EXCERPT FROM: News 8 Austin
By Heidi Zhou
Shortchanging Child Care (Part 5): The last four parts of this series have examined problems in Texas' complex child care system, and in part five, we explore solutions.
Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition President Kara Johnson said she has one.
"Every dollar that Austin taxpayers — Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, the valley — every dollar that they invest [in early childhood education], they get at least $3.50 back," she said.
Those numbers come from the findings of a study done by TECEC and the Bush School of Government at Texas A&M. The study says Texas should invest now in children, like 8-month-old Estella and 2-year-old Janessa, whose mother can't afford daycare on her own. Children who enter kindergarten behind their peers are at a greater risk for needing costly social services later in life.
"Savings are realized through fewer referrals to special education, fewer dropouts, fewer juvenile delinquents," Johnson said. "So we found we have a 350 percent return on our investment."
Putting more money into government supported child care would be logical, according to state Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, but also impossible when the state faces a $17 billion budget gap, he said.
"I'm of the opinion that we can improve the system within the zero sum parameters of the budget we're dealing with now," he said.
A model for another solution may lie in North Carolina, a state with a nationally acclaimed child care system.
North Carolina has a strong emphasis on early childhood, according to Anna Carter, the deputy director of that state's Division of Child Development. Unlike Texas, with its five agencies overseeing various aspects of child care, North Carolina puts everything under one umbrella.
"The advantage is you can make sure the policies all line up," Carter said.