Expanding access to high quality preschool in Virginia

1
Expanding access to high- quality preschool in
Virginia

• Start Strong CouncilMarch 21, 2007
• Katherine Busser, Chair

2
Finance Task Force Responsibilities

• Finance task force to consider
• Options for allocation expansion
• Realistic full program costs
• Projections for reasonable growth over 5 years
• Funding mechanisms including direct
  appropriation, parent contributions, and tax and
  other incentives for private business and
  individual support

3
Growth of High Quality Pre-K

• Pre-K initiative is addressing the barriers to
  full enrollment and consistency of quality in
  VPI, clearing the way for more children to access
  high quality preschool.
• The Finance Task Force has the responsibility to
  explore options for expansion in order to make
  recommendations for appropriate growth of the
  initiative.

4
Current VPI Allocation Formula

• VPI allocation from the state to localities is
  based on number of 4-year-olds in families at or
  below 130 of federal poverty level (free lunch).
  
• Children served by Head Start are then
  subtracted, making 18,700 4-year-olds eligible
  for VPI.
• Approximately 12,000 are currently enrolled at a
  state cost of 47 million.

5
Expansion of VPI 2002-2007
6
Options for ExpansionThe Finance Task Force will
explore increasing eligibility based on

• Federal Poverty Level
• Percent of local median income
• Sliding scale to expand access with parent
  contribution / reduced public cost
• Concentration of children in poverty
• Percentage of need for intervention at local level

Note expansion can be phased in over a number of
years.
7
Option Increase Eligibility to 185 FPL - Free
and Reduced Price Lunch

• Consider expansion of eligibility to 185 of
  federal poverty level (free and reduced price
  lunch), making an additional 7,000 children
  eligible.
• This would cost an additional 35 million if
• 12K 6K 7K 25,000 enrolled.

8
Option Consider indexed indicator

• Since criteria based on FPL ignore local
  variation, consider a different socioeconomic
  status measure based on local median family
  income.
• Low and moderate income refers to families with
  incomes below 80 of local median family income.
• Consider allocation to localities and program
  growth based on eligibility at a percentage of
  median income. Percentage rate can be adjusted as
  program grows.

9
Option Add Sliding Scale

• A sliding tuition scale for children from
  families above a certain income level could add
  more students at limited cost to state and
  localities

10
Option Expand in communities with high
concentration of poverty

• Since a direct relationship between the
  concentration of poverty in a community and
  student performance has been documented,
• Consider increasing allocation to localities
  similar to Virginias at-risk add-on funding for
  K-12, which is based on the percentage of free
  lunch participants in each locality.

11
Option Increase Allocation to Localities Based
on Need for Intervention

• Consider increasing allocation to localities with
  high proportion of children scoring low on
  pre-literacy screening (PALS) at K entry.
• Across the state in localities, the percentage of
  children not meeting readiness benchmark ranges
  from about 7 to 40.

12
Realistic Costs to be Considered As Expansion is
Explored

• Cost per pupil
• Per-pupil expenditures are currently figured at
  5,700. Studies are underway to determine true
  cost of providing quality comprehensive preschool
  services.
• Cost of administering a quality programVPI
  allocation does not include funding for child
  assessment, program evaluation, or quality
  assurance, and very little for technical
  assistance and monitoring.
• Cost of expanding early childhood workforce
• As program expands, workforce needs must be
  addressed education programs, in-service
  training, scholarships and loans, incentive
  programs.