This past week the House Republicans released an early childhood proposal that focuses on 1) Parent Choice, 2) Local Priorities and 3) Quality Care. In addition, this proposal leverages the programs and investments the State already has in place.
In researching what steps would be beneficial to help more children be better prepared to enter school, it was surprising to find the state already spends over $200 million of state and federal dollars on twenty-two existing early childhood programs scattered across three government agencies. This is disheartening because legislation was passed in 1998 asking these programs to work together to prevent overlapping of services.
The Iowa Community Empowerment legislation passed in 1998 specifically asked that the State’s early childhood services be better coordinated. The empowerment legislation consequently caused 58 empowerment areas representing all 99 counties to be formed. Local empowerment boards are free to use the funds (a total of $23 million in state and federal funds last year) in whatever manner makes sense in their communities to help families nurture and prepare children 0-5 years of age to be successful when starting school.
The Republican plan will mandate the twenty-two early childhood programs to physically co-locate and fall under the authority of the State Community Empowerment Board. A new administrator position who reports to the State Empowerment Board is charged with administering and streamlining these programs.
The proposal also adds an additional $7 million for funding to the local community empowerment areas, with $4 million of that dedicated to helping low income families enroll their children in a preschool of their choice. The remaining $3 million will be used by the local empowerment boards to address other needs in their respective communities.
Over the years many childcare providers have shared with me that they are reluctant to accept low-income children because the government does not fully reimburse them for the cost of the child’s tuition. The proposal would increase child care eligibility by further relaxing the poverty level requirements and by providing another $2.7 million in funding to help remedy this situation.
Local empowerment areas will also be asked to work with the area education agencies and community colleges to provide professional development for childcare and pre-school providers. Additionally, a collaborative effort between the Iowa Community Empowerment Board and ISU Extension will provide hands-on assistance to providers. An additional $1 million will be provided for each of these proposals.
Another problem faced by many working parents face is finding quality childcare in their community. The Republican proposal will create a web-based single point for easy access to provider information for health care, parent education programs, child care and preschools in each of the empowerment areas.
The House Republican proposal totals an additional $12 million to be used with the existing funding of these programs. This is in contrast to the $39 million (increasing to $250 million per year over the next few years) the Governor has proposed. Why does the Governor’s proposal require more money? While his proposal also involves the empowerment areas, his proposal expands the “Shared Vision” model for our preschools. To quality as a Shared Vision preschool, it must:
1. Acquire national accreditation within three years,
2. Have all lead teachers licensed by the Board of Education Examiners with an endorsement in early childhood education;
3. Offer a minimum of 4 1/2 hours of class per day;
4. Provide before and after school care;
5. Provide service to all 3 and 4 year olds in the community, including special education, low or high income students;
6. Demonstrate multicultural, gender fair preschool services;
7. Provide ongoing staff development.
In addition, the Governor’s proposal requests the Iowa Department of Education to develop statewide, pre-school learning standards and then train pre-school instructors on these standards.
The Governor’s proposal does not allow state or federal dollars to be used to toward tuition for an existing private pre-school if it does not meet the “shared vision” criteria above. The Governor’s ultimate goal is to have 90 percent of preschool age children in a Shared Vision pre-school.
I believe parents know what is best for their children and should be allowed to pick whatever quality pre-school and child care that best fits their needs. We have many excellent private child care facilities and pre-schools in our State that do not meet “shared vision” criteria. It is wrong to pass public policy that will effectively force 90 percent of Iowa’s preschoolers into government-run institutions. I will vigorously oppose the Governor’s proposed legislation in the weeks to come.
E-mail: carmine.boal@legis.state.ia.us
Home Address: 3301 SW Timber Green Road, Ankeny
Home Phone: 964-3335 · Capitol Phone: 281-3238
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