California policymakers have been debating some of the deepest cuts to child care programs I have seen around the nation, and a new report says those cuts would eliminate child care subsidies for 240,000 children.

The report paints a grim picture of early learning under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget. Besides slashing subsidies, it shows how the $1.2 billion in suggested child care cuts would hurt the industry, as well as families. For example, the equivalent of 38,000 full-time jobs in child care would be lost, the report says.

…Cutting child care would decrease employment in an already faltering job market as working parents face economic insecurity, child care providers lose jobs, and tax revenues shrink while social services costs grow. California would also lose billions of dollars in federal funding should CalWORKS be eliminated. – “Berkeley Law Center Report Takes Aim at New State Budget Proposal.” 9/7/10. (This is a summary. You can read the full report here. 

Then there is the ripple effect.

Furthermore, many more families are likely to be affected as child care providers that serve both subsidized and unsubsidized families close down, reduce staff, or scale back their programs.

The good news is these are still proposed cuts, which the state legislature voted down before adjourning its last session, and a conference committee proposed small cuts, according to Deborah Kong of Preschool California.

But, there is no final budget agreement and programs are beginning to shut down, Kong added.

Proposed cuts also can change the tone and direction of a debate, even if those cuts are rejected. As the nation’s most populous state digs itself out of a massive budget hole, we will keep track of where this debate goes.

The federal government increased spending on children’s programs in the last year, but these programs will have a tough time winning a bigger share of the federal pie in the future, a new report says.

Without the 2009 economic stimulus package, federal children’s programs would have received a smaller share of the overall federal budget, First Focus’s report, Children’s Budget 2010, found.

“Unless Congress makes children a higher priority, these programs will be forced to scale back to pre-2009 levels,” the group’s president, Bruce Lesley, said in a statement.

The report was one of two released this month that forecasted a rough budget outlook for children’s programs in coming year. Another report also found the federal share of spending on children’s programs has been falling for decades.

The reportshows that over the longer term, ten-year projections reveal an overall decline in federal spending on children. The report explains that if current law continues unchanged, the federal budget will grow as a whole, but a smaller share of the budget will be directed to children.

“In addition, Kids’ Share 2010 reveals that since 1960, the children’s share of the federal budget has diminished by a quarter, while spending on the non-child portions of entitlement programs has more than doubled.” – Kids' Share 2010: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children Through 2009.

Both reports are worth a read.

The Great Recession may be over, but states face several more years of tight budgets, a new report says, and that’s bad news for early learning.

The U.S. economy was so weak that overall state spending declined in 2009 and 2010, marking only the second time state spending fell in the three decades the National Association of State Budget
Officers and the National Governors Association have produced the report. State spending is expected to drop to $612.9 billion in 2010 from $657.9 billion the year before.

State budget woes may only get worse as roughly $135 billion from the federal economic stimulus package largely dries up by the end of fiscal 2011, the report suggested.

...Loss of these (federal) funds combined with the anticipated slow recovery of state revenues is expected to result in the continuation of difficult state fiscal conditions for the next few years. – “The Fiscal Survey of the States.” 6/10. Fiscal 2010 presented the most difficult challenge for states’ financial management since the Great Depression and fiscal 2011 is expected to present states with similar challenges.

What does this ongoing budget crunch mean for early learning? It is too early to tell. But, Washington State struggled this year to maintain its commitment to improving child care, preschool and pre-kindergarten this year, even as a leading supporter, Gov. Christine Gregoire, sat in the governor’s mansion.

Thanks to Politics K-12 for highlighting this report. The Education Week blog adds that “a majority of states are contemplating cutting K-12 education next year as they brace for overall spending reductions for what could be the third year in a row.”

“Governors and state lawmakers have been trying to protect K-12 education and health care, but that just might not be possible anymore, according to Scott Pattison, the executive director of NASBO. (Check out the whole story.)

Early learning can’t be far behind, if not in front, of K-12 in the budget-cutting line.

Policymakers need to know what works if they want to build a quality early learning system, which is why it’s big news that Washington State won $17.3 million to build a statewide data system that will track student progress from pre-kindergarten to work.

 The U.S. Education Department is sending the money to Washington as part of last year’s economic stimulus package. The new funds will allow the Department of Early Learning to create a system that consolidates information on licensing, professional development, quality ratings, child care subsidies and other programs, which are currently spread out in various systems, according to DEL spokeswoman Amy Blondin.

While there is data on students’ progress, the new effort will combine K-12 data with pre-kindergarten, post-secondary and employment information, according to Gov. Christine Gregoire’s office.

“For the state overall, it will allow us to "follow" students from pre-k through college. That will give us a much better picture of how students are doing throughout their education, and what we can do to better support their success,” Blondin wrote in an email.

