Advocating for Children

Top Threats to Early Childhood Programs

August 5, 2011 at 2:24 pm 4cforchildren Leave a comment

Exchange (formerly Child Care Information Exchange) is the definitive journal – in print and daily on-line posts – for administrators of early childhood education programs. The magazine and the on-line resources are wonderful, and there are often gems that I save and savor. One of the services provided by the publishers Roger and Bobbie Neugebauer are surveys of directors on various public policy topics. A recent post reports the top threats perceived by owners and directors of child care centers. Here is the post:

For the past 20 years Exchange magazine has been surveying Exchange readers about threats to their organizations.  Historically, there have been five threats that have consistently risen to the top of the list year after year:

• State of the economy
• Competition from Pre-K in the public schools
• Shortage of qualified teachers
• Decreasing public subsidies
• Children with challenging behavior

In the early 1990′s, “competition from Pre-K in the public schools was rated the number one threat year after year.  By the late 1990′s and early 2000′s, “shortage of qualified teachers” rose to the top.  And, in recent years, not surprisingly, “state of the economy” is the top vote getter followed closely by “competition from Pre-K in the public schools.”

The weak state of the economy hits centers in many ways: enrollment is down due to fewer parents being employed, and those who are employed may choose to use family members for child care rather than choose an early learning setting. Government at all levels gives lip service to the importance of high quality early learning, but their budgets are shrinking and therefore, so are subsidy rates. Loans are very difficult to come by, and therefore, so is expansion. I hope that “state of the economy” falls to lower on this list in the near future!

As to competition from Pre-K in public schools, universal Pre-Kindergarten for three and four year olds is sweeping the country – but has yet to appear in Ohio and Kentucky. Universal Pre-K essentially extends Kindergarten – available (but voluntary) to all children regardless of income. Some states have chosen to contract with existing high quality child care centers. Others have expanded the capacity of elementary schools reach all families. In this case I am glad other states are working out the details for Ohio and Kentucky to follow.

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