Rachel Canter – Fast and Loose with the Facts?

Rachel Canter is the Executive Director of Mississippi First, a 501c3 public policy non-profit specializing in improving public education in Mississippi. Mississippi First is involved in implementing Mississippi’s charter school and Pre-K policies, informing the public about Common Core State Standards, and implementing evidence-based sex education.

Pre-K Report Book: State of Public PreK in Mississippi

February 23, 2015

Mississippi First (MSF) has released a report, The State of Public Pre-K in Mississippi, as a follow-up to its Title I Pre-K Preliminary Report released in 2012.

MSF states the report represents a clear picture of the number, types, and characteristics of pre-K providers in each Mississippi community.

That is only half-true.

The State of Public Pre-K in Mississippi lists all Title I and Head Start Pre-K Programs in Mississippi public school districts.

It DOES NOT, however, provide any detail regarding Pre-K classes serving children receiving child care assistance through the Child Care Development Fund who attend level 3, 4 or 5 centers.

It provides NO information regarding children in public opportunities for Pre-K through the equally funded Building Blocks pre-K classrooms.

It includes NO information from the Early Years Network on qualified early learning professionals or curriculum used in child care classrooms, and NO information from the Mississippi Department of Health or DECCD regarding the number of children age four being served in child care even though such information and data should be readily available upon request.

Ms. Cantor knows exactly what public opportunity data she chose to include in her Pre-K Report Book and more importantly, she knows the public opportunity data she chose not to include.

On page 9, she states:

3. Lack of information about childcare

“The greatest limitation of this report is its lack of information about childcare and other private preK efforts. We estimated in 2011 that licensed childcare held seats for 36.5% of four-year-olds, making any report about preK incomplete…”

Without all the data, the manipulated but erroneous conclusion to be drawn…with great fanfare… is “Over half the state lacked public pre-K access in 2012!”

That is the platform she has built to demonstrate the need for Phase II funding of a Mississippi First guided Pre-K expansion plan that DID NOT PASS MUSTER with national experts who examined her work.

On October 10, 2014, Mississippi submitted an application, prepared by MDE and Mississippi First, competing for the award of a Preschool Development Grant.

On December 10, 2014, the Associated Press reported Mississippi had missed out on its share of $250 million in federal money to expand its fledgling prekindergarten program.

It was soon revealed that one U.S. Department of Education Grant Reviewer critiqued the plan saying, ‘There are no details about how this proposal would coordinate with the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990.’

In response, State Board of Education member Danny Spreitler of Amory, who runs a foundation active in expanding and improving child care in Monroe County, said Mississippi needs to improve coordination among the groups that fund and regulate child care.

However, as evidenced by the nature of The State of Public Pre-K in Mississippi released by Mississippi First ten weeks later, Ms. Canter is either not listening or is incapable of leading the needed changes necessary to minimize attitudinal Pre-K expansion obstacles.

The PEW Center on the States has advised at a minimum, collaborations involve school districts sub-contracting with qualified private providers to deliver a Pre-K program.

Click here to review the MSF Pre-K Report and verify child care industry data exclusion.

Click here to read “Mississippi misses out on federal preschool money – again”.

Early Learning Collaborative Act

February 27, 2015

The language of the Mississippi Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013 is linked on Ms. Canter’s Mississippi First website.

She speaks of the legislation often.

Lines 228 through 233 of the Legislation read as follows:

“The department shall make an annual report to the Legislature and the Governor regarding the effectiveness of the program. The PEER Committee shall review those reports and other program data and submit an independent evaluation of program operation and effectiveness to the Legislature and the Governor on or before October 1 of the calendar year before the beginning of the next phased-in period of funding.”

PEER Committee Reports Released in Calendar Year 2014, demonstrate that an independent evaluation of Collaborative Program operation and effectiveness has NOT BEEN COMPLETED.

Do you suppose Ms. Canter has simply overlooked this lawful pre-requisite for Phase II funding or does her demand for public accountability of taxpayer dollars apply only to small business child care providers serving low-income children – a double standard?

Click here to read lines 228 through 233 of the Mississippi Early Learning Collaborative Act.

Click here to read all 2014 PEER Committee Reports.

The Gallo Show  (Supertalk Mississippi)        

February 18, 2015

In response to controversy resulting in the dismissal of a young lady hired by Mississippi First to provide training to teachers responsible for sex education in middle schools, Rachel Canter sent an Email to Paul Gallo of Supertalk Mississippi in which she not only disassociated herself and her organization from the person in question, she actually attempted to minimize any concern for MSF’s involvement in such debacle by stating:

“Furthermore, Mississippi First has no current contracts with the Mississippi Department of Education nor have we ever for sex education.”

That is true.

Mississippi First has no current contracts with the Mississippi Department of Education.

Mississippi First contracts for training and technical assistance in sex education are with the Mississippi Department of Health!

I do not make judgment of the highly qualified young lady hired and quickly fired (I do not know what the MSF personnel policies for social media are) – my point is this… any sex education consultant Ms. Canter hires (even if it be a Sunday School teacher) will guide sex education practices and policies for Mississippi teens.

The name of the actual agency through which Mississippi First works will not change its consultant’s reach into sixth, seventh and eighth grade classrooms!

Such manipulation of the facts – what was voluntarily disclosed by MSF to guide Mr. Gallo’s discussion prior to his radio show, and what was not (apparently) disclosed (based on the questions he raised during his show) has led some of that broad listening audience to now question more than just the scruples of the sex education consultant suddenly let go at Mississippi First.

Click/Watch The Gallo Show below. Begin your review at mark 96 minutes (96:00).

http://www.supertalk.fm/archives/audio-archives/gallo-archives/?recording_id=12639

See below: Sex Education Contract between Mississippi First and the Mississippi Department of Health.

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