Patricia Faughn, Early Childhood Educator

Good Afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. My name is Patricia Faughn and I come to you as an early childhood educator in Springfield, Illinois. I hope my testimony here today will help you make the very best recommendations on behalf of the highest quality education for Illinois' youngest students. 

My mission today is to encourage this advisory board to recommend increased funding for ISBE's Early Childhood Block Grant, and to expand the potential, and even the requirements for COLLABORATION between public school district (ISBE) Pre-K programs, and community based child care programs. With such collaboration, we will maximize current resources, and the result will benefit children's long term outcomes. 

Currently, ISBE applications for the state administered Pre-K program awards 10 extra points to those districts collaborating with community based child care programs. 

In my district the current system of 10 points extra for those districts collaborating with child care was not sufficient for the district to partner with existing child care programs. The school district instead decided to continue to offer 'part day, part year' services, despite the recorded need of 7,000 children in Illinois on a waiting list for Pre-K and despite what 'best practices' tell us re: continuity of care for children's maximum learning and social emotional development. Furthermore, we KNOW that working parents need full-working day child care. 

I would propose that the requirement for school districts be strengthened this year. At the very least, additional points for collaboration should be awarded. At best, the application process should be available directly to child care providers - who are already serving many of the children identified as 'at risk for academic failure' - and who have the high quality settings to provide care and education to children.

1.  A 1995 study on costs, quality, & outcomes of early child care programs conducted by the Economics Dept. of the University of Colorado, found only I out of 7 child care centers provided developmentally appropriate experiences, and 40% (that's approx. one out of every two) provide poor quality of infant/toddler care. This is very alarming, and should be unacceptable for our nation. It is affecting the future of our children. We need to address this situation and provide good quality early education and care programs for our children if we want to remain a strong nation. You have been given the opportunity to make a difference.

There are 4 scenarios ISBE I ask you to consider as you make your recommendations to  ISBE: 

a. You can make the taxpayers bear the full burden by expanding Pre-K programs to meet the need, without utilizing already existing services and resources in the community. 

This would mean building more classrooms and providing additional transportation services for children to shuttle them between school-based pre- k for a few hours of the day, then to child care programs for the remainder of the work day. This is the scenario for most of the children in my district. Research and experience tells us that children team best when they are in a stable, undisturbed setting, with a constant caregiver. This is not the reality when parents are forced to glue together multiple care arrangements. 

b. You can inspire and support school districts to collaborate with  community based child care programs. 

The programs already have the space, staff, strategic locations to cut down on bussing, and are already providing full day services to young children. Many centers have beautiful state of the art facilities, but are experiencing a staff shortage and are unable to fund salaries at a level to hire and retain good staff and to provide good quality early education and care. The centers would benefit from certified teachers, supplies, materials, equipment, training, and special need services (speech and language therapy, OT/PT) the public school programs can offer. The districts would benefit with space, serving additional children, wrap around and full day services, and utilizing the staff at the Center as teacher assistants in the classroom. The children would benefit from receiving quality services, and receiving them in one place. 

c. You can open up the bidding process so that child care programs can directly apply for Pre-k funds. 

If centers have the ability to apply and receive funding directly, they could hire certified staff, and purchase the needed supplies, equipment, and services to provide high quality experiences. The best outcome of all would be the long-term educational and social outcomes for children. We know that this is already happening in parts of the state - and we owe it to our children to find the best possible way to utilize limited funds but maximizing their early educational experiences. 

d. Or lastly, you can do the status quo, where some children benefit, some spend a large portion of their day on buses traveling to several programs, some stay on waiting lists, and many remain in low quality programs that are unable to fund quality early education and care experiences. 

You have been given the opportunity to decide the future of our children. I hope, as a parent and as an educator that it is an opportunity used wisely. 

Thank you. 

I can be reached through the Day Care Action Council of Illinois' Public Policy Program     

Call Sessy Nyman at 773. 564-8859