Parents, educators praise
Patrick plan to expand
pre-kindergarten programs

AMELIA KUNHARDT/The Patriot Ledger

Advocates are pushing for universal public preschool, such as this pre-kindergarten class at South Shore Day Care.

By TOM BENNER
Patriot Ledger State House Bureau

Karen Douglas of North Weymouth says she doesn’t know where she’d be without prekindergarten. Or where her son would be, for that matter.

Douglas drops off 3½-year-old John each workday morning at 7:30 at South Shore Day Care in Weymouth, a center funded with a mix of state and parent contributions. She then works until picking him up at 4:30 p.m.

Working would be impossible without the pre-K program, the CVS pharmacy technician said.

“He’s there, and I can work,” said Douglas, who pays $50 a day for John’s care. “He loves it. The kids have fun, and they’re learning social skills and motor skills.”

Gov. Deval Patrick favors spending more public money on such programs, ideally joining Georgia, Florida and Oklahoma in having universal pre-K in public schools.

MARC VASCONCELLOS/THE ENTERPRISE

Four-year-old preschoolers wait for the school bus at the Keith Elementary School in Brockton. Gov. Deval Patrick supports dedicating more public funds to such programs, ideally joining Georgia, Florida and Oklahoma in having universal pre-K in public schools.

Parents with young children - struggling to find an affordable place for their kids - insist the government should do more.

American schools made kindergarten a standard offering decades ago. It’s taken until now for prekindergarten to see the beginnings of a national expansion.

Last year, 36 states - including Massachusetts - boosted funding to local school districts to pay for voluntary pre-K programs, to a collective record of $4.8 billion, reports the Washington-based advocacy group Pre-K Now.

Policymakers see pre-K as an investment that pays off - returning $1.16 on every dollar spent, by one Federal Reserve Bank estimate - by shaping developing minds while freeing up their parents to work. Increasingly, pre-K is seen as an anti-poverty program, putting children on a path of lifelong education and productivity.

The cost remains an obstacle, however. States’ spending on pre-K programs varies widely, from $1,085 per child in South Carolina to more than $9,800 per child in New Jersey.

AMELIA KUNHARDT/The Patriot Ledger

Karen Douglas hugs her son John Eddy, 3, as she comes to pick him up at the end of a day in the pre-kindergarten class at South Shore Day Care at East Weymouth Congregational Church. This classroom is funded in part by the state’s Universal Pre-K Pilot Grant Program.

Gov. Patrick campaigned on a pledge to expand pre-K programs. Yet he disappointed advocates when he didn’t deliver in his first year.

Earlier this month, Patrick unveiled plans to boost funding for pre-K programs. Still, the spending amount - even if approved by lawmakers - is not expected to even approach the $600 million a year advocates say is needed for universal access to pre-K programs for the 240,000 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds in Massachusetts.

About 70 percent, or 168,000, of the state’s 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds attend a formal early education program, according to the group Early Education for All. More than half of them attend center-based programs; the rest are taught in public preschools, family child care homes, the homes of friends or relatives or in Head Start programs.

State funding for pre-K programs has gone up. Last year, the Legislature appropriated $7.1 million, up from $4.6 million in 2006-07, the first year such a line-item existed. Patrick vows to seek increases in funding each year of his tenure, through 2010.

“We will stay on that path of annual increases until we have delivered on the promise of universal, high-quality early education for every child in this commonwealth,” Patrick said.

MARC VASCONCELLOS/THE ENTERPRISE

Three-year-old Mikera Morris, left, Jakysha Santana, 4, center, and Raena Gaston, 3, all of Brockton, play at the Keith Elementary School.

The state Department of Early Education and Care is requesting $54 million, a nearly eightfold increase from this fiscal year's $7.1 million, to expand grants for prekindergarten providers.

Parents of preschoolers and educators say more money for prekindergarten is urgently needed.

Mudafer Al-Ziyadi of Quincy sends his two children, Ali, 4, and Sana, 2, to South Shore Day Care’s Quincy center. A taxi driver and part-time graduate student at Boston University, Al-Ziyadi and his wife - a full-time Quincy College student - call the program a real service to working parents.

“You feel like someone is doing you a great favor, taking care of your kids and enhancing their mental and social skills,” he said.

South Shore Day Care, which also has a program in Randolph, relies heavily on public funds, executive director Sheri Adlin said.

The center’s per-child cost is $12,000, while it collects $9,321 on average - money that comes from parents as well as the state Department of Early Education and Care, which provides funding for income-eligible families and for children at risk of abuse and neglect. The difference is made up with donations and grants, Adlin said.

Adlin lauds efforts to expand pre-K programs to all children whose parents want them.

“Decades of research show the critical years in child development are the first five years, and early childhood education makes a tremendous difference,” Adlin said. “The benefits stay throughout their school years.”

Tom Benner may be reached at tbenner@ledger.com.