L.A. Early Childhood Experts Say President's Pre-K Initiative 'Misses The Point'
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(Circle time at downtown charter school/Brianna Sacks, Neon Tommy)
The Child Development Consortium of Los Angeles has eight childcare centers throughout L.A. County, and of the 700 children the Consortium serves daily, 500 come from low-income families eligible for subsidized childcare.
With a waiting list of “hundreds and hundreds of families,” the Consortium was more than thrilled to hear Obama’s initiative to revamp early childhood education, said Executive Director Lisa Wilkin.
The initiative comes at a crucial time, especially for a struggling state like California, which accounts for about 10 percent of the nation’s preschoolers and has lost about $1 billion dollars in the past five years out of childhood development funding, shutting out more than 110,000 children from subsidized preschool.
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A recent report by the Los Angeles Children’s Data Network found that L.A. County lost about 15 percent of its childcare providers, 1,400 licensed homes, between 2008 and 2011. The group estimates that eliminated 11,200 care spaces.
Laura Escobedo, the child care planning coordinator for L.A. County’s Office of Childcare was also thrilled, but says the president’s initiative “misses the point” on early childhood education because it does not focus on the even younger children. She said Los Angeles is severely lacking in programs for children ages 0-3.
The Consortium receives limited funding from the State Department of Education for its subsidized programs, as well as tuition from middle to high-income families that do not qualify for government aid. But it is barely enough to provide high quality programs to the subsidized preschoolers they have, let alone the families waiting to get a seat in one of their classrooms.
The county serves 50 percent of low-income working families who need subsidized early childhood education, which means the other half are forced to pay for full day care, which costs $500-$1,000 on average depending on the community, Escobedo said.
However, almost 75 percent of L.A.’s children have a space in half-day care programs. But in a county where 1 in 3 working families live dangerously close to the poverty line, and most of these families only survive because both parents work, a half-day preschool program is not an option.
“Half-day programs are meant for families that have help or a spouse at home,” said Escobedo. “And working families find it very difficult to do a half-day program.”
What ends up happening is that children are placed in lower-quality programs since their parents cannot afford to pay full price for a better school. Or they are placed in the revolving hands of different babysitters, relatives, or siblings, and that can have a negative impact on a child’s learning development, said Escobedo.
Obama cited studies touting the many advantages of attending a rigorous pre-K program. The Rand Corporation supported his statements with a study listing the “wide range of benefits” that come from effective programs, particularly in language, social, emotional and cognitive areas.
In a city where 35.2 percent of its residents are foreign-born, English language and social skills are critical components to succeeding throughout the public school system and in the job market.
“I’ve gone to some programs where they sit kids down in front of a TV or just let them run around,” said Wilkin. “Kids need lesson planning, regular assessments and individualized curriculum to ensure long term benefits.”
At the Consortium, a parent pays $50 a week if they qualify for subsidized childcare and their early childhood education programs have been recognized by First 5 L.A.
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Hundreds of other high-quality programs like the Consortium do exist in Los Angeles, but many are found in higher income areas.
“There are some subsidized programs that are also high quality,” said Escobedo. “About 1 in 5 is a good program in Los Angeles.”
However, the state does not have the best record for creating high-quality early childhood education opportunities. Proposition 82, which was killed by voters in 2006, would have created a free, voluntary, half-day public preschool program by taxing Californians whose income exceeds $400,000.
A year later, a bill that would have provided preschool to every young Californian, at an estimated cost of about $3 billion dollars, died before ever reaching the governor.
Wilkin says her schools and staff feel the effect of these dead initiatives daily.
“We’ve been really struggling with the state,” she said. “We get a set rate per child, per day, and that has stayed the same since 2007 with no adjustments for cost of living or inflation.”
Her teachers have not received raises on their $10-15 an hour salary since 2007, and that has become the norm for many organizations.
The lack of legislation for early childhood also means high-quality programs have to stretch dollars to incredible lengths.
“We get $34.38 per child for a full day,” said Wilkin. “That’s for a preschool aged child who is with us for 6.5-10.5 hours a day.”
So the $34 and chump change has to buy multiple meals, supplies, and pay teacher salaries.
Her half-day preschoolers get $21.
(Preschoolers line up for school/Brianna Sacks, Neon Tommy)
Children also attend unlicensed home childcare illegally if their families were not given government help, which results in disrupted learning and a sub-par educational experience. Unlicensed programs also tend to become daycares and lose the rigorous educational aspect crucial for developing children.
“There are more of these programs in Los Angeles than we like to think about,” said Escobedo. “Probably a couple hundred but we just don’t know.”
So the 11,200 children in Los Angeles who lost the opportunity to attend a high quality, government funded preschool end up missing out on critical educational years that could dramatically set them back once they enter the public school system.
In her 25 years of experience working in early childhood education, Wilkin says the benefits of these programs are tremendous.
“They teach kids how to develop self-control, abstract thinking, forward thinking, language skills,” said Wilkin. “The list goes on. And we don’t have enough money and slots for the kids who need these skills the most. Low income families get the most benefit from these programs because they most likely are not getting them at home.”
Many of her parents don’t speak English, or are learning the language themselves, so that small children in these families may not be read to the way a middle-income child is read to.
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“Many of these parents don’t know how to read, or read English, or don’t have money to buy books,” said Wilkin. “Or they don’t understand the process to go to a public library. Giving those children access to high quality education can change their lives.”
Escobedo expressed similar sentiments. After working for the L.A. Office of Child Care for 12 years, she shared stories of children who were only in partial day or lower quality programs.
“We had a little boy come in, he was 4 years old and functioning at the level of an 18-month-old,” said Escobedo. “He had no language, no self-control, no social skills. He was not exposed to a lot in his home so his normal development was impaired.”
After nine months in a high-quality L.A. preschool, the child had gained two years of development. It may sound impressive, but unfortunately it is not enough.
“He is still going into kindergarten with the learning and social skills of a 3-year-old, and this happens so often,” said Escobedo. “We need more high quality infant and toddler care in L.A. If I had one wish, I would quadruple it.”
Reach Editor At Large Brianna Sacks here.
