Rell Applauds Role of Businesses in Early Education
RELL
Norwalk Hour
Anthony Rotunno
Boston University Washington News Service
2/26/07
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 – Even as Gov. M. Jodi Rell Monday applauded Connecticut’s achievements in dealing with issues concerning early childhood education some state education experts said progress remains slow.
Connecticut has been a leader in establishing organizations to confront early childhood education issues, Rell said at the National Governors Association winter meeting. With members from the state government, business and philanthropic sectors, she said, the state’s partnership between the government and private businesses represents a model for other states.
“If every state could replicate what we’ve done, [the country] would be off to a great start,” said Rell, vice chair of the governors association’s Education, Early Childhood and Workforce committee.
Rell’s decision to incorporate members of the business community in early childhood education policy-making is a step in the right direction, according to Peg Oliveira, senior policy fellow at Connecticut Voices for Children, a liberal organization that advocates for programs to aid children and their families.
But, she added, there is more work to be done. Although Rell included business members in planning solutions to problems facing children in need of pre-kindergarten education, Oliveira said, no significant attempts have been made to fund schools and early childcare providers.
“I’ve yet to see if business has put its money where its mouth is,” Oliveira said. “I don’t think we’ve figured out a way to establish a public-private partnership in a funding capacity.”
Today’s global economy creates intense competition for jobs, and businesses recognize early childhood education is essential in ensuring future generations of well-educated professionals, according to Mary Ann Hanley, the governor’s policy advisor for workforce development.
The lack of national organizations that focus on improving early childhood education is one reason private companies should support the issue, said Michael N. Harreld, an official from PNC Bank, which donated $100 million over the next 10 years to support early childhood education programs across the country.
“The longitudinal effects of investing in early childhood education are unmatched by any other investment,” Harreld said.
Programs offering tax credits to businesses that hire teachers for their daycare facilities and using bond dollars to convert existing buildings into new childcare centers are additional solutions to the problem being considered by Connecticut lawmakers, Rell said.
“You have to find buildings and find anyone you can to fill them,” she said.
Rell’s proposed 2008 budget takes the steps necessary for Connecticut to recover the money it has lost in early childhood education over the past five years, Oliveira said, and initiatives to create new facilities in existing buildings represent positive progress towards providing more extensive services.
What Connecticut lawmakers failed to adequately address is the salary gap between early childcare providers and elementary school teachers, a major setback in improving the quality of education according to Oliveira.
“The salary of a childcare provider in Connecticut is $20,000-$25,000 a year,” she said. “That does not compare to teachers’ $40,000-$45,000 a year with union benefits and summers off.”
The achievements made under Rell to incorporate businesses in the policy-making for early childhood education have broadened the scope of action Connecticut law-makers take to enrich 21st century talent, Hanley said.
“The lesson we’ve learned through our collaboration with business is to be aware of the big picture,” she said.
###
