More Federal Preschool Funds Coming for Low-Income Manchester Kids

Excerpts (with paragraphs rearranged and subheadings added) of an announcement from the Governor’s Office and the state’s congressional delegation:

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Connecticut’s Congressional delegation today announced that Connecticut has been awarded nearly $12.5 million in discretionary federal funding to expand high-quality preschool.

Connecticut’s application aligns with the state’s strong existing preschool infrastructure to expand access to high-quality state-funded preschool programs for 428 children and to improve the quality of state-funded preschool programs for another 284 children, for a total of 712 four-year-olds who are at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Line in 14 high-need communities.

The 14 communities are Bridgeport, Derby, East Haven, Griswold, Groton, Hamden, Hebron, Killingly, Manchester, Naugatuck, Seymour, Torrington, Vernon, and Wolcott.

The 14 communities participating in the expansion will have high-quality preschool programs which:

• offer comprehensive services to children and families;
• offer teacher compensation equal to K-12 teachers;
• deepen family engagement practices at the local level;
• forge a seamless birth-through-third-grade continuum at the local level; and
• have an enhanced professional development system offering more targeted and individualized coaching, mentoring and consultation designed to meet the unique needs of programs and teachers within the programs.

The funding was awarded by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services through a competitive grant process and was announced today by Secretary Burwell of the Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Duncan of the Department of Education.

The process and other pre-school programs in Connecticut

Thirteen out of 27 states that applied for competitive grants to expand high-quality preschool programs were awarded over $170 million in federal funding.

In addition to Connecticut, the states that received funding are Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.

“This opportunity to use federal funding to expand high-quality preschool in Connecticut comes at a time when we are making great strides toward achieving universal access to preschool for our state’s young children,” stated Dr. Myra Jones-Taylor, Commissioner for the Office of Early Childhood.

In June, Governor Malloy announced the allocation of an additional 1,020 additional School Readiness opportunities for low-income children in 46 towns and cities throughout Connecticut.

The increase is part of a five-year plan to expand state-funded preschool to serve a total of 4,010 more low-income children by 2019. In 2012, Governor Malloy approved a similar expansion of 1,000 School Readiness opportunities for children throughout the state.

In addition, Public Act 14-41 established the Connecticut Smart Start Program which is intended to expand preschool opportunities for low-income children in public schools.

Connecticut Smart Start will provide grants in FY15 for the renovation of existing public school classrooms to accommodate public preschool programs. Proposals for Smart Start funding are due from local and regional boards of education on December 19.

Connecticut elected officials comment

“We have a fundamental responsibility to provide an opportunity for all children to succeed, and one of the best ways to do that is to make sure they have access to a high-quality early learning experience,” said Governor Malloy.

“These federal funds will allow us to expand high-quality preschool to serve over 400 additional children and improve the quality of preschool for nearly 300 more children in low-income families, giving them the necessary foundation to succeed in school and life.”

Governor Malloy added, “I also thank our entire Congressional Delegation, particularly Congresswoman DeLauro, who is the senior Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee responsible for both departments and who secured funding for this program in last year’s omnibus appropriations act.”

“Countless studies have shown that these early years are critical for a kid’s development and success in the long run, said U.S. Senator Chris Murphy. [...]

“Every child deserves a high-quality education. I applaud Governor Malloy for his tireless commitment to early childhood education and know this grant will further enhance the efforts he has already set in motion,” said U.S. Rep. John B. Larson (D - 1st district).

Picture (Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons) by Marjory Collins (1943): “Buffalo, New York. Lakeview nursery school for children of working mothers [...]”