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In quotes: a virtual town hall meeting with EEC Commissioner Samantha Aigner-Treworgy

Posted in COVID-19, Dept. of Early Education and Care, Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education, Early educators, Family child care, Federal, Funding on April 10, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Samantha Aigner-Treworgy

 

On Wednesday,Samantha Aigner-Treworgy, commissioner of the Department of Early Education and Care, spoke at a virtual town hall meeting. Here are some excerpts of what she said. A recording of the meeting is posted here.

 

“For the duration of the closure, we know that you are working to try to support your staff, your families, and yourselves, and sustain that work. And we are doing as much as we can to help with whatever is in our power to make sure that you have the resources you need to be able to endure this difficult and challenging time.”

“I want to assure you that all of the federal funding that is available to small businesses is available to for-profit, nonprofit, and family child care providers.”

“We also know that in addition to being a valuable educational resource for families and children, child care in this moment is also a critical resource for the economy, even the baseline economy that we have running right now.”

“We are building on the wonderful relationship that DESE [the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] has with WGBH to try to think about what kind of resources might be available to families.”

“The commitment I can make to you now is when the governor decides to reopen schools and child care, we will be thoughtful and supportive.”

 

Register here for another virtual town hall meeting with the commissioner that will be held on Thursday, April 16, 2020, at 3 p.m.

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Updates and updated resources from Strategies for Children

Posted in Child care, COVID-19, Federal, Funding, Head Start, NAEYC, National, Pre-kindergarten, Strategies for Children on April 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

 

Here at Strategies for Children, we have been inspired by the early education and care community’s collaborative spirt.

We are in this together.

People at the local, state and national level are all fighting for children, families, educators, providers and the early education and care system.

To contribute to this effort we have created a new page on our website that we will update frequently with information and resources.

We also want to update you on what has been happening so far:

On Friday, March 27th, 2020, the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Act was signed into law. This legislation will provide critical help for the early childhood education sector, including these highlights reported by NAEYC: (more…)

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Massachusetts leaders call for a child care bailout

Posted in Business and economy, Child care, COVID-19, Early educators, Family child care, Federal, MA governor, Pre-kindergarten on March 26, 2020| 1 Comment »

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

 

As the country struggles to cope with the coronavirus, a group of Massachusetts elected officials and their spouses have written a powerful Boston Globe op-ed that calls on Congress to support the child care industry with a bailout.

“COVID-19 has (rightfully) forced the closure of child care centers across Massachusetts. In doing so, it has forced a profound reckoning about the state of the American child care system,” the op-ed says.

The closures, as we’ve blogged, have sown fears and doubts and hard questions that do not yet have answers. And on Wednesday, Governor Baker extended school and non-emergency child care closures to May 4, 2020.

However, the op-ed says:

“One thing is clear: We can no longer afford to approach child care as an economic accessory. We must approach it as the oxygen on which every facet of our recovery will depend.”

The op-ed’s authors are Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and her husband Bruce Mann, a Harvard Law School professor; Representative Joe Kennedy III and his wife Lauren Birchfield Kennedy, the co-founder of Neighborhood Villages; Representative Katherine Clark; and Representative Ayanna Pressley and her husband Conan Harris, the principal of Conan Harris & Associates LLC Consultant Firm.

Exploring the bigger picture, the op-ed adds: (more…)

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A message from Amy O’Leary and Titus DosRemedios

Posted in Child care, COVID-19, Family child care, Family engagement, Federal, Health, MA governor, NAEYC, National, Pre-kindergarten on March 19, 2020| 1 Comment »

 

Friends and colleagues,

We hope you are all staying healthy at this time of crisis.

Yesterday, Governor Charlie Baker announced that child care programs in Massachusetts will close on Monday, March 23, 2020.

However, Exempt Emergency Child Care Programs will be available regionally to provide care for emergency workers and others. Check the Department of Early Education and Care’s website for guidance documents.

The governor also said that, “Child care providers would continue to receive child care subsidy payments from the state in order to ensure that the programs will be able to reopen once the crisis is over.”

Strategies for Children has been working with the early education and care community to collect and share programs’ urgent needs and to consider advocacy strategies for supporting early education and care providers right now — with an eye on the potential long-term effects of the coronavirus.

If you are an early educator or program director please complete this online form to let us know your short- and long-term needs. If you would like more information, reply to this email or contact Amy O’Leary at aoleary@strategiesforchildren.org.

Here are additional links and resources: (more…)

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Governor Charlie Baker’s FY’21 budget proposal

Posted in Child care, Early educators, Federal, MA governor, MA state budget on January 23, 2020| 2 Comments »

 

Yesterday, Governor Charlie Baker released his state budget proposal for fiscal year 2021 (FY’21).

His proposal increases investments in early education and care, which would make FY’21 the eighth consecutive year of increased investments.

Specifically, the governor’s proposal increases spending in areas including child care access (line items 3000-3060 and 3000-4060); rate increases for early educator salaries (3000-1042); and the new Sliding Fee Scale Reserve to help reduce parent fees for subsidized child care (3000-1043).

MassLive.com reports that the budget includes “a proposed $92.3 million funding boost for early childcare providers and childcare voucher programs.

