Lynn Darling, MSU Early Childhood Institute – Acknowledges Concern “a lot of privately-owned child care centers will go out of business.”

Q&A with Lynn Darling- Early Childhood Institute, MSU

The Hechinger Report is taking an extended look at why the children of Mississippi rank near the bottom of the nation in academic achievement.  The Hechinger Report spoke with Lynn Darling, director of the Early Childhood Institute.

July 27, 2012

What needs to change before we see a statewide pre-k system in Mississippi?

“When we were working on the Race to the Top Early Learning grant, we started that work and the ball got rolling. But without the funding, it’s incredibly difficult to take the next step. We attempted to move child licensure from the Department of Health to the Department of Human Services, which would have been one step in addressing the system change, and it was defeated in the legislature. So we just have a lot of work to do in creating a unified system with all players at the table in agreement about what direction we’re headed.”

How do you invest in these players and stakeholders?

“There’s a concern that if we fund pre-k, then a lot of privately-owned child care centers will go out of business.”

“It’s expensive to run infant and toddler classrooms—you need a 3- and 4-year-old classroom to pay the bills—so it would be difficult for a private child care center to remain in business just serving infants and toddlers. That’s a concern.”  (click)

“But at the same time, we want every child to get a high-quality early learning experience, and we want those years in 3- and 4-year-old classes to be high-quality experiences, not just child care.”

 In his “State of the State” speech in January, Governor Phil Bryant said that in the next year, the state will gather information from several programs the Institute is involved with, such as Excel by 5, the Quality Rating System, and Mississippi Building Blocks, to determine best practices for early childhood learning. What are some other next steps?

“We need to follow Maryland’s model, develop four or five goals for early childhood education and then start mapping out ways to make that happen. There are a lot of opportunities for leaders across the state to come together but I feel we’re doing a lot of talking and not making forward progress.”

UPDATE I:

Now Posted on:

(Click)

UPDATE II:

The Rest of the Story!  TIME MAGAZINE

Mississippi Learning: Why the State’s Students Start Behind — and Stay Behind

“The issue remains tricky for the public, though. A 2010 survey by The Center for Education Innovation found that while 71 percent of Mississippi’s registered voters wanted to improve early learning opportunities, only 31 percent thought the state government should foot the bill.”

“But the state’s fragmented network of early childhood providers — which includes informal daycare, licensed facilities, church-based programs and Head Start — do not always communicate with the public school system. Many of the programs have no uniform quality standards. In addition, to teach pre-k in Mississippi, teachers need only be 18 and possess a high school diploma or its equivalent.”

“In Mississippi, those who argue against state-funded pre-k say there’s no evidence it would change the state’s dismal education performance. “Appropriating more money in general has not proven to make any change at all in outcomes,” says Forest Thigpen, president of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, a right-leaning independent think tank based in Jackson. Thigpen says it’s up to churches and families to do more to get children ready for school; he would rather see state money spent on improving the current system.”