Pleas Continue for Increased Phase I Funding of “Flawed” Pre-K Collaborative Plan!
Posted: March 25, 2015 Filed under: Administration for Children and Families, Allies for Quality Care, Business Ethics, Child Care Development Fund, Child Care Mississippi, DECCD-MDHS, Early Childhood Education Mississippi, Head Start, Hechinger Foundation, Mississippi First, Mississippi Legislature, Mississippi State Board of Education, MS Department of Education, School Readiness Mississippi, SECAC Mississippi, Uncategorized | Tags: Administration for Children and Families, Allies for Quality Care, child care Mississippi, DECCD-MDHS, Early Childhood Education Mississippi, Kellogg Foundation, Mississippi child care, Mississippi early childhood education, Mississippi State Board of Education, Mississippi State Early Childhood Institute, SECAC Mississippi, The Mississippi Center for Education Innovation 1 Comment
Update:
There was no increased funding for the Early Learning Pre-K Collaborative.
This provides opportunity to address flaws in the process of collaboration as well as the economic impact (to child care) of braided Head Start/Child Care Development Fund money used to finance a single child enrolled in Early Head Start Programs which are moving into full day/full year operations.
Remember to thank legislators for this needed period of Program redress.
Pleas Continue for Increased Phase I Funding of “Flawed” Pre-K Collaborative Plan!
Monday, March 23, 2015, Bobby Harrison of the Daily Journal Jackson Bureau reported that in the budget bill for education that legislators sent to Gov. Phil Bryant last week, funding for the collaborative is not increased, remaining at $3 million.
He stated, however, various sources have said recently that additional funds for the pre-K collaborative could be placed in other budgets during the final days of the 2015 session.
“The budget is not done by any means,” said House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton. “The budget decisions are ongoing.” (Read “Plans to raise pre-K funding stalled.”)
On December 17, 2014 10:19 AM, the Hechinger Report (Columbia University) published the following: “Why Did Mississippi Lose out on Preschool Funding — Again?” (To read in full, click on this link.)
“Mississippi’s flawed application and underdeveloped plans to provide preschool for all children is partly to blame for why the state’s youngest learners were bypassed once again for federal funds that could have provided a boost to early education, a review found.
Last week, Mississippi was passed over for a preschool grant that would have tripled the number of children enrolled in early education classes in four years, increased the number of highly qualified preschool teachers and boosted salaries, according to the state’s application.
The state scored seventh out of nine applicants for a specific preschool development grant, and is one of the only states in the South to lose out.
Officials who reviewed Mississippi’s application noted many deficiencies, including vague statements and an overall lack of evidence and details. “If Mississippi wants federal funds for preschool, it must first develop the “necessary infrastructure and capacity for scaling up a sustainable preK program.”
Danny Spreitler, a member of the state’s Board of Education and executive director of a foundation focused on early childhood, said that before the state applies for more grants, it needs to improve collaboration between state agencies and preschool programs.
“I honestly don’t think this is the time for us to be out here trying to figure out money, until we get our ducks in a row,” he said. We need to take this next year, 2015, and rather than look at massive expansion, we’ve got to get more reliable data on the programs that are working and sit down … look at what’s working,” and then “figure out how to take it statewide.”
During the development of Mississippi’s “flawed application”, Mr. Spreitler said he feared the plan was written to squeeze out private child care centers in favor of Head Start and school districts. (Click here.)
The 2012 Harvard Law School Legislative Recommendations for Expanding Early Childhood Education in Mississippi affirmed Mississippi voters support a pre-k program so long as it sets high standards, includes private providers and preserves local control.
Delta Licensed Providers 
[…] however, the response came back from Rachel Cantor of Mississippi First. We went no further. (Click here to read of our experiences with Rachel Cantor – the public school PreK advocate.) We believed few, if any child care providers would be receiving funding from her and realized […]