Good Afternoon. My name is Sessy Nyman and I serve as the field Organizer and Government Relations Liaison with the Day Care Action Council of Illinois Public Policy Program. DCAC is both a membership-based statewide public education and advocacy organization and also serves as the Child Care Resource and Referral Agency for Cook County. The mission of DCAC is to ensure that all families in Illinois have access to affordable, quality child care.  

I am happy to be here with you today, and want to thank you for the opportunity to share with you some of the things we have learned over the Council's 30 years in serving children and families throughout Illinois. 

My reason for being here today is to urge this committee to increase the public dollars invested in the education of children throughout Illinois. By both increasing the dollars spent, and by better utilizing those dollars already being invested, we can truly begin to serve the ongoing educational needs of young children. 

Brain research tells us, more so than ever before in history, that the earliest years are the most important for establishing a strong foundation for a child's lifetime of learning. We also know that children's' education and learning includes not just the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but just as important, the social and emotional development of children. Practitioners and researchers alike tell us that focusing on both is the most comprehensive and effective way to help children reach their fullest potential. 

On September 6, 2000, The Chicago Tribune reported on a recent US Department of Health and Human Services Report released outlining "...that how children learn to get along with others and control their feelings is greatly influenced by their earliest experiences, and that social and emotional competence are more important for school success than learning the ABCs and 1-2-3s" . 

We welcome the report as a long overdue confirmation of what professionals in the early care and education (or child care) field have been telling us for generations. The study provides us with the scientific research to help us move forward in advocating to strengthen and expand the system of education and care for children in their earliest years. A copy of the entire article is attached for your information. 

In my role as Organizer of the Day Care Action Council of Illinois, is it my job, and my pleasure, to work with child care providers in every district, in every one of the 102 counties in our state. Each community and each program provides a different insight into the lives of working families and into the work of providers, trying to piece together the resources necessary to educate and care for our states' youngest children. 

Diane Stout is a board member of DCAC and is the director of Circles of learning in Rockford, Illinois. Diane could not be here today, although she very much wanted to share a little bit about the program she has built over the years. In particular, Diane wanted to share with you the success of a ten-year collaboration with the Rockford School District #205. Together, Circles of Learning Child Care and the public school Pre-K program have been delivering a high quality program to more kids, with more flexible hours for over IO years. It has not always been easy, and there have been many barriers to overcome, but the result serves as a model for every district and child care program in the state. Successful collaboration is possible, and I encourage EFAB to recommend increasing the funding for early childhood education, and also to expand the level of collaboration between the different systems of early care and education. 

The primary motivation of the collaboration is to improve the quality of care to children. By combining the pre-k and child care programs, 20 children who have been identified as 'being at risk of academic failure' by public school standards receive full WORK day care and education in a nurturing, education and safe setting. In addition, the remaining 206 students (ages birth - 12) also receive higher quality care as a result of the collaboration. 

The way it works is this: 

A 04 qualified teachers is provided to Circles of learning on a 9-month (school year) contract to teach a Pre-K classroom for a full five hour day of school. Before and after those five hours of 'school', the children are in the quality child care settling of Circles of Learning - without having to be transported on a bus to and from the public school. Without having to transition locations, which we know disrupts their schedule, their ability to learn is greatly enhanced. The parents love it, because they no longer have to create a 'patch work of care' for their kids that matches their working schedule. 

The child care end of the partnership allows kids access to the food program and so the children receive hot, nutritious meals at the center. The school district brings with it public school assessments of children's' growth and development, and when special needs are identified, children have access to special education and services, like speech therapy. 

For the teachers, it works like this. The Pre-k co-teachers a classroom of 20 'at risk children' for a full day. The other teachers at the center benefit from the experience and training of having an 04 teacher on staff, and also benefit by having access to public school teacher-training, and resources. In turn, the 04 teacher also has access to 'in-service training' at the child care center focused on the earliest years, something generally not covered in public school teacher- training, but crucial to understanding developmentally appropriate practice for kids. 

A mixing of funding streams allows the center to better equip EVERY classroom at Circles of Learning with developmentally appropriate toys, reading supplies, teaching aids, etc. in turn, the school saves on the upkeep of a facility to run the pre-k program. To further ease the transition of children ... the school has started to do kindergarten registration on sight at Circles of learning for those 'graduating' to kindergarten. 

In conclusion, I commend the appointment of the Education Finance Advisory Board. It is just one more way the governor is demonstrating his commitment and vision around educating our children in the very best way possible. The Day Care Action Council of Illinois urges the members of EFAB to consider all the recent research and 'best practices' that clearly tell us that early learning is worth our investment now. Otherwise, we will all be forced to pay a high price down the road. 

Also included was the article, "People skills, not ABCs, aid kindergartners, experts say" from the Chicago Tribune, September 6, 2000.