Kentucky must invest more in early childhood education for good of entire state

Recruiting good-paying jobs to Kentucky. Creating a 21st century economy with a well-trained, well-educated workforce. Investing in Kentuckians to ensure better health, safety and well-being without having to implement higher taxes.

Those are three goals upon which we all can agree. How do we move to a place where those goals are our new reality? Quality early childhood learning opportunities are key to that success. Children who receive quality early childhood education services before age five are more likely to succeed in grade school, high school and beyond. It is the foundation for future academic success.

Kentucky’s opportunity to achieve those goals is being threatened, however. Warning signs like those listed below are impossible to ignore:

▪ Kentucky dropped from 24th in the U.S. for preschool enrollment of 3- and 4-year-olds to 41st in a span of 10 years.

▪ Results from the latest NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) Report Card show that Kentucky’s educational progress not only has stalled -- it’s moving backward in the critical area of 4th grade reading, the time when students transition from learning to read to reading to learn.

▪ Almost 50 percent of our children enter kindergarten not ready to learn, which means they are behind before they set foot in school.

It’s no wonder that Kentuckians from all walks of life don’t feel optimistic about education in our state – 40 percent of respondents to a Prichard Committee poll say the quality of education across the state has gotten worse, and 38 percent think their own schools are worse.

Lack of early learning opportunities are both a short-term and long-term threat to our work force and economy. The impact is far-reaching beyond the four walls of a home or classroom. Consider just three statistics.

▪ Kentucky loses $939 million in economic activity because of parents kept out of the work force by child-care costs.

▪ 12.6 percent of Kentucky families with young children have difficulty holding down a job because of a lack of affordable child care.

▪ A 2018 business survey showed more than half of Kentucky employers struggle to find workers with the skills they need.

When quality child-care is either non-existent or unaffordable for working parents, Kentucky’s already low labor participation rate is hampered even further.

The solution is clear. We must renew our commitment and redouble our efforts, which means an increased investment in early learning opportunities phased-in over several state budgets:

▪ Increase the Child Care Assistance Program eligibility to 200% of federal poverty level. Increased reimbursement rates and incentives would be provided for serving infants, toddlers and young children in high-quality child-care centers and family care providers.

▪ Increase eligibility for preschool to 200 percent of federal poverty level, as well as per-child funding for public preschool. Creating a dedicated source of grant funding – separate from public preschool appropriation – will encourage partnerships between public preschool and private child care.

▪ Increase and sustain funding – regardless of fund source – to HANDS, Kentucky’s evidence-based, voluntary home visiting program, to support additional families with more than one child and until the age of 3. This critical program is proven to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes, promote healthy child development, build safe homes and increase families’ self-sufficiency.

▪ Fund all-day kindergarten in all districts across the Commonwealth to provide high- quality learning opportunities for young learners and to free up local funds to support local teaching and learning improvements.

Increased investment in early childhood learning opportunities will improve the quality of educators in these programs and increase access to child care by making it a more economically feasible business to run. Parents also would be better able to afford tuition, which can be almost as expensive as college.

Kentucky can’t have a solid foundation for academic success or a quality workforce if we don’t expand our investment in early childhood learning opportunities – from quality child-care to pre-school to all-day kindergarten.

We can’t afford to wait.

Although we appreciate Gov. Beshear’s budget as an important first step, it did not include line items for the child care assistance program or the preschool program. In addition, it actually cut $2 million of funding for the HANDS program.

Join us in working with the Kentucky General Assembly and Gov. Beshear to increase the Commonwealth’s investment in early childhood learning for our children. They deserve a strong start, which will lead to a brighter future for all of us.

You can learn more and get involved by visiting https://www.prichardcommittee.org/early-childhood-education/.

Harvie Wilkinson is a Prichard Committee board member, and Michael Rodenberg is CEO, Murakami Manufacturing USA, Inc.

This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 3:15 PM.