EXCERPT FROM: Tallahassee.com
BY Tamaryn Waters
Early learning coalitions statewide are breathing a sigh of relief after successfully fighting against state budget cuts in school-readiness programs.
Under both House and Senate budget proposals, the coalitions will get the same money for school-readiness efforts as they did last year. For the Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend, the state is still going to give $19 million for school-readiness efforts.
“At least we will be able to head into the year with even funding,” said Chris Duggan, the coalition’s CEO. “If we make it through session with that funding level, then we have done very well for our school-readiness children.”
But funding for the state’s Voluntary Pre-kindergarten program could still be cut, which could have a negative impact on readiness programs. Decisions about funding the programs are still fluid.
A House committee had proposed cutting $15.8 million from school-readiness budgets, which coalition officials said could have resulted in a loss of more than $19 million in federal money and more than 8,400 children on a waiting list for child care statewide.
A Senate committee had proposed cutting $3.1 million, which could have led to a loss of $800,000 in federal money.
The money the coalitions gets for school readiness is geared toward child care, which helps parents, and early learning, which helps providers get children essential skills needed before the child enters kindergarten.
The state money for school readiness goes to coalitions, which then reimburse child-care providers. That way, qualified parents get the help they need, along with access to other agencies that can help with essentials like housing and clothing.
Duggan said the school-readiness money also is used to directly help providers by offering training, resources and new equipment.
The local coalition is financially stretched paper-thin, according to Duggan, with more than 1,600 children currently on the waiting list.
The idea of the Senate’s current proposal to cut $255 per child for the state’s VPK program is unsettling, Duggan said. She said cuts to the VPK program could put additional strain on programs and services reserved for school readiness by forcing more children on the waiting list.
And some child-care facilities may end up rethinking whether they can afford to be a VPK provider.
“Our concern will be that VPK providers are going to say this is not enough money to provide this service. And I’m not going to provide this anymore,” Duggan said. About 80,000 children in Florida are waiting for services. And that’s terribly troubling for parents like Adriuana Wiley.
She’s been on the waiting list locally for three years.
The 22-year-old Tallahassee mother of two boys works at a local child-care facility, and she said the owner allows the boys to get child care for free while she continues to wait. But Wiley isn’t sure how long that can last.
“That’s money that she is losing,” Wiley said. “I’m sure she could use money instead of just letting us go for free.”
Even though Duggan feels some level of relief, the stimulus money issue is exigent.
She said coalitions statewide could be cut $40 million once stimulus money dries up. Locally, Duggan said that could mean a $1-million hit.
“If these reductions happen, we will have a wait list in our area grow to 2,000,” Duggans said.
That will be an all-time high for the coalition since it was created in 2002.
Child-care costs in the Big Bend area can range from $575 to $700 a month, Duggan said. The coalition pays $420 to $450 of the cost.
She said the coalition is required to provide childcare for parents who are referred through work-force agencies or through the Florida Department of Children and Families due to neglect.
In addition, Duggan said child-care assistance is a direct catalyst for driving more economic development locally and statewide. If parents have to choose between work and child care, Duggan said many of them will be forced to stay home.
Nekaisha Thomas, a 31-year-old mother of eight children ages 14, 11, 10, 9, 8, 6, 5 and 4, said she can’t afford not to work.