As a group of 4-year-old boys worked to build towering block castles in a colorful Montgomery County Public Schools preschool classroom, Head Start teacher Molly Scharf reminded them of the importance of building a strong foundation. I reminded them of that.
The boys built the tower little by little with their little hands and laid the foundations of the castle. And so it was for my future education.
Following research showing that children who attend pre-kindergarten have better outcomes later in life, Maryland's groundbreaking education plan, Maryland's Blueprint for the Future, will enroll all 3- and 4-year-olds in the state. The aim is to make pre-kindergarten more widely available to older children. .
Scharf, who has worked in early childhood education for 30 years, said it was a great idea.
“[Pre-K] “It's not just about learning the letters of the alphabet and counting to 10, it's also about learning how to get along with your friends,” she said.
But the state's plan to make preschool free and universally available to low- and moderate-income families faces some serious challenges. The Blueprint relies on a combination of private providers and public schools to expand preschool, but many school districts struggle to hire enough private providers. On top of that, some public schools that are supposed to accept preschoolers don't have the space.
State educators are calling the Blueprint Preschool Plan a “mixed delivery system” that aims to expand preschool plans without making them a monopoly for public schools.
“In theory, this is a great model,” said Rachel Heise, executive director of the Accountability and Enforcement Commission, the state agency created to oversee the blueprint. “In reality, there are many challenges.”
vast expansion
According to the state, 30,718 children are enrolled in pre-K in Maryland during the 2022-23 school year, and that number is expected to grow as the 10-year blueprint is implemented.
The Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, which developed the early childhood education initiatives included in the Blueprint, says that the changes it has proposed will result in 80% of children being served if the plan is fully implemented. It was assumed that this meant that the child would become a preschooler. That's a lofty goal considering half of Maryland's school districts had preschool enrollment rates for 4-year-olds below 50% in 2022-23, according to state statistics.
Costs also increase with preschool population. Blueprint-related early childhood programs cost the state $445 million in fiscal year 2023 alone, according to the state Legislature. Although future cost increases will largely depend on enrollment, the department projects that funding for preschool programs will increase by 15.7% between fiscal year 2024 and 2025.
Research shows it can be a good investment. William T. Gormley, co-director of the Child Research Center at Georgetown University, and his colleagues tracked the performance of young people in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over 20 years after they graduated from kindergarten. Researchers found that 44% of children who attended kindergarten went on to college, while only one-third of children who did not attend kindergarten went on to higher education.
“In this respect, early childhood education is indeed the gift that keeps on giving,” Gormley and his colleagues wrote in a 2023 paper.
That's why Pillar 1 of the blueprint, Early Childhood Education, calls for making government-funded preschool available to all low-income 4-year-olds by fiscal year 2025-26. All 3- and 4-year-olds from families earning up to 300% of the federal poverty level will receive free preschool. Households with incomes between 300% and 600% of the federal poverty level would pay for preschool on a sliding scale, while higher-income families would pay the full amount.
Rather than placing all preschool students in traditional public school classrooms, the plan relies on the participation of public and private child care providers. Preschool classrooms are located in public schools or other child care facilities.
The goal is to make childcare more accessible to families with limited incomes, said Molly McGriff, senior director of United for Childcare, an initiative of the United Way of Central Maryland. This means that a variety of pre-school options will be created. Care available to families with limited income.
“That variety benefits families. Families can choose from a variety of settings that may look a little different, may be closer to home, or may better meet their needs. “Because you can,” she says.
system conflict
But so far, mixed delivery plans have not lived up to expectations.
School districts expected to have 30% of their preschool slots filled by private providers in the 2022-23 school year, according to Brianna January, associate policy director for the Maryland Association of Universities, but most school systems The requirements were not met. county.
and requested a waiver because all but one local school district (Montgomery County Public Schools) are unable to meet the requirement to reserve 35% of private sector preschool seats for the 2023-24 school year. said Mr. Hise, the accountability officer. and Implementation Committee.
With districts expected to fill half of their preschool slots through private providers by the 2026-27 school year, districts are feeling increased pressure to contract with companies to provide those services.
“It's actually turning out to be a little more difficult than a lot of people expected,” January said.
The authors of the blueprint expected that private child care providers would be interested in joining the preschool industry, but child care providers were not as enthusiastic as expected, January explained. .
One issue is money.
“We are aware of the following reimbursement rates: [private] The number of providers is not high enough to provide an incentive to offer slots to these 3-year-olds,” said Rep. Courtney Watson, D-Howard. “It’s a huge issue across the state.”
Additionally, child care providers must overcome many barriers to actually qualify to provide preschool care.
For example, starting in the 2025-26 school year, preschool teaching assistants will be required to earn either an associate's degree or a Child Development Associate certificate. Preschool teachers are required to have a bachelor's degree and hold an early childhood education teaching certification or be enrolled in a certification program.
Christina Peusch, executive director of the Maryland Child Care Association, said the problem is that some child care providers won't be able to attend school and remain in business at the same time.
“It's set up to fail,” Peusch said. “That's not fair.”
Another potential barrier is that private providers must comply with EXCELS, Maryland's state quality evaluation and improvement system for child care facilities. Participating child care programs are awarded bonuses ranging from $150 to $13,500 on a 1 to 5 rating scale based on program type, quality rating, and capacity.
There are no private providers in St. Mary's County rated EXCELS 5, the highest possible rating, says the Early Childhood Program at Parents Place, Maryland, which connects parents of children with disabilities with their medical needs. said Kristen Paul, director of resource.
“Right now, we don’t have enough pre-K slots,” Paul said. “We have a gap.”
Out of space?
Some education experts are concerned that in addition to struggling to find private providers, some school buildings do not have enough physical space to accommodate preschool classrooms. .
“We would love to have preschoolers in our school,” said Jamie Miller, principal of Broadneck Elementary School in Anne Arundel County. “But our school building is very old and there is no place for our children. … We don't have space right now because every classroom is full and at capacity.”
Shamoyah Gardiner, executive director of Maryland Strong Schools, a group formed to advocate for the passage of the blueprint, said the lack of space is concerning.
For Maryland public schools to offer preschool education, the physical space within the building must meet standards set by the state's Interagency Commission on School Construction. But Gardiner pointed out that the commission's requirements were not consistent with the blueprint it was created with.
Lynn Harris, a member of the Montgomery County Board of Education, said the board uses a “blunt instrument” to accurately determine state-funded school construction projects by measuring square footage per student. It is said that it is using. But that bluntness doesn't take into account that preschool classrooms have different requirements, such as bathrooms, Harris said.
“In order for them to build a facility to house a pre-K program as mandated in the blueprint, [school construction commission] to relax? ” she said.
Some private providers also need more space, and the state has grant programs to help them expand.
“This grant is highly competitive,” said Ruby Daniels, president of the Maryland Family Child Care Association. “When you apply, you actually [local education agencies], a public school. You're in full competition with Head Start, you're in full competition with childcare centers. ”
In a letter sent to state leaders in November, the Maryland Association of Counties called for increased state funding for building preschool facilities and requirements for more private health care providers to participate in the program. He urged lawmakers to ease the situation.
Watson, a Democratic state representative from Howard County, said Congress wants to fix some of the flaws in the blueprint this session to ensure Maryland fulfills its promise to expand and improve early childhood education. Ta.
January emphasized that cooperating county leaders are committed to implementing the blueprint and working with state leaders to make pre-K expansion a success.
“We have to work together. We have to get it right,” January said. “County government is really trying to be a good partner and they want to make the blueprint work. They want to see it succeed.”
This article is part of the Local News Network of the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism's “Behind the Blueprint” project.