“Nearly half of the funding increase would go toward childcare vouchers set aside for the Department of Children and Families and subsidized vouchers for families receiving assistance from the Department of Transitional Assistance, according to the Department of Early Education and Care.”

Recent state budget increases are being supported in part by historic federal budget increases for the Child Care and Development Block Grant.

Visit our website for a full listing of early education and care line items in the state budget. And visit Mass.gov for more details on the governor’s proposal.

And please join Strategies for Children for an Advocacy 101 webinar on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, where we will discuss Governor Baker’s budget proposal and prepare for Advocacy Day at the State House on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Click here to register for Advocacy 101. 

For more information contact Titus DosRemedios at tdosremedios@strategiesforchildren.org or (617) 330-7387.

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Massachusetts’ PEG grant programs have improved outcomes for children

Posted in Federal, Funding, MA governor, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, Professional development & preparation, Research, Strategies for Children on January 21, 2020| 2 Comments »

 

Massachusetts has received great news.

The state’s federal Preschool Expansion Grant (PEG) program “had a powerful impact on children’s early academic skills. The program proved effective for all children on average,” Yahoo Finance reports.

The analysis of the PEG grant was conducted by Abt Associates.

Among Abt’s findings, according to a press release:

“PEG improved children’s readiness for kindergarten by providing:

• a sizable positive impact on children’s early literacy and math skills, and

• a smaller positive impact on vocabulary skills.”

“PEG had an even bigger impact on children from homes where English was not the primary language and for children with no prior formal child care experience,” Education Dive adds. (more…)

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Policy updates from the states

Posted in Federal, National, Pre-kindergarten, Research on November 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »

 

The Ounce has released its 2019 State Policy Update Report.

It’s a “snapshot of states’ early childhood education policy priorities and budgetary changes during the 2019 legislative sessions.”

“We are excited to share highlights from each state that illustrate the persistent work of early childhood advocates, program providers, public officials ,and many other stakeholders who continue to move the field forward in creating environments in which young children and families can thrive,” a report overview says.

This year’s survey digs deep, asking survey respondents to:

• categorize 2019’s legislative, administrative and budgetary changes

• describe any work they did to advance federal policy, and

• identify and share stories about elected officials who are “early childhood champions”

The report also looks at early intervention programs; families’ mental health; workforce and professional development efforts; as well as revenue, governance, and data. (more…)

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Financing preschool: a webinar

Posted in Boston, Federal, Funding, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, Strategies for Children on November 5, 2019| 1 Comment »

 

Local communities are ready for preschool expansion, but often lack the funds to get started. Absent a clear federal or state path for preschool expansion, innovative local leaders are forging ahead using a variety of collaborative approaches.

Last week, Strategies for Children hosted a webinar on this topic: “Local Preschool Financing Strategies in Massachusetts.” Three communities presented their work, and 15 other communities participated in the webinar.

Here’s a recap of the event and the topics we discussed.

We heard from Holyoke, Springfield, and Boston, all communities that are leading the way on financing more preschool spots for children through a mixed-delivery system.

Presentations were made by: (more…)

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In quotes: cities are filling the pre-K funding gap

Posted in Federal, Funding, National, Pre-kindergarten on September 27, 2019| Leave a Comment »

“In June, the city of Memphis, Tennessee, lost funding for 1,000 pre-K slots due to an expiring federal grant.”

“Instead of passively accepting the void in federal leadership, cities such as Memphis are finding innovative ways to bring together the public, private and nonprofit sectors to finance and expand needed services for children, and increasing pressure on local officials to reinvest in child services.”

“Pittsburgh provides a good example of a community that successfully implemented an innovative method to fund youth programming. In 2008, the One Hill Coalition, a diverse group of 100 community groups in the city, brokered a collective-bargaining agreement with the developers of the new Pittsburgh Penguins arena. The agreement created a youth center and invested $8.3 million in neighborhood improvements, much of which went toward youth development programs.

“Similarly, the mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, set an example by advocating for children and dedicating tax revenue from business tax breaks set to expire. These funds are going directly to pre-K programming, helping to cover the loss of funding for 1,000 seats due to declining federal investment. In total, the revenues will bring the city an estimated $6 million annually by 2022.”

— “Opinion: Cities find new ways to fill pre-K funding holes left by the federal government,” by Jennifer Davis and Elizabeth Gaines, The Hechinger Report, September 24, 2019

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In quotes: the positive impact of federal PEG grants

Posted in Federal, Pre-kindergarten, Quotes, Research, Strategies for Children on September 13, 2019| 1 Comment »

“ ‘It was clear that the PEG program did what it was designed to do — support 48 of the highest quality preschool classrooms in the state,’ said Amy O’Leary, director of the Early Education for All Campaign for Strategies for Children.

“The grant supported educator compensation and professional development, comprehensive services and family engagement, and full-day/full-year programming for children from very low-income families, O’Leary said.

“ ‘We are all familiar with national research on the benefits of high-quality early education and only a handful of local evaluations have been conducted in this state,’ O’Leary said. ‘The PEG evaluation is the most comprehensive and most promising. It sheds light on how to continue to build high-quality preschool programming here in Massachusetts.’ ”

 

— “Study finds success in Springfield preschool program,” by Carolyn Robbins, MassLive.com, August 15, 2019

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