{"id":18512,"date":"2022-09-02T07:18:06","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T11:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.six10webdesign.com\/prichardclone\/?p=18512"},"modified":"2022-09-02T07:18:06","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T11:18:06","slug":"expanding-access-to-early-education-supporting-working-families-the-case-for-mixed-delivery-preschool-in-kentucky-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/expanding-access-to-early-education-supporting-working-families-the-case-for-mixed-delivery-preschool-in-kentucky-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Expanding Access to Early Education &#038; Supporting Working Families: The Case for Mixed-Delivery Preschool in Kentucky"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Momentum is building across Kentucky for increased access to high-quality early learning opportunities for our youngest children and stronger support for their working parents.\u00a0 The Kentucky Early Childhood Education Taskforce, co-chaired by Senator Danny Carroll (R-02) and Representative Samara Heavrin (R-18), united leaders from both parties and both houses of the legislature to tackle access to early education, Governor Beshear made reference to the importance of early education throughout the 2022 Kentucky legislative session, and local leaders in communities like Owensboro have united to secure greater opportunities for early learning at the local level.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And for good reason.\u00a0 Access to high-quality early learning is critical to the success of Kentucky\u2019s young children and their families:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Exposure to early education opportunities closes gaps in achievement for all children throughout their educational and life experiences.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Initiatives-From-Preschool-to-Third-Grade.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to The Education Commission of the States<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, children who participate in early learning arrive at kindergarten better prepared, ultimately increasing their likelihood of meeting standards in reading and math by the close of the third grade.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stacks.cdc.gov\/view\/cdc\/40594\/cdc_40594_DS1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">per the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, early learning experiences better prepare young children for social interactions, strengthen emotional competencies, and bolster pro-social emotional dispositions among peer groups, better preparing young children for a lifetime of working well with others.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And yet, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.six10webdesign.com\/prichardclone\/top-20-by-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kentucky ranks 41st in the nation in the number of four-year olds enrolled in preschool<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a fall from <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.six10webdesign.com\/prichardclone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Top2019-20-finalxx-p1-3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">28th in the nation in 2008<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 F<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or the last decade, the total number of Kentucky children enrolled in preschool have flatlined at around 50%.\u00a0 Further, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/datacenter.kidscount.org\/data\/line\/8015-kindergarten-readiness?loc=19&amp;loct=2#2\/any\/false\/1769,1696,1648,1603,1539,1381,1246\/asc\/any\/15404\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">per the KIDS COUNT Data Center<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u00a0 half of all Kentucky kids arrive at kindergarten unprepared according the Brigance screener.\u00a0 In their earliest years, half of Kentucky kids are left behind their peers who were fortunate enough to have received a stronger start earlier in their life journeys.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As big of an impact that access to early education has on Kentucky\u2019s youngsters, that access has a similarly important impact on their working parents.\u00a0 Across Kentucky a patchwork system of early education opportunities exist to support young learners while their parents are working:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public preschool services provide opportunities for approximately 50% of young children in Kentucky, but <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nieer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/YB2021_AppendixA.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">per the National Institute for Early Education Research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, only 94 of Kentucky\u2019s 525 public preschool programs provide full day services, limiting access for working parents dependent on care for their child for a full working day.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Complicating matters, access to other early learning opportunities, like private child care and early learning centers, are costly for working families.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The average yearly cost of child care for preschool aged children in Kentucky, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.childcareawareky.org\/kentucky-market-rate-study\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">per Child Care Aware,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> comes in at just under $9,000 per year.\u00a0 By comparison, the average price tag for tuition at a four-year college or university costs families about $10,700 per year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Early care and education opportunities for the children of working families is a key support needed in Kentucky\u2019s economic ecosystem to support a strong workforce.<\/span><b>\u00a0 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the height of the pandemic, for example, over 45% of Kentucky parents in a<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/uwky.org\/childcarekentucky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">statewide survey<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> indicated that someone in the family had quit a job, did not take a job, or changed jobs due to child care issues.\u00a0 More recently,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courier-journal.com\/story\/news\/local\/2022\/04\/07\/numbers-charts-show-child-care-issues-driving-kentucky-women-from-workforce\/7220101001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">over 100,000 Kentucky women have exited the workforce totally<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> due to a lack of early care and education access and affordability.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>But it doesn\u2019t have to be this way for Kentucky\u2019s youngest children and their working parents.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A system of mixed-delivery preschool <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is a best-practice model tested in Kentucky\u2019s peer states and is the common-sense solution to effectively provide high-quality early learning to more of Kentucky\u2019s children and to better support their working parents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This blog series will guide Kentuckians through an exploration of mixed-delivery preschool and the power this model has to benefit Kentucky\u2019s children, their working parents, and Kentucky\u2019s economy. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][wyde_separator text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; el_width=&#8221;80%&#8221;][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3>Blogs in this series:<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Introduction: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.six10webdesign.com\/prichardclone\/expanding-access-to-early-education-supporting-working-families-the-case-for-mixed-delivery-preschool-in-kentucky\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8220;Expanding Access to Early Education &amp; Supporting Working Families: The Case for Mixed-Delivery Preschool in Kentucky&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Blog 1: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.six10webdesign.com\/prichardclone\/what-is-mixed-delivery-preschool\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cWhat is mixed-delivery preschool?\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Blog 2: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.six10webdesign.com\/prichardclone\/what-does-mixed-delivery-preschool-mean-for-children-working-families-public-school-districts-and-early-childhood-providers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cWhat does mixed-delivery preschool mean for children, working families, public school districts, and early childhood providers?\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Blog 3: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.six10webdesign.com\/prichardclone\/pitfalls-to-avoid-in-preschool-expansion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cPitfalls to Avoid in Preschool Expansion\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Momentum is building across Kentucky for increased access to high-quality early learning opportunities for our youngest children and stronger support for their working parents.\u00a0 The Kentucky Early Childhood Education Taskforce, co-chaired by Senator Danny Carroll (R-02) and Representative Samara Heavrin (R-18), united leaders from both parties and both houses of the legislature to tackle access<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":18513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"passster_activate_protection":false,"passster_protect_child_pages":"","passster_protection_type":"password","passster_password":"","passster_activate_overwrite_defaults":"","passster_headline":"","passster_instruction":"","passster_placeholder":"","passster_button":"","passster_id":"","passster_activate_misc_settings":"","passster_redirect_url":"","passster_hide":"no","passster_area_shortcode":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-policy-matters"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}