Early Care Benchmark Opinion Research

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Early CareBenchmark Opinion Research
Bruce Barcelo BarceloCompany For Childrens
Campaign, Inc.
Were in the public support business
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Methodology TelephoneSurvey Research

• Total completed responses n 800
• Standard deviation 3.5 (95 confidence
  factor)
• Likely voters
• Florida state-wide
• Stratified geographically by recent gubernatorial
  turn-out

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Overview (continued)
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Overview(continued)
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Overview(continued)
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Please tell me which two of the following would
have the most long-range positive impact on
Floridas children.

• Doing more to support pre-natal and infant
  health care
• Doing more to help young children become ready to
  enter school
• Helping parents find affordable high quality
  child care

• Improving the quality of public education
• Preventing child abuse
• Reducing teen drop-outs, substance abuse, and
  juvenile crime

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• Florida should do everything it can to ensure
  that every child enters school ready to learn.
• Working parents in Florida need help in finding
  care for their children thats safe, educational,
  and affordable.
• Helping working families with high quality child
  care would make for a better, more productive
  workforce.
• The majority of children today enter school ready
  to learn and succeed.
• Too many poor children today enter school needing
  to catch up with other kids.
• Middle-income families often fall through the
  cracks in getting support they need to raise
  their children.
• School systems spend a lot of money in
  catching-up children who entered the system
  without being ready to learn.

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• How old do you think a child should be before the
  State of Florida should offer early care and
  education opportunities
• In principle, do you agree or disagree that
  Floridas responsibility for public education
  ought to begin earlier than kindergarten?

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I will now ask you about a possible statewide
issue that might be on the ballot next year. It
says Every four-year-old child in Florida
should have a quality learning opportunity made
available by the State of Florida. Would you
vote for or against this issue?
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Informed Ballot Test (continued)
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• The early care and learning effort should include
  high-quality teachers who are specially-trained
  to work with the very young.
• It should emphasize both academic skills and
  social skills like behavior and getting along
  with others.
• It should include faith-based and
  religious-affiliated institutions.
• It should include neighborhood and community
  organizations where possible.
• It should be voluntary - no parents should have
  to participate if they dont want to.
• Government should assist lower and middle-income
  parents by offering to pay up to a standard
  amount.

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Finally, lets assume that the State were to help
lower and middle income parents pay for their
children to attend this voluntary, high-quality
early care and learning program. Please listen
to the following words and for each tell me how
good a job it does of describing assistance
thats fair - both for parents and for the state.

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Given the choice between ... which would you
choose? lower personal taxes and expanded early
care and learning for kids more prison beds and
expanded early care and learning for kids