performance of a specific VPK provider by visiting https://vpk.fldoe.org/InfoPages/ReportCriteria.aspx.

The VPK program is designed to prepare every four-year-old in Florida for kindergarten and build the foundation for their educational success. The VPK program gives each child an opportunity to perform better in school and throughout life with quality programs that include high literacy standards, accountability, appropriate curricula and qualified instructors.

Florida's VPK program is jointly administered by the Department of Education, the Agency for Workforce Innovation and the Department of Children and Families. The Department of Education oversees standards, curricula and professional development; the Agency for Workforce Innovation administers the day-to-day operations of the program including policy development, financial management and oversight of the 31 Early Learning Coalitions; and the Department of Children and Families provides oversight of child care licensing, regulation, Florida's Gold Seal Quality Care program and the issuing of credentials for child care personnel.

For more information, download the VPK Readiness Rate Fact Sheet

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The plan invests $2.2 billion in Head Start and Early Head Start to expand the services for over 70,000 additional children.

"I applaud the Obama administration for getting funds out quickly to critical early education programs. Starting today, the children, families and workers who rely on these programs to get a good early education and for jobs will start to see the stimulative effects of this investment," said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. "The research behind early childhood education is clear - if you invest in these children before they enter the kindergarten classroom, they will have a much higher chance at success in elementary school and through their lives."

Studies show that every dollar invested in early education generates anywhere from $1.25 to $17 in returns. Specifically, the $1.2 billion in Early Head Start will help the program serve an additional 55,000 children. The $220 million for Head Start will help the program serve an additional 16,000 children.

In March, the Education and Labor Committee held a series of hearings to examine the early learning and child care needs of children and families, as well as collaborative state efforts and other initiatives to deliver high quality care and education to children from birth through age five.

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The survey of local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) showed that 27 percent of CCR&Rs experienced declines in the number of child care centers in their communities and 45 percent experienced declines in the number of family child care homes between the first and last half of 2008. Half of the CCR&Rs saw child care centers in their communities close within the last six months of 2008 and many experienced the closing of family child care homes.

Child care centers and family child care homes have also experienced a sharp increase in vacancy rates. According to the results of the survey, 65 percent of CCR&Rs reported that in the last six months of 2008, there was an increase in vacancy rates in child care centers and 76 percent reported increases in vacancies in family child care homes.

"Increases in vacancy rates can be very problematic," said Linda Smith, Executive Director of NACCRRA. "Child care programs operate on very thin profit margins and any prolonged decline in enrollment can spell disaster."

In addition, 48 percent of CCR&Rs indicated that within the last six months of 2008 child care centers closed classrooms in their communities and 41 percent indicated that child care centers were laying-off staff. Requests for part-time care are on the rise - 41 percent of CCR&Rs reported that the number of requests for part-time care has increased between June and December of 2008. Additionally, almost three-quarters of CCR&Rs (74 percent) believe that the number of families unable to make child care payments or those falling behind in these payments has increased during the same time period.

"The results of this survey clearly show that the country's recession has significantly impacted the number of children in child care," said Smith. "As parents lose their jobs, cut back hours, or have to take lower paying jobs, they are no longer able to pay the high price of child care. So parents are forced to pull their children from child care and as a result programs are closing, providers are being laid off, and families and communities are suffering."

The most recent employment data shows that the unemployment rate is at 7.6 percent and steadily climbing. Nearly 12 million Americans are out of work. Another 8 million are working part-time because they cannot find full-time work. And the number of part-time workers rose by 3.4 million over the past 12 months. Finding part-time child care can be difficult.

"When families are out of work or their hours are reduced, child care is often times the first thing families cut. Parents begin to look for less expensive options, often times unregulated care, which could potentially jeopardize the health and safety of the children in that care. That's why it is more important now than ever before that we make high-quality child care more affordable for all families," said Smith.

Child care is expensive and is a major household expense for parents of young children. According to NACCRRA's Parents and the High Price of Child Care: 2008 Update, the average price of full-time care for an infant in a center can be as high as $15,895 a year. For a 4-year-old in a center, parents pay up to $11,678 a year for full-time care. In every region of the United States, average child care fees for an infant are higher than the average amount that families spent on food. Child care fees for two children at any age exceed median rent costs and are nearly as high as or even higher than the average mortgage payment.

To determine the impact of the nation's recent recession on child care, NACCRRA surveyed CCR&Rs, which are agencies that help parents find child care, build the supply of child care, and improve the quality of child care in their communities. The survey was designed to obtain both quantitative and qualitative responses from local CCR&Rs on the current condition of child care in their local communities. Responses were obtained from about one-third of the more than 700 local agencies and respondents represented 40 states. For complete survey results, visit www.naccrra.org.

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