Kids Count Coalition Early Care and Education Committee

1. Kids Count CoalitionEarly Care and Education Committee Presentation May 23, 2002

2. What Are the Issues? The Kids Count Coalition, the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education, AR Head Start, and the Department of Education have led numerous efforts over the last two years to engage parents, providers, and other interested citizens in identifying the key needs in early care and education. Here are the key issues:

3. What is the need? • There are 181,585 children under age 5 in Arkansas. • 1 in 3 Arkansas children live in single-parent families. • Nearly 3 in 4 children (72%) under age 6 live in families with all parents working. • Two-thirds of Arkansas mothers with children under age five are working.

4. Many AR families cannot afford the cost of quality care • 1 in 4 AR families with children live in poverty. • 3 out of 4 AR families with children living in poverty have working parents (the working poor). • 3 of 4 working poor families with children are two-parent families.

5. Many AR families cannot afford the cost of basic care (con’t) • In Arkansas, the average price for typical preschool, center-based services is $3,434 per child annually. • At this level, the poorest 20% of AR families would spend up to 32% of their income on care for one child. For 2 children, they would spend 64%.

6. Many low-income, working families can’t access care • State and federally subsidized child care programs serve less than 16 percent of the children who might be eligible for subsidized care. • AR’s waiting list for subsidized child care is 3,184 families. Most experts believe that the waiting list significantly underestimates the actual number of children who are eligible for care. • The State recently allocated $8 million in new funding for child care for low-income families.

7. Fewer still can afford the cost of “quality care.” • “Quality” child care and early childhood education is more expensive. • In AR, “quality” care costs about $5,000 annually per child. Many experts think it costs even more. • To purchase quality care, the poorest 20% of families families would have to spend at least 47% of their income. • Children in low-income families are often at-risk of school failure and in need of quality early care.

8. What is “quality” care? • Quality early care is more than child care that meets basic licensing requirements. • The key to quality care is a well-trained, compensated staff who provide a personal, consistent, and caring learning environment. • Only 16% of the state’s licensed child care capacity (centers and family day care homes) have achieved a special “quality” rating. Most of these are Head Start or ABC programs.

9. Why is Quality Care Important? • A child’s early life experiences are a major predictor of future success. • Access to quality care is linked to other positive outcomes for children. • Parents miss work less often and are more productive when their children are in quality care. • Quality care is part of the continuum of lifelong learning that is essential to a well-trained workforce and state economic development.

10. What do voters think about early care? • 93% believe that a child’s experiences during the first 5 years are important to their later success in school. • 73% believe the years under age 5 are the “most” important years for developing one’s capacity to learn. • 75% believe that early childhood education for 3 and 4 year olds should be made available for all families. • 59% would pay higher taxes so the state could offer quality care for all 3 & 4 year olds free of charge.

11. The Lake View School Funding Case • Judge Kilgore’s decision, if upheld by the AR Supreme Court, could change early childhood education forever. • The AR Supreme Court should rule on the case in late 2002 or early 2003.

12. In Judge Kilgore’s ruling: 3 facts were accepted at trial: • (1) a substantial number of children are entering kindergarten significantly behind their peers. • (2) those children entering the 1st grade needing remediation will have a difficult time performing at grade level by the 3rd grade. • (3) if a student cannot perform at grade level, by the 3rd grade, he is unlikely ever to do so.

13. In Judge Kilgore’s ruling (con’t): “The only possible conclusion is that in order to provide our children with an adequate education as required by the Constitution and the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing and Accountability Program (ACTAAP), the State must forthwith provide programs for those children of pre-school age that will allow them to compete academically with their peers. The urgency of this need equals that of the deficiency in teacher salaries”

14. The ABC program: AR’s state-funded quality initiative • The Arkansas Better Chance program (ABC) offers high quality early care and education pre-school services to at-risk children. • ABC’s primary goal is school readiness. • ABC programs serve an average of 8,373 children per month. • ABC programs must meet state early childhood accreditation standards.

15. ABC’s core quality model(Recently Adopted by State Board of Ed) • Low student to teacher ratio • Qualified, well-compensated teachers/professional development • Strong health, safety, and developmental screening standards • Meaningful parent & community engagement activities • Proven curricula and learning processes.

16. The 2001 AR General Assembly • Adopted 3% retail beer tax—80% of money goes to ABC program, 20% to low-income child are. The tax will sunset in 2003 unless re-authorized. • Approved a TANF transfer of $12 million to child care.

17. AR must do more to improve access to quality early education • Ensure adequate funding for subsidized child care for low-income working families and quality early childhood education for all children under age 5. • Improve the quality of the state’s early childhood education workforce by providing training and increasing compensation for early childhood teachers & workers. • Expand current financial incentives for early care programs that meet quality standards.