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* Remember this story from the other day?…
Dozens of school districts around the state are scrambling to keep preschool programs intact — or to lay off staff — after learning their preschool funding was reduced or zeroed out.
Illinois lawmakers approved $50 million in additional money for preschool this year, so it was a shock to many of the programs to learn their funding was slashed.
* Mark Maxwell looked at some other schools yesterday…
Abrupt cuts to early childhood education programs like the Prevention Initiative and the Early Childhood For All project caught several school districts off guard, especially because their scores met or exceeded the requirements to maintain funding. pic.twitter.com/9fAMFUK8KJ
— Mark Maxwell (@WCIA3Mark) July 12, 2018
The State Board of Education said they simply ran out of money.
* ISBE press release…
Fiscal year 2019 was the first statewide open competition for the Early Childhood Block Grant in a number of years. The process provided funding for 5,000 additional children. However, due to the large number of applicants, the appropriation could not fully meet the need statewide, and not all qualified programs received funding.
The State Board of Education is collaborating with the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development and the Department of Human Services on a solution to fund additional high quality Prevention Initiative and Preschool for All Expansion programs. The agreement will fund programs that met standards (scored 60 or above) and did not initially receive funding for FY 2019 due to the limited funds in the State Board’s appropriation. These programs will receive funding at the same per child cost as other funded programs. The State Board is deeply appreciative of the collaboration to further expand access to high-quality early childhood services.
I’m not sure, though, that the board can find enough. They told Maxwell that they’d need $170 million to make everyone whole. I’m hearing they’re only looking to come up with a fraction of that. We’ll see.
*** UPDATE *** From the Board…
$170 million is the amount we are short for all requests. The $20 million identified will fund all of the eligible programs (those that scored above a 60) at the per child amount - not full requests. So it will put the 60+ programs that qualified for funding at the same level as those that were funded.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 4:00 pm
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== The $20 million identified will fund all of the eligible programs (those that scored above a 60) at the per child amount - not full requests. ==
Translation: we are shorting everyone equally.
Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 4:13 pm
Update on Waukegan, WPS District 60, 06/26/2018 Board Mt:
“The Board of Education voted to accept the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools to fully implement the PreK Program for SY 18-19 with a max allocation of 800 students in all current PreK sites for a cost not to exceed $4.2 Million in the event the ISBE Preschool For All Grant Appeal is not approved.”
Waukegan scored less than 60, so I doubt their appeal will be approved, yet all pre-schoolers will be served.
Comment by Wensicia Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 4:20 pm
And how much are they spending (or will they spend) on the Governor’s election? Can Pritzker and Rauner pledge to just divert $10M each of their campaign funds towards EC? We don’t need another TV ad, but we do need a well prepared future generation.
Comment by amy Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 5:01 pm
Just plain incompetent.
Rev. Meeks, you are in charge what say you?
Crickets.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 9:29 pm
Textbook example of why block-grant funding doesn’t work.
Comment by SweetLou86 Friday, Jul 13, 18 @ 2:20 am
I would argue this is an example of block grant funding working. The State said we could spend a certain amount, criteria were developed so we would get the most value for the money. It now appears we could spend more money and get value. So we can reconsider how much to spend.
This approach helps make good choices. It highlights the trade offs across expenditures.
Comment by Last Bull Moose Friday, Jul 13, 18 @ 9:40 am