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Putting the focus on preschoolers
Report makes state recommendations

By Brenda J. Buote
Thursday, March 11, 2004

In a Gloucester classroom, giggling 3- and 4-year-olds take turns playing at the water table filled with plastic toys and suds, and painting pictures of purple, green, and gray dinosaurs.

They don't know it, but the children are developing the social skills they'll need to do well in school, and in life -- sharing, waiting patiently, and taking turns. Most activities have a dual purpose: During snack time, the children learn about table manners and good nutrition. But preparing children for kindergarten requires more than fun activities and healthy food, advocates of early education say. It also requires a strong academic program, family involvement, and a wide array of health and social services.

"For years we've been pushing for workforce development and increased compensation for employees," said Caroline Haines, chief operating officer for the nonprofit Pathways for Children Inc., which runs preschool programs in Gloucester that serve 225 children. "Now, it seems, the state is ready to make improvements. We're thrilled."

The Early Education and Care Council, comprised of the commissioners of the state departments of education and public health, and the Office of Child Care Services, last week released a 15-page report outlining six recommendations for improving the state's education system for 3- and 4-year-olds. The report calls for the creation of an oversight board to improve the coordination of services and communications between state officials, as well as more on-site technical assistance, and professional development for preschool instructors.

If state officials embrace the recommendations, the paperwork needed to secure state and federal funding for preschool programs would be streamlined, allowing instructors to spend less time filling out forms and more time developing programs to benefit the children. The council also recommended that more resources be dedicated to parental education and outreach.

At Pathways and other area preschool programs, family involvement has proved to be an essential ingredient for success, advocates say. In Gloucester, parents can take classes to master new techniques for effective parenting or to learn to cope with stress. In Haverhill, at the city's Head Start program, parents help select books for their child's classroom, and are encouraged to make suggestions about the curriculum.

"I'm truly stunned by the level of commitment at Pathways," said Lourdes McGuire, who moved to Gloucester from New Orleans in September with her husband and two of her three children. Her youngest child, 4-year-old Madonna, attends preschool at Pathways.

"They say the South is friendly, but I never felt the sense of community there that I feel here in Gloucester," said McGuire. "Through Pathways, I've had a chance to not only learn new parenting skills, but to meet other parents who are facing the same challenges I am. It's reassuring to know there are other parents going through the same thing."

And while Governor Mitt Romney has called for mandatory parent participation, many preschool teachers believe voluntary programs that respond to parents' needs work best.

"We have formulated a very strong parent partnership," said Mary Lally, director of education for the Haverhill Head Start program, which serves 196 children between the ages of 3 and 5. "Parents volunteer in the classroom and serve on our policy council. They have input into the curriculum. Last year, a parent whose child had run away from her in a mall parking lot suggested we have a talk about pedestrian safety. It was one of the themes we incorporated into the classroom."

The Early Education and Care Council was charged last year with developing a comprehensive, high-quality, and accessible system of early education programs. The council held five public forums on the topic to solicit input and met regularly before releasing their report last Wednesday.

"We all share a common goal: to set the stage to ensure our children benefit from the best possible care and educational experiences," said Ardith Wieworka, commissioner of the state Office of Child Care Services.

Advocates for quality early education are asking the state to establish academic standards and a preschool curriculum, enhance training for preschool teachers, and mandate higher wages for instructors and day care providers; today, their salaries average about $22,000 per year.

Margaret Blood, president of Strategies for Children Inc., the nonprofit organization that is organizing the Early Education for All campaign to ensure that every child in Massachusetts has access to a quality early education program and full-day kindergarten, noted that several states, including New York and New Jersey, already are moving forward with similar plans to enhance preschool programs. She said all of the Democratic presidential candidates have supported the notion of earmarking more federal money for early education.

In Massachusetts, early education has become a key topic of debate as state lawmakers craft spending plans for the Commonwealth for fiscal 2005, which begins July 1.

Democratic House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran in January endorsed a 10-year, $1 billion plan to phase in free academic preschool programs for the state's 240,000 children ages 3, 4, and 5 years old. Early Education for All is promoting a bill that would fund pilot programs for the initiative. The bill, filed by Democrats Fred Berry of Peabody in the Senate and Peter J. Larkin of Pittsfield in the House, outlines a plan for an early education system that would be universal and free. The Joint Committee on Education is reviewing the proposal, which has been cosponsored by 109 state lawmakers.

Today, about $300 million in state and federal funds is spent each year on preschool classes in Massachusetts. Early Education for All would like to increase that amount to $1 billion over 10 years; those dollars would bankroll the creation of pilot preschool programs. Under the pending legislation sponsored by Berry and Larkin, those classes would be voluntary programs, and provide up to four hours of free programming a day for preschool students. Parents would have the option of paying for full-day care.

After the initial 10-year period, roughly $1 billion would be spent annually to maintain the programs, Blood estimated. Local schools, licensed public and private preschools, community centers, day-care facilities, and family child care providers would operate the programs. All providers would have to meet state standards.

Advocates of early education hope those standards would be uniform. Today, there is no single statewide standard for early education programs; the departments of public health and education have separate guidelines. To ensure that a single standard is established, many providers are pushing for adoption of the council's recommendations. Some of the recommendations can be made through administrative changes; others would require legislative approval.

State Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll is supporting the call for reform: "Parents do not need to know or worry about which agency is responsible for the oversight of their child's services, they should simply rest assured that their child is receiving high-quality learning experiences by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.

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