Having reliable data also could be an asset in winning additional federal funding for child care and preschool – the Obama administration has highlighted the need for proven programs, and good tracking data is a big part of proving programs work. So, this new data network may bring even more federal funding to Washington.

“Having a data system to look at the progress of a student from pre-kindergarten through college is something that will help us better understand their needs. This grant will be an important part of our efforts to implement education reform and improve the quality of education for our children,” Gov. Christine Gregoire said in a statement on the new funds.

Thanks to the Early Learning Community for highlighting this development.

Early Ed in K-12 Reform News: A key Senate committee discussed how early learning could fit into the reform of federal K-12 laws and Early Ed Watch has a good overview. (You can also watch a webcast of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing.)

While Washington State has a nearly $3 billion budget deficit, policymakers delivered a decent early learning budget, with the final plan preserving funding for child care subsidies and making a relatively small cut in state-supported preschool, according to a new legislative analysis.

The early learning future did not always look so good. Policymakers, for example, were considering cuts to the Working Connections Child Care program, which would have left thousands of poor families without the key support.  The final budget will maintain state funding, according to an update from The Children’s Alliance.

In addition, there is no cut in the Wage and Career ladder initiative, which funds continuing education and training for child care workers, the Alliance reported.

When you add these budget decisions to already enacted changes that will improve child care subsidies , expand the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) in the coming years and new efforts to create a continuum of services and support for children from birth to age three and a plan for voluntary early learning it is turning into a good year in the state capitol for early education.

“We maintained funding in the short term, made commitments to serving at risk kids, streamlined the working connections subsidy program, and launched a major planning initiative to establish a voluntary pre-k program. All in all a great year for kids, despite the dire budget situation,” Joel Ryan, executive director of the Washington State Association of Head Start & ECEAP, wrote in an email interview.

The budget makes some cuts to early learning initiatives. The state’s ECEAP program will be trimmed by 29 slots, the legislative update said, not great news but it could have been a lot worse. The budget also will cut $212,000 from the Washington Child Care Resource and Referral Network, the Children’s Alliance reports.

We will dig deeper into budget and why early learning did OK in the coming days. We also will post a link to the Alliance’s great legislative summary when one is available.

Since California is the nation’s biggest state, when its policymakers consider major child care cuts it is worth watching. This year California is weighing proposals that would cut hundreds of millions of dollars from early learning programs and eliminate thousands of child care spaces, a group reports.

In his budget plan, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed cutting 18,000 child care spaces in the CalWORKS program for lower-income families, First 5 LA said in a budget analysis released this week.

If a family could not get or lost one of these child care spaces they could face another obstacle because “the Legislative Analyst's Office points out that roughly 200,000 children are already on waiting lists for non-CalWORKs slots, so those families displaced by the proposed elimination of Stage 3 slots would likely find it difficult to find other options,” the advocacy group said.

The budget plan would also reduce reimbursement rates for licensed and license-exempt providers, according to the analysis.

Now, California faces a huge budget deficit, but First 5 LA makes the point that struggling parents will have a harder time getting back to work if they can’t find quality affordable child care. More working moms and dads would help the economy and hopefully reduce the budget deficit.

“CalWORKs parents who have lost their state-funded child care may also be forced to choose between working or attending school, and staying at home to care for their children. In the worst case scenario, they may decide to leave their children in substandard care,” First 5 LA said in its budget analysis.

Health Care Dollars in Jeopardy in Washington: Now that President Barack Obama has signed health care reform into law, The Children’s Alliance reminds us it is Cover the Uninsured Week in Washington State and that hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake.

“Yet the state Senate’s budget proposal calls for a complete elimination of funding for Apple Health for Kids outreach.”
“If the state’s $425,000 outreach investment is cut, we’ll lose an equal amount of federal matching dollars, which would severely limit outreach organizations’ ability to find eligible families and connect children to Apple Health for Kids.” – Cover the Uninsured Week – and crunch time for Apple Health for Kids outreach, Children’s Alliance, 3/22/10.

Check out the whole post.

I write a lot about funding battles, both federal and state, and hopefully that money eventually goes somewhere and helps someone, though too often we don’t follow the money.  It turns out last year’s economic stimulus package will allow 108 more kids to attend quality early learning this year in Washington State.

Thanks to the law, the federal government is sending $933,171 to this state to allow these kids to enroll in Children’s Home Society of Washington’s Early Head Start programs in King and Walla Walla counties this month. Plus, the money will create 14 new jobs in a region that could use some – the state’s unemployment rate hit 9.5 percent in December.

“The grant will allow CHSW to enhance child development and social competence in children at homes and at childcare centers. Since a strong parent is critical to the success of a young child, the programs also support family development and promote long‐term self‐sufficiency and capability of parents,” Children’s Home Society’s director of Early Learning Cathy Garland said in a statement.

