Guest Author
With just days left in Florida’s Legislative Session, up to $120 million of funding for early learning is at risk. While I understand the efforts of House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton to responsibly steward taxpayer dollars and curb Florida’s spending via a smaller state budget, I’d urge them not to make cuts at the expense of our youngest children.
Last year was a banner year for early learning investments, with a record $1.7 billion supporting Florida’s Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Education Program (VPK)—available for the last two decades for every four-year-old in the state—and our state’s School Readiness Program, providing early learning tuition assistance for working families. The latter serves families starting in the critical years from birth to age three, as children’s brains undergo their most significant growth. Together with nurturing and knowledgeable parents, these experiences offer the best opportunity to narrow achievement gaps and give all children their best chance to reach their full potential.
This year, funding for K-12 education is roughly flat in the initial budget proposals from the House and Senate. Early learning is not so blessed. Florida’s School Readiness program stands to lose between $60 million and $120 million, impacting every one of Florida’s 67 counties.
Investments in our youngest learners strengthen our families, our future workforce, and our economy: it is a statewide issue with genuine consequences in every community. Each year, Florida loses an estimated $5.4 billion in economic value due to a lack of access to affordable childcare. Child care costs are about double in-state college tuition; many families cannot make that work without tuition assistance.
Throughout our state, families enrolled in Florida’s School Readiness Program work in the retail, tourism, and hospitality sectors, which support community vibrancy. Ultimately, these investments pay off for everybody.
In fact, because they strongly support our workforce, investments in School Readiness result in a 5-to-1 return, according to the Florida Chamber. A net decrease of $120 million for the program could result in a $600 million impact on Florida’s economy. Such a decrease also means 24,000 children could lose access to the early learning programs that help them get set for success in kindergarten and life.
Early learning — whether you call it child care, daycare, or preschool — is the foundation of our K-12 system. What children learn in their first five years quite literally shapes how they interact with peers, their ability to focus, and their approaches to learning. No one should be surprised that kindergarten readiness is a strong predictor of third-grade reading.
Today in Florida, only half of our children are deemed “ready” for kindergarten, according to the Florida Department of Education. For students who complete an early learning experience in VPK, the rate increases to 69%.
Indeed, the key to transforming our education system lies in the brains of infants and toddlers. We know from the research that the achievement gap is evident by 18 months and measurable by age 2. Kindergarten is way too late to invest in the future of children and of Florida.
The Children’s Movement of Florida has long stood for strengthening access to high-quality early learning for every child, particularly through policies that support parents and caregivers who are working hard to give their kids the best possible start. School Readiness is critical in this regard, supporting families with their economic mobility while seeding better outcomes for our kids.
Now is the time to ask lawmakers to restore funding for Florida’s School Readiness Program to match the current investment and ensure that no children are disenrolled from the program — cut off from their early learning opportunity for lack of funds.
If babies and toddlers can no longer go to school, then some parents can no longer go to work. That’s an impact across two generations that we simply cannot afford.
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Madeleine K. Thakur is president and CEO of The Children’s Movement of Florida.
