Today I am proud to be a New
Yorker. Coming off a national election cycle with little mention, from either
party, of our youngest citizens, it was quite refreshing to hear Governor
Cuomo’s dedication to our state’s pre-k children. I believe the governor understands
the scientifically proven developmental and societal benefits of providing high
quality early care and learning to our youngest citizens. Expanding UPK is a
first step.
The governor would like New York
to have a world-class education system, in part by providing more learning
time. This begins by making the most of the learning time that happens before
kindergarten. Children who arrive at kindergarten having had high quality early
care and learning experiences are less likely to need remedial or special
education, repeat grades or drop out high school. Children birth to five who
have close relationships with caregivers, who are encouraged to explore, who
are read and sung to, and who get lots of play time in safe and
stimulating environments come to school ready to succeed.
The governor outlined actions to
spur economic growth and create new jobs. We applaud this, and recognize that
we cannot talk about bringing new employees to the state without addressing
their families’ needs, including child care. Child care is an essential part of
our economic infrastructure. As we grow, we need to ensure that the child care
options are available and attractive enough for young professionals and their
families. Parents too know the importance of high quality programs.
Another part of the governor’s
plan for economic growth is to better match training programs to meet the
skills required in today’s workforce. We know that most of a person’s
personality and intellect are formed in the first three years. We know that
skills needed in a 21st century workforce – creativity, problem solving, team
work, adaptability, ingenuity – are developed in early childhood. An investment
in quality early care and learning nets a much higher return on investment than
job training programs that begin in adulthood. As we provide for four year olds
today, let us also continue to support our infants and toddlers and three year
olds who will be four in the blink of an eye! Let’s invest now to have a
creative innovative workforce two decades from now.
We, like the governor, are
concerned about public safety. We want our children to grow up feeling secure
and want New York to be a place that others want to visit and live. Children
who engage in high quality early care and learning are less likely than their
peers to be incarnated. Investments in early childhood are an investment in our
security.
We applaud the expansion Universal
Pre-K (UPK) time from 2.5 hours to 5 hours and are hopeful that this will
provide thousands of 4 year olds with a good pre-k experience. We know New
York’s child care resource and referral agencies (CCR&Rs) will be working
hard through the transition to help families identify wrap around care that is
accessible and affordable. Our network of CCR&Rs will also be particularly
interested in how this change affects the children and families in the 60% of
UPK programs operating in community based programs like Head Start and child
care centers. UPK is currently operating in 67% of school districts so the
changes to UPK will reach thousands of New York’s children. There are hundreds
of thousands more in early care and learning programs, ages 6 weeks to 6 years,
outside of the UPK system who could benefit from quality improvements. The key
to addressing the needs of all of New York’s early care and learning programs
including pre-k is QUALITYstarsNY.
QUALITYstarsNY is New York’s
quality rating and improvement system for early childhood programs including
UPK, Head Start, child care centers, preschools and child care family homes. It
is a process that assesses and improves the quality of care available to
children while supporting the program and staff through the process. It has
been proven to work and is currently in place in select communities. To see an
impact across the state, to let all New Yorkers enjoy the many long term
benefits of a well cared for generation of children, the state also needs full
state wide implementation of QUALITYstarsNY.
The Race to the Top (RttT) support
in place for the beginning implementation of QUALITYstarsNY shows the State
Education Department’s support. The recent Education Reform Commission also
made high quality programming an essential piece for the future. Governor Cuomo
understands that learning begins early to build New York State’s future. With
everyone focused on high quality programs and services, the expansion of Pre-k
begins.
The governor has acknowledged, in
front of the world, the value of quality early care and learning experiences. I
am hopeful. We have just taken the first baby step and in a grand journey
towards a state-wide system that supports and values all of our children. It’s
a beautiful day in New York.
Marsha Basloe
Executive Director
Early Care & Learning Council
Albany, NY
mbasloe@earlycareandlearning.org
