Preschool Development Grants At Risk

Now would seem like a strange time to take resources away from programs focused on increasing access to high-quality early learning opportunities. The United States currently ranks 31st out of 39 countries when it comes to pre-K enrollment of four-year-olds, and only about four in 10 four-year-olds are currently enrolled in publicly funded pre-K programs. Many states lack the financial resources necessary to expand access to these programs.  We know that investing in preschool produces outsized returns because these early investments decrease the need for future spending on things like remedial education and grade repetition, while benefiting the economy in the long term in the form of increased earnings and improved health outcomes for pre-K participants.

And yet taking money away from pre-K programs is exactly what will happen if the Senate and House Appropriations Committees get their way and eliminate funding for the Preschool Development Grants program. Preschool Development Grants provide funds for states to build up their infrastructure to provide high-quality pre-K programs and expand access for four-year-olds in low-income communities. In 2014, eighteen states were awarded four-year Preschool Development Grants to start to do just that. These eighteen states run the political gamut from red to blue, including states as politically diverse as Alabama and New Jersey. Montana, for instance, a traditionally conservative state currently led by a Democratic governor, was awarded $10 million to develop a state-funded pre-K program for the first time. Here’s the catch: funding was only provided for the first year of the program. If Congress moves forward with its current plan to cut the program for FY 2016, these eighteen states that just began the important work of building or expanding high-quality pre-K programs in over 200 high-need communities will be cut off from funding for the last two years of the grant.

Recently, in a rare bipartisan show of support, thirteen senators signed a letter calling on appropriators to restore funding for Preschool Development Grants. The senators pointed out  that the elimination of the grant program would “immediately impact the plans of these 18 states to continue forward in their efforts to improve and increase access to preschool in their state” at a time of tremendous need for high-quality pre-K. The letter calls on appropriators to reinstate funding for the grant program so that states and school districts can continue their work in expanding access to high-quality learning opportunities for some of the nation’s youngest learners.

The potential impacts of eliminating Preschool Development Grants are very real. According to the Department of Education, approximately 48,000 fewer children in 2016 and 53,000 in 2017 would not be served by high-quality preschool programs if the grant program is eliminated. That’s over 100,000 of the nation’s most vulnerable children not receiving the early learning experiences that enable them to enter kindergarten prepared for success.  Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently highlighted this threat, explaining that “Congress is moving forward with a plan that would take critical early learning opportunities from the children who need it the most - delaying their learning by a year and missing an opportunity to chip away at the educational gaps that exist for children from low- and moderate income families.”

The eighteen states that are in the process of utilizing their grants fear that elimination of the program will force them to scrap their plans for increasing access to high-quality pre-K. Earlier this year, Hawaii was awarded a $2 million Preschool Development Grant that was supposed to be just the first part of a four-year, $15 million federal investment in Hawaii’s pre-K program. Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono recently pointed out that over 700 Hawaii preschoolers would lose access to preschool education if funding for the grant program is eliminated. Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz has warned that eliminating the grant program “would stop the progress that has been made all across our state.”

New York is another example of a state that would suffer from the elimination of the program. The state was awarded $25 million for the first year of its four-year grant. New York has used its funding to target five areas across the state with high numbers of dual language learners living in low-income areas. If the grant program is eliminated the state will be forced to serve approximately 5,900 fewer children in the last two years of the grant.

Now that a short-term spending measure has passed Congress and a shutdown has been temporarily avoided, all eyes turn to December when Congress must agree to a new funding bill to keep the government running.  While there are plenty of funding decisions that need to be made between now and then, let’s hope that Congress takes the time to restore the Preschool Development Grant program so that over 100,000 children don’t lose the high-quality early education they need and deserve."