"A Path Forward" for PA Children Requires Continued Pre-K Investment

HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In every type of community across Pennsylvania a majority of children are missing out on the once-in-lifetime opportunity to develop and learn by participating in high-quality publicly funded pre-k program.  The need is not concentrated in one geographic area of Pennsylvania and the state lacks the infrastructure to meet the existing needs, according to a Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) report issued today. 

The report also introduced a new, first of its kind in PA, mapping tool that allows users to drill down to street level and search for their legislative and school districts to learn the number of local children served, unmet need, local providers, and the current capacity. 

"This up-close, detailed look at high-quality pre-k in Pennsylvania paints a picture of urgent need and tells the story of how rural, suburban and urban communities are all desperate for continued state investment," said Joan L. Benso, President and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, a founding partner in the Pre-K for PA campaign. 

According to the report, there are more than 112,900 eligible preschool children, or 64 percent statewide, who qualify for high-quality, publicly funded pre-k but remain unserved. The report also shows that in Pennsylvania need crosses geographic boundaries in all types of communities:

• 74 percent in suburban school districts;
• 68 percent of eligible children in rural districts; and,
• 51 percent of eligible children in urban districts don't have the opportunity to attend high-quality publicly funded pre-k.

The report details how the public-private delivery system in Pennsylvania has serious challenges, which must be addressed in order for the state to effectively increase capacity. Several factors, including state child care payment rates that have not been raised since 2007, are limiting PA providers' ability to achieve the quality standards necessary to participate in publicly funded pre-k.  High-quality child care centers provide a large percentage of publicly funded pre-k in the state, but their capacity to scale-up is limited by outdated reimbursement rates currently paying at only the 33rd percentile of what providers charge families who pay private fees.

"While state investments have continued to expand access to high-quality pre-k and important efforts have been made to improve early learning program quality the systemic infrastructure must improve before we can expect providers to grow," said Benso.

In its report, PPC lauded Pennsylvania's bi-partisan tradition of supporting investments in high-quality pre-k, but warned that without significant investment this year, the 64 percent of our preschoolers without access will be at greater risk of school failure in the years ahead.

"We urge Governor Wolf and the PA Legislature to make 2017 the year of the child," urged Benso.  "Each year we talk about how these kids don't get 'do-overs,' and then watch as their chance to attend high-quality pre-k passes them by.  This year we encourage an investment at a scale reflective of the challenges outlined in this report." 

The report set a Path Forward for Pennsylvania with the following recommendations:

• Expand state investments to reach more eligible children by investing $85 million in FY 2017-18 and growing the investment to an additional $340 million by FY 2020-21 to serve all eligible children; invest an additional $100 million by FY 2022-23 to begin to serve children living in families with incomes over 300 percent of federal poverty income guidelines (FPIG).
• Increase investments that will create an expanded pool of child care providers who achieve Keystone STAR 3 or 4 by improving state child care payment rates to reflect the true cost of providing high-quality child care.
• Take steps to ensure that more eligible pre-kindergarten providers such as local education agencies and private academic nursery schools participate in Pre-K Counts; especially in communities where there are few, if any, child care centers.
• Align and expand investments in Keystone STARS, guided by the STARS Revisioning process, to help providers achieve STAR 3 and 4.

The "Path Forward" report, PPC's online mapping tool and supporting research can be found at www.papartnerships.org/prekinpa or www.prekforpa.org. 

SOURCE Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children