Promises Made, Debt Unpaid

 Promises Made, Debt Unpaid

 

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future makes lots of promises for a great tomorrow in education.  There are many areas where doubts are being expressed about the cost as they begin to come due in the next few years.

One of the areas of greatest need and least fulfillment is the promise of free early childhood education.   With the number of kids in single parent homes and the number of children in families where both parents are working, early childhood education is critical.   Not just for the child but for the family.

Child care usually falls to the mother in the family.   Private early childhood education runs about $1,800 a month.  If a family has more than one child, the cost can equal the net salary of the mother.  Consequently, many women decide to give up or delay their careers to stay home and provide child care.

The plan in the Blueprint is for there to be a public/private partnership to provide the free childcare.   That plan isn’t working for multiple reasons.

Application for the funds by private providers is long and complex.   Add that to the fact that the State Legislature does not end the session until mid-April so MSDE does not know how much money it has to allocate for the effort.  Private providers do not know how many free seats they will have until sometime after the school year has begun.   At the present time there isn’t a system for public programs that are full to refer candidates to the funded private providers.    Consequently, private providers may have openings for funded students but are unaware of where those students are.

On the other hand, some private providers may chose not to do the lengthy paperwork required or to work with the state bureaucracy.  Additionally, participants in the funding plan need to have staff with certain credentials and need to pay their staff at a going rate.  Some private provides do neither.  As a result, those private providers are finding their census down dramatically previously paying customers are going to free seats elsewhere.  In some cases, threatening their viability of staying open; thereby decreasing the number of paid seats available to those families who can afford the cost.  

The subsidy is currently $13,000 a year.  It is set to increase to 14k next year and up to nearly $20,000 the following year.

But the piper must be paid.   Already candidates for Boards of Education spots are worrying how the cost of the Blueprint is going to be paid.  The Blueprint was passed without a funding plan.   Public schools are fighting to find physical spots for public pre-K, in addition to the cost of pre-k teachers who need to be paid on the public teacher salary scale.  Commitment to the Blueprint is showing signs of fragmenting.

Of all the pillars in the Blueprint, pre-k education for all of Maryland’s children is  a debt that must be paid.