Unfortunately, the new students will not make a big dent in Head Start under enrollment. Only 2.3 percent of Washington’s 69,000 eligible families actually attend Head Start, mirroring the 2 percent national enrollment rate, according to CHSW.

President Barack “Obama hopes to serve five times the amount of families,” the Home Society added.

Hey, 108 new students is a start.
                               
News & Notes: Check out EarlyStories two great posts:

• “New tool asks: Are kids ready for kindergarten?”
• “Are gifted children born, made or purchased?”

Massive presidential budget proposals are worth a second, third and fourth look and a closer examination of President Obama’s plan reveals more good news for early learning, including a fresh focus on early literacy and a boost for child nutrition.

For example, President Obama tucked a proposed increase of $1 billion for child nutrition in his budget, the National Association for the Education of Young Children reports. Obama also wants to wrap together a group of literacy programs into “a comprehensive birth through high school literacy grant program. $250 million total, of which 15% for birth to kindergarten…”

Even though shiny new programs sound great, CLASP points out Obama is focused on building upon what is already there, such as child care block grants and Head Start. (The president, however, clearly wants to add the creation of the Early Learning Challenge Fund to his resume. He asked for $9 billion over ten years, CLASP reports.)

The administration's FY 2011 budget proposal represents a blueprint for the vision that President Obama would like to put in place. It is clear that high-quality, comprehensive early childhood programs that serve the needs of vulnerable children and their families are at the forefront of that vision. – “Administration Reverses a Decade of Indifference.” CLASP, 2/1/10.

To help you digest Obama’s many plans for early education here are a few resources to get you started:

• “Obama’s FY11 Budget Requests a Boost for Early Childhood Programs.” Early Ed Watch, 2/2/10.
• “President’s Budget Request Places Priority on Early Childhood Investments.” NAEYC, 2/1/10.
• “Administration Reverses a Decade of Indifference.” CLASP, 2/1/10.
• “Administration’s FY 2011 Budget: Early Childhood Highlights.” National Women’s Law Center, 2/1/10.
• "Capitol Connection:CCR&R's Weekly Source for Federal Child Care Policy News" NACCRRA, 2/1/10.

Tomorrow, we will take a look closer to home, examining Gov. Christine Gregoire’s proposed cuts that could trim child care subsidies.

The Obama administration released its new budget this morning and despite the large federal budget deficit it contains new money for Early Head Start, child care subsidies and other incentives for early learning, interest groups reported.

Two of the nation’s biggest early learning programs, Head Start and Early Start, would receive a total increase of $989 million in fiscal 2011 over last year’s level, according to Zero to Three. It should be interesting to watch the Congressional reaction to that request, since Head Start was criticized last month in a federal report.

In the hopeful thinking department, Obama also wants $625 million for his Early Learning Challenge Fund, even though legislation that would create that fund remains stuck in the Senate.

It wasn’t all about raises, however, because Obama proposed freezing funding for Part C Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers at $440 million, the interest group said. (Check out Zero to Three’s Facebook page to read the details of this handy summary.)

Obama already told the nation last week that he wants to nearly double the child care tax credit and add more money to the Child Care and Development Block Grant program. Zero to Three breaks it down this way:

An increase of $800 million (and an additional $11 billion over ten years) in mandatory Child Care and Development Funds to allow states to provide child care subsidies to additional working families. In addition, another increase of $800 million is proposed to provide quality improvements through the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). Total funding for CCDBG under this proposal would equal $2.927 billion, $137 million of which is targeted for improving the quality of infant-toddler care. – “Breaking News for Babies: President Requests Increased Funding for Key Infant-Toddler Services.”

We are still learning about the president’s new fiscal blueprint, but you can start here:

• The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2011, Office of Management and Budget. (Check by department links.)

Stay tuned because CLASP and the National Women’s Law Center will host a conference call Wednesday entitled “The President’s Budget Proposal: Opportunities and Challenges for Early Childhood Programs.”

California faces yet another large budget shortfall and that means policymakers in the nation’s biggest state may face a new round of tough decisions on early learning spending.

Earlier this month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off the debate by declaring a fiscal emergency and proposing his new budget, which contained potential child care cuts, Preschool California reported. If California doesn’t receive a big bump in federal funding, it would trigger cuts that could eliminate the state’s CalWorks program, which supports poorer families with child care aid and employment help, and its Healthy Families health care coverage for kids, according to an analysis provided by the advocacy group.

The governor’s budget also contains cuts to child care reimbursement rates. It wasn’t all bad news, however. The governor’s budget “increases by $65.5 million to backfill Pre-School one-time funds used in the current year,” Preschool California said. (We are still waiting for more details about the budget plan.)

Now isn’t a great time to cut child care spending in California because the state received a C for its early learning and development in a recent report card issued by Children Now, an Oakland, California-based advocacy group.

It could be another tough year of state funding battles.