Carpio1

JocelynCarpio

Ms.Moore

ENGL1302.01

30April2017

LocalTaxationorGovernmentFunding?

Earlychildhoodeducationispivotalforthedevelopmentofyoungchildren.Also,itis

importantthattheparentsknowtheirchildrenarereceivingqualitychildcareandeducation.

Workingmarriedparents,singleworkingparentsandfamiliesfromlowincomesareall

concernedabouthowtheirchildscareservices,theeducationtheywillbelearningandhowit

benefitstheirchild.Concernsofseparateeducationqualitybetweensocietalclassesand

affordabilityofsendingtheirchildrentoschooltroubleparents.Schoolsystemsarefundedby

thegovernmenttoprovidequalityeducationforstudents.Thereareseparatefundssettoprovide

schoolsmoneyfortheirprekindergartendepartmentsanddiscussionaboutusingthosefundsfor

universalprek.Also,proposalsfromlocalgovernmentsthattalkabouttaxingthecommunityto

fundatsustainprekindergartenprograms.Thetopicofuniversalprekisnotnewbutnewand

differentproposalshavebeenpresentedtotryanddiscoverawaytofundandsustainafully

governmentfundedprekprogramforallfamiliesindifferentsocialclasses.Statesshould

continuetoresearchhowtofundprekprogramswiththefundingtheyreceivefromthe

governmentthatnotonlyhelpschoolsystemsbuthelpneedyfamilies.

InjusttheshortamountoftimethatPresidentBarakObamawasinoffice,in2014,he

proposedaplanforuniversalprekasasolutiontohelpmothersacrossAmerica.Hewantedto

setaside$1.4billiontoexpandpublicchildcareservicesand$75billionoverthenextdecade
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toinvestinexpandingaccesstoqualitypreschool(Glynn1.)Seeingthathisfocusovertimeis

toimproveprekindergartenprogramsacrossthenationitseemshewassettohelpsingle

mothersmorethanhelpingvulnerablefamilies.Hehopedtohelpbalancetheirworkand

caregivingresponsibilitieswithoutputtingtheirchildswellbeingortheirownjobsatrisks

(Glynn1.)Manypropositionsarewrittentohelpneedyfamiliesbuthardlyexpresshowhelp

maintaintheprogramsandhowbeneficialitwillbeforallfamilieswithchildrenwhoare

enrolledinprekindergarten.

InsteadofusinggovernmentfundingforprekandchildcareprogramsNewYorkCity

Mayor,BilldeBlasio,believestaxingthecitystop1.4%ofwageearnerstosupportchildren

fromneedyfamilieswilldissolvetheriftofeducationbetweenchildren.(Reed1)Hebelieves

thereisaseparationofeducationamongchildrenwhohavewealthyparentsandthosewhoare

fromlowincomefamiliesandthatsameeducationforall4yearoldsshouldbethatsame

despitesocialclass.DeBlasiosplanismoreofalocalsituationwhereasObamasisnationwide

andthatethnicandincomereasonsarewhatcausesaneducationalgapbetweenstudents.His

planincludesto:

Estimatethat73,250familiesarelikelytoneedafulldayprekoptionfortheir4year

old.Currently,fewerthat27percentofthese4yearoldshaveaccessthoseservices.The

remaining53,767childrenareeitherinahalfdayfreepreKprogram,afreehalfday

programwithafeechargedfortheremainderoftheday,orreceivefulldayservicesat

programsthatcontractwiththeAdministrationforChildrensServices,combininghalf

dayUPKwithChildCareandHeadStartservices.The12,681childreninACSprograms

mustmeetincomeeligibilityrequirementsand,insomecases,payChildCarefees.Even
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iftheseseatsarealsocountedasexistingfulldayoptions,thatstillleavesapproximately

41,000childreninneedoffulldayservices70percentofwhomareinhighneedareas.

(Gomez26)

Hebelievesthattaxationwillbeanextrafundthatcanbeusedtoprovideneedychildrenwith

qualityeducationbuttherearealsostatefundsthatwillnotcauseanunbalancetolocalincome.

