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Making the Case for Public Investments in Quality Early Care and Education

Making the Case for Public Investments in Quality Early Care and Education . Jesse Bailey Director, Pre-K for All DC Member, DC Early Care and Education Consortium. What Does DC’s Early Care And Education Industry Look Like?*.

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Making the Case for Public Investments in Quality Early Care and Education

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  1. Making the Case for Public Investments in Quality Early Care and Education Jesse Bailey Director, Pre-K for All DC Member, DC Early Care and Education Consortium

  2. What Does DC’s Early Care And Education Industry Look Like?* • ECE industry includes all programs that care and educate children ages birth through 13 outside traditional K-12 education. • The industry includes but is not limited to: Head Start, DCPS Public School and Public Charter School Pre-K, after-school programs, non-profit child care centers, private child care programs, and family child care homes. • There are 44,000 children younger than age 6 and 46,100 children ages 6 – 13. This corresponds to 16 percent of the total population. *Source: Brown, Brentt, Melissa Ramos, and Saskia Traill, Ph.D. Ensuring a Vibrant City: The Economic Impact of the ECE I ndustry in DC. National Economic Development and Law Center, June 2007.

  3. Why is Quality Early Care and Education (ECE) necessary? • Quality ECE supports and improves DC’s current workforce productivity.* • 64 percent of children under age 13 live with a single, working parent or with two working parents. They require ECE to participate in the workforce. • More than 1/5 of unscheduled employee absenteeism is due to family issues, which included ECE challenges. • Parents indicate that the availability of ECE is critical to their decision to continue their education or go back to school. • Quality ECE closes the achievement gap and strengthens the workforce of tomorrow. • Recent research indicates that children living in poverty enter Kindergarten already 10 to 12 months behind their peers.** • Only 10 percent of DCPS fourth grade students were proficient in reading and only 6 percent of sixth grade students were proficient in math. • Decades of research shows that children who attend high-quality early care and education go on to do better in school, go on graduate high school in greater numbers, enter adulthood as more productive workers and earn higher wages. • *Source: Brown, Brentt, Melissa Ramos, and Saskia Traill, Ph.D. Ensuring a Vibrant City: The Economic Impact of the ECE Industry in DC. National Economic Development and Law Center, June 2007. • **Source: Sawhill, Isabel “Opportunity in America: The Role of Education” The Future of Children Policy Brief, Brookings Institute, Fall 2006.

  4. DC’s Pre-K Quality Gap • While access is high, quality is scarce across all settings. • 80 percent of classrooms do not meet national standards for quality. • 68 percent of teachers in community-based programs • do not hold a Bachelor’s degree. Source: Belfield, Clive. Investing in the Economic Vitality of the District of Columbia through Pre-Kindergarten for All. Technical Report, September 2006. http://www.prekforalldc.org/documents/Pre-K_Full_Technical_Report.pdf

  5. Making the Case for Public Investment • 2001: District of Columbia Early Care and Education Research Consortium established to provide objective, empirical research on early care and education issues that can guide the development and provision of these needed services in the District of Columbia. • 2004:Waiting in the Shadows of the Capitol is released by the Consortium to show the potential impacts of possible cuts to child care and call for increased investment. • 2006:Investing in the Economic Vitality of the District of Columbia through Pre-Kindergarten for All is released by Pre-K for All DC with the support of the Consortium to document the return on investment of fully funding pre-kindergarten for all three and four year olds in the District. • 2007: Ensuring a Vibrant City: The Economic Impact of the Early Care and Education Industry in the District of Columbia will be released to communicate the multiple impacts of the ECE industry on the DC community and provide recommendations for enhancing those impacts. • *Source: Brown, Brentt, Melissa Ramos, and Saskia Traill, Ph.D. Ensuring a Vibrant City: The Economic Impact of the ECE Industry in DC. National Economic Development and Law Center • **Source: Sawhill, Isabel “Opportunity in America: The Role of Education” The Future of Children Policy Brief, Brookings Institute, Fall 2006.

  6. Pre-K for All: A Wise Investment • In June 2007, Pre-K for All DC released Investing in the Economic Vitality of the District of Columbia through Pre-kindergarten for All in June 2006. • These benefits to students, families and the community make pre-k for all a cost-effective investment in the economic vitality of the District of Columbia. Source: Belfield, Clive. Investing in the Economic Vitality of the District of Columbia through Pre-Kindergarten for All. Technical Report, September 2006. http://www.prekforalldc.org/documents/Pre-K_Full_Technical_Report.pdf

  7. Ensuring A Vibrant City Study Findings • ECE is a major industry, generating roughly $221 million in gross receipts annually. • There are 6,300 full-time-equivalent ECE jobs in the District, more than better known local industries such as public relations (5,883), public transit and ground transportation (5,455), and commercial construction (3,302). 

  8. Ensuring A Vibrant City Study Findings, cont’d • Local businesses experience a return on investment from providing ECE benefits for their employees (e.g. World Bank, PNC Bank, Arnold and Porter). • Nationwide small businesses create a more flexible work environment than large businesses, but large businesses are more likely to provide onsite child care and emergency back-up care. • Nationally, more than one-fifth of all unscheduled absences are due to family issues, which include early care and education breakdowns.

  9. Ensuring A Vibrant City Study Findings, cont’d • In a survey of Washington DC public school stakeholders, only one-third of school principals felt that students arrive at kindergarten with the learning skills they need. • A national survey found that in comparison to peers in lower-quality care settings, young children who attend higher quality and more stable early care and education programs had the following characteristics through elementary school: improved math and language ability; enhanced cognitive and social skills; and fewer behavioral issues.

  10. Ensuring A Vibrant City Study Recommendations • Implement Fenty e-Transition Work Group Recommendations calling for pre-k for all three and four year olds. • Collaborate with both the public and private sectors to maximize both investments in early care and education and the resulting benefits. • Increase efficiency and quality of services to children and families.

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