The benefits of early education, both in the short- and long-term, are beyond dispute. The state Executive Office on Early Learning posted some startling figures from the Urban Child Institute on its website.
Among the data points: Pre-kindergarten testing indicates that 67% of children who have attended pre-K programs are found “ready for school” at age 5, compared with 28% of those who lacked that early learning experience. By age 40, 76% of the pre-K cohort are employed and have a savings account; no-pre-K, 62% and 50%, respectively.
These are some national stats, but underlying the promising new state “Ready Keiki” program are the worrisome local facts as well. Fully half of Hawaii’s more than 35,000 3- and 4-year-olds have not attended preschool, according to the proposal unveiled last week by Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke.
After subtracting the 7,000-plus keiki whose families have opted out of preschool for at-home care or other reasons, that leaves nearly 9,300 children who are underserved — and whom a “universal preschool” initiative seeks to reach.
This has been a key plank in Gov. Josh Green’s campaign platform, with Luke now designated to stand at the helm.
Success for this 10-year campaign, which is proposed to launch this year fueled by $200 million for opening more public preschool classrooms, will depend on a vigorous outreach to bring more children into the system.
Additionally, work toward another objective, to educate the workforce that will fill added teaching slots, must begin now. The goal is a component that is foundational and will take years to bring to fruition.
This is not the first time a state administration has championed universal preschool. About a decade ago, then-Gov. Neil Abercrombie sought to expand preschool coverage by directing state funds to the network of existing private preschools.
This ran into constitutional problems over the private disposition of taxpayer money; a proposed constitution amendment subsequently failed.
But state funding for a subsidy program known as Preschool Open Doors has continued. The distinction is that the subsidies go to qualifying low-income families and not to the schools themselves. So far, Luke said in an interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, this has not faced a legal challenge.
Among the critics of the Abercrombie plan was the Hawaii State Teachers Association, the union arguing in favor of a public preschool system with public employees who, to be sure, would be HSTA members.
Luke says point-blank that the goal of Ready Keiki is to craft a “mixed delivery” public-private system, increasing the subsidies to seat more children as soon as possible.
The HSTA’s position at this point is unclear, though that’s not surprising given that legislation spelling out the particulars has not yet been introduced.
For example, Luke said, the bill’s language would have to enable the inclusion of 3-year-olds; current state preschool funding is for 4-year-olds in the months before eligibility to enroll in kindergarten. It also would request $40 million to expand the Open Doors tuition subsidy program.
HSTA President Osa Tui Jr. said in a written statement to the Star-Advertiser that “preschool is important to get students ready for success in kindergarten.
“The HSTA wants to ensure that as much of our public taxpayer money is going to public facilities, public teachers, and public schools as possible.”
Encouragingly, this does not signal hard-and-fast opposition to public money for subsidizing Open Doors, which is run by the state Department of Human Services; the union represents teachers of the state Department of Education.
Tui also acknowledged the need for assistance to many families for whom preschool, critical as it may be, is financially out of reach.
The limitations are geographic as well as economic. In many Hawaii neighborhoods, especially in poorer, often remote areas, preschool capacity is low or absent completely.
That’s why, aided by the funds appropriated last session to build or renovate facilities, the priority for adding space must be placed on such underserved communities.
There are several advantages of pursuing this goal that didn’t exist in the 2010s. One is the assembly of private foundations and other partners, such as Hawai‘i Community Foundation, Harold K.L. Castle Foundation and Kamehameha Schools. These will be critical in raising the funds that will help sustain the effort.
There is also the new School Facilities Authority, which has jurisdiction to shepherd through construction and renovations on properties external as well as internal to the DOE. That’s key, because the administration hopes some classrooms can be built at the University of Hawaii and other sites to enlarge teacher-training capacity.
Ready Keiki faces a long road before leaders can achieve its aims. But its initial framework sets it up for success — a good place to start the journey.