Theremanygovernmentfundedprogramsthathelpfamilies,HeadStartwasoneofthe

firstbutthequalitywasnotuptostandards.HeadStartprogramswereintroducedin1965,to

givepoorpreschoolageschildrentheskilltheywouldneedtosucceedinschoolnotnecessarily

aschooleducationjustenoughforthemtounderstand.(Gormley1)Theyaremorelikeachild

carefacilitythatarefundedthroughgrantsprovidebythegovernmentshouldtheymeet

requirements.Whenprekindergartenprogramsbecameadepartmentwithinschoolsystems,

administrationsweregiventwotypesoffeudalfunding,ChildCareandDevelopmentFund

(CCDF)andtheTemporaryAssistanceforNeedyFamilies(TANF).(Greenburg2)Toreceive

thesefundingschoolsneedtosubmitaninitiativethatdescribewhattheirplanistomakeuseof

themoney.Sineuniversalprekhasmadethe,tasktoachieve,mostschooladministrationswant

tousethemoneyforanallfundedprekindergarten.Stateswouldgetabout$4.8billioninCCDF

fundsand$16.5billioninTANFfundstouseformanypurposesbutwithrequirements.

(Greenburg2)Thesetwofundshavethreedifferentwaystheycanbestreamedintotheschool

fund.Childrenwhoareeligible,theirfamilyincomeisbelow85%ofstatemedianincome,a

parentisworkingorineducation/training(inwhichthechildneedsprotectionservices,)be

usedforhelpingprekprogramscostcategorizedasqualityofchildcareorusedtohelppay

thecostofprekenrollmentforstudentsfromlowincomefamilies.(Greenburg3)Thesefunds
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canbeusedinmanywaybutitishowstateswanttousethefundingforallpaidprekindergarten

programs.

CCDFisthemainsourceoffundingstatesreceiveforlowincomefamiliesandisalways

improvinghowitisusedforchildcareandallstatesqualifyforthisfundingbutdoneedto

provideastateplantobeacceptedbytheU.SDepartmentofHealthandHumanServices(HHS.)

Sincethisfunddoesdealwiththemajorityofchildservicesprovidingaplantoforeseewhat

plansstateshavefortheirdepartmentsandstatealsowantstoknowhowtheycanusethe

fundingfortheirprekindergartenprograms.Therearethreeways,activitiesincludebutnot

limited,astatecanusetheirfundingforchildcare:waystoeducationparentsandthepublic

abouttheprograms,toallowparentalchoiceandtoimprovethequalityandavailabilityofchild

care.(Greenburg6)Soitisjustfindingwaystousethefundingforprekprogramsandto

prolongthem.

AswellfortheTANFfund,whichhasimproved,asanimportantfundforchildservices

andforlowincomefamilies.Createdin1996,thisfundhelpsneedyfamiliessothattheirchild

receivescareintheirhomesorthoseoffamilymembers,encouragingjoblessparentstofindjob

intheirskillsetssothattheycanendtheirdependenceofgovernmentfunds,andtoreduce

wedlockpregnanciesandtheupkeepoftwoparentshomes.Thisgrantsgoalisoverallhelping

familiestoarchiveanincometohelptheirchildrenreceiveapropereducation.Stateswoulduse

thisgranttowardstheirpreschoolprogramsbytreatingthecostofpreklikechildcareservices

andusingthefundstoprovidefundsforneedyfamilies.Also,aroadblock,whoisallowedto

receivethesefundsisdefindedasassistanceandnonassistance,theTANFfundseemsto
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havemanyrestrictionstofundchildcarebecauseitcanalsohelpneedyfamilieswhokids

qualifyforassistance.

Statesarefundedtoruntheirschoolsystemsandusethesegrantstoimprovetheirprek

departmentandwiththediscussionaboutuniversalprek,administrationsaretryingtofindways

tousethesegrantstocreatepreschoolprogramsthatbenefitallchildrenfromdifferentsocial

classes.Whenotherproposalsplantosetasidegovernmentfundingforchildcareservicesthen

workuptoprovidefundingforallprekprograms.Othersarelookingforlocalfunding,taxing

thewealthiesttofunduniversalprekfortheneediestfamilies.Also,usinggovernmentfunds

appointedtostatesthataretohelpspecificallychildrenandtheirfamilieswhoneedassistants.

