During a visit to St. Mary’s Early Childhood Center this spring, Gov. Mike Braun highlighted the need for child care that isn’t just affordable and accessible, but high-quality. As the state considers proposed rule changes for child care providers, Hoosiers should ask: Are we doing enough to ensure every child has access to high-quality early learning?
Researchers, advocates and policymakers know the first five years of a child’s life are critical for brain development. Early childhood education, including high-quality pre-K programs, lays the foundation for strong cognitive and language skills. That’s why Indiana created the On My Way Pre-K program in 2014, to provide a pathway to high-quality pre-K for children in Indiana’s low-income households.
Subsequent studies have shown that participants outperform peers who are not in the program, creating potential pathways out of poverty for future generations. We emphasize quality because we know its benefits to kids, their families and the broader community.
As the governor continues his statewide efforts to learn more about Indiana’s early education system, Hoosiers should be encouraged that he is beginning with a focus on student learning outcomes and quality. At the same time, we must ensure the rules shaping the sector continue to prioritize highly trained, well-qualified educators. Good educational outcomes should not be a luxury reserved for affluent families. Quality is for everyone.
Every child in every program deserves to learn. Families deserve to know that their children will be prepared for school and that they are getting value for their spending. Hoosier taxpayers deserve to know that public investments are paying dividends. This has been our state’s baseline position in K-12 and higher education, and we should have the same expectations for early learning.
Our state, like so many others, faces a daunting challenge: How can we ensure families who want and need access to high-quality early learning opportunities can access them at a price they can afford?
According to a recent poll from the First Five Years Fund, bipartisan majorities of Americans identify the cost of child care as a core affordability issue. The $200 million recently approved by the State Budget Committee, brought about at the recommendation of the governor and key legislative leaders, certainly helps address broader child care subsidy needs.
But as we look for new ways to address the high costs facing families, we cannot lose focus on quality and learning outcomes.
We have lost more than 300 child care providers in the last year, most of them tied to the state’s cuts to the child care voucher program. Our child care system can only serve about two-thirds of Indiana children who need care.
The picture is even more stark when we look at high-quality seats: barely half of Indiana’s child care seats meet the definition of high-quality set by the state’s rating system.
There are some straightforward ways to improve this situation.
First, Hoosiers can have a meaningful voice in the rulemaking process. We encourage the public to submit comments through the Indiana register or attend an Aug. 3 public hearing. Your voice is critical to ensuring we get the rules right.
As we rebuild our capacity, the Indiana Department of Education should play a stronger role in identifying, defining and advancing learning outcomes across early learning programs.
We need an updated quality rating system with new standards for effectiveness that can be more easily measured.
We can more explicitly tie eligibility for public vouchers to participation in quality systems and create performance incentives tied to child outcomes.
And we need to double down on efforts to build longitudinal data systems to both design better programs and help parents know what their kids need.
Early learning is more than just child care. It is education. We need state-level investments to strengthen it. And we need public engagement in the rulemaking process to ensure that our rules reinforce it.
Sam Snideman is vice president of government and sector relations for United Way of Central Indiana.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana’s child care debate can’t lose sight of quality | Opinion
Reporting by Sam Snideman, Opinion Contributor / Indianapolis Star
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By Sam Snideman, Opinion Contributor | USA TODAY Network