Whenlookingatallplanstheyseemtohavecomplicationsofhowtokeepthefundingfortheir

programsandtokeepthemsuccessful.

Thepopularityofprekprogramshasincreasedtonow4050states,accordingtothe

NationalInstituteforEarlyEducationResearch(NEER),nowhaveprekindergartenprograms

availablealldayorhalfdayfor4yearolds.(White398)Allthreeproposalshavetheirprosbut

dohavetheirflawsbecausetokeepfundingfortheseprogramstheyneedtobesuccessful.

Universalprekindergartenbenefitsallsocialsclasses.Workingparentsbenefitfromalldaypre

kprogramsbecauseoftheirworkschedules.Lowincomefamilieswouldalsobenefitfromthese

programsbecauseitwouldallowtheirchildrentoreceivethesameeducationasallkids.States

canlookattheseproposalsandfindwaytousegovernmentfundingtohelptheirprograms.But

universalprekforchildrenfromlowincomefamilies,whoneedgovernmentassistanceandfor

thosewhoparentsbenefitfromalldayprekprogramswillbedifficultconsideringthepolitical

challengestofindfunding.
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Earlychildhoodeducationinimportantforchildrenbecausetheirmindsarenowableto

retaininformationthatwillhelpthemoncetheybegindiscoveringskills.Prekisnotavailableto

allchildrenbecauseofthefinancialdifficultiessomefamilieshavesotheideaofuniversalpre

kindergartenistoalloweducationtoallchildrenfromdifferentsocialandfinancialclassesto

receivethesameeducation.Theproposalsofwaysuniversalprekcanbecomeastableprogram

inschoolsystemsistofindasustainablesourceoffundingthatcanprovidequalityeducationfor

studentsandtomaintaintheprograms.Statesshouldlookatwheretostart,locallythenmoving

uptonationalfundingtobesureofthesuccessofpaidprekprograms.
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WorksCited

Glynn,SarahJane,etal.TheImportanceofPreschoolandChildCareforWorkingMothers.

CenterforAmericanProgress,CenterforAmericanProgress,07May2013.EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED565360&site=ehostlive.

Accessed28February2017.

GomezVelez,Natalie.CanUniversalPreKOvercomeExtremeRaceandIncomeSegregation

toReachNewYorksNeediestChildren?TheImportanceofLegalInfrastructureandthe

LimitsoftheLaw.ClevelandStateLawReview,vol.63,no.2,May2015,pp.319354.

EBSCOhost,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=102134815&site=ehostlive.Accessed28February2017.

Gormley,WilliamT.,Jr.IsItTimeforUniversalPreK?EducationDigest:Essential

ReadingsCondensedforQuickReview,vol.71,no.4,01Dec.2005,pp.4753.ERIC,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ741207&site=ehost-live. Accessed 20 Apr.

2017.

Greenburg,Mark,etal.FinancingUniversalPreKindergarten:PossibilitiesandTechnical

IssuesforStatesinUsingFundsundertheChildCareandDevelopmentFundand

TemporaryAssistanceforNeedyFamiliesBlockGrant.(Revised).01May2003.

AcademicSearchComplete,http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED475657&site=ehostlive.Accessed20Apr.2017.
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Reed,Betsy.PreKSpreadstheWealth.Nation,vol.298,no.9,03Mar2014,pp.34.

EBSCOhost,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=94415233&site=ehostlive.Accessed29February2017.

White,Linda,etal.PolicyLogics,FramingStrategies,andPolicyChange:Lessonsfor

UniversalPreKPolicyDebatesinCaliforniaandFlorida.PolicySciences,vol.48,

no.4,Dec.2015,PP.395413.AcademicSearchComplete,

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=110814433&site=ehostlive.Accessed20Apr.2017.