State funding for pre-K decreased by over half a billion dollars in 2011-2012, the largest one-year drop ever, says a new study from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER),  which has tracked state pre-K since 2002.

The State of Preschool 2012 yearbook cited two other “firsts”: After a decade of growth, enrollment in state pre-K has stalled. And despite stagnant enrollment, state funding per child fell to $3,841 — well below the $5,020 (inflation-adjusted) national average in 2001-2002.

“Even though the nation is emerging from the Great Recession, it is clear that the nation’s youngest learners are still bearing the brunt of the budget cuts,” said NIEER Director Steve Barnett. Reductions were widespread with 27 of 40 states with pre-K programs reporting funding per child declined in 2011-2012.

The adverse consequences of declining funding were manifested in a retrenchment in program quality as well. Seven programs lost ground against benchmarks for quality standards while only three gained. Only 15 states plus the District of Columbia provided enough funding per-child to meet all 10 benchmarks for quality standards. And, only 20 percent of all children enrolled in state-funded pre-K attend those programs. More than half a million children, or 42 percent of nationwide enrollment, were served by programs that met fewer than half of NIEER’s quality standards benchmarks.

NIEER states:

Education in the years before kindergarten plays an important role in preparing our youngest citizens for productive lives in the global economy. Yet, our nation’s public investment in their future through pre-K declined during the recent economic downturn at the very time that parents’ financial capacity to invest in their children was hardest hit. America will pay the price of that lapse for decades to come. Barnett also noted that “while the recession greatly exacerbated the decline in funding, there was already a general trend in the states toward declining funding for quality.” In this respect, President Obama’s new universal pre-K proposal is especially timely. “We have studied the President’s plan and find it provides states with strong incentives to raise quality while expanding access to pre-K. The plan will assist states already leading the way, states that lost ground during the recession, and the 10 states that still have no state-funded pre-K,” he said.

See also Virginia spends $3,800 per child for free public preschool, while Oregon spends $8,500.

OregonLive  reports that Oregon offers a half-day preschool program for $8,500 per child for a half-day Head Start-like program.   Citing The State of Preschool 2013 by the National Institute for Early Education Research, Betsy Hammond reports that Virginia ranks 19th in per-child costs among the 40 states that offer free preschool. It “spends about $3,800 per child, making it representative of the average state.”

Unlike Oregon, Virginia does not provide a nutritious meal as part of its preschool program, the report says. Nor does it send a teacher or other qualified preschool staffer to a child’s home several times a year to coach parents on ways to help improve their child’s behavior, nutrition, happiness and academic readiness.

Hammond also reports that Oregon chose to offer a high-quality program modeled after Head Start and that no other state models all its preschool programs after Head Start. She also reports that Jada Rupley, Oregon’s Early Learning System Director, says that Oregon is behind the curve nationally when it comes to adding other, less-costly programs to serve many more 4-year-olds who need something extra to get them ready for kindergarten but who may not need all the comprehensive services of Head Start.

In Fairfax, school budget talks focus on early-child education. Holly Hobbs reports that Head Start programs are located in 59 elementary schools and three secondary and high schools which have courses teaching caretaker skills. “Estimates on the cost per-student vary from about $11,000 to $16,000, depending on the number of students served and fixed costs of running the program.”

Hobbs quotes  Fairfax County School Board member Elizabeth Schultz (Springfield) and Megan McLaughlin (Braddock) as saying that a lower cost per child could allow more students to attend public preschools.

Correction: An earlier version incorrectly listed the date of The State of Preschool 2013.

It’s interesting that letter grades are a relatively recent innovation in schools. Michael Thomsen notes that Mount Holyoke College introduced a letter-based scale in 1897. “By the 1930s, the ABC approach had been adopted by a wide group of schools and universities around the country and, not coincidentally, would be reabsorbed by a number of industrial interests, including dairy, beef, poultry, and plywood. That’s some A+ plywood!)

Thomsen argues against letter grades in this Slate Magazine article: The case against grades: They lower self-esteem, discourage creativity, and reinforce the class divide.

Correction: The title in original post had an extra word. Thanks to Walt Carlson for pointing out the error (5/5/13).

Last night the Fairfax County School Board unanimously approved the hiring of Dr. Karen Garza as the Division Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2017. “She comes to Fairfax County with a deep commitment to openness and engagement and is eager to work collaboratively in the best interest of all students,” said Ilryong Moon, Fairfax County School Board Chairman. “As Dr. Garza knows, the bar is set high in Fairfax County.”

Actually, a few of the bars are set rather low, practically on the ground. Fairfax provides precious little time in school for the elementary school students. I hope the school board will work quickly to end the dysfunctional Monday early dismissal policy for the elementary schools. It is an encouraging sign that Garza has held responsible positions in   school districts which provide longer than average school days for the students. Clearly, in Fairfax County it would not be “in the best interest of all students” to continue weekly early dismissals for the elementary school students.

“I humbly thank the Fairfax County School Board for this wonderful opportunity,” said Garza. “I pledge to be responsive and accountable to all FCPS stakeholders and will work tirelessly in support of the efforts already underway to provide FCPS students a world-class education. As superintendent, I plan to be very visible. The best part of my day will be when I’m in schools to be with children and to better understand the needs of our schools.”

For the past four years, Garza has been the superintendent of the Lubbock Independent School District, which serves approximately 30,000 students in Lubbock, Texas.  Prior to her role in Lubbock, Dr. Garza served as the chief academic officer of the Houston Independent School District, the seventh largest school district in the country. As chief academic officer, the district’s second position to the Superintendent, Dr. Garza was responsible for both instruction and facilities for more than 200,000 students.

See also New Fairfax superintendent led a school district with longer school days.

Brian Palmer asks, Why do we suspend children from school? “Today, many school districts have draconian codes of conduct that impose suspension for such trivial offenses as gum chewing or, ironically, truancy,” he says.

“Despite the lack of reliable data, politicians pushed for more suspensions in the mid-1990s,” Palmer reports. “The 1994 Gun-Free Schools Act required schools to expel students caught with guns for a year, kicking off the ‘zero tolerance’ movement.”

One of the reasons suspension sticks around is that the alternatives require more money and effort, at least up front. Researchers suggest pairing in-school suspension with regular counseling, or offering so-called positive behavior support classes, which teach appropriate conduct in the same way schools teach writing or mathematics. Other creative solutions include youth courts, in which students sit in judgment of one another, or restorative circles, which involves bringing together the offender and the victim with other students to work out a fair resolution to conflict. Still, most reformers concede that suspension has its place, especially in the immediate aftermath of violence.

Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, the firm that is assisting with the search for a new superintendent, has apparently goaded some members of the Fairfax County School Board into complaining about the citizens who dominate the conversation about our school system.  They are a “small number” of citizens. This small number needs to be augmented by more “non-organized parents.”  

Does it really make sense for the Fairfax County School Board to encourage even more people to present reasoned suggestions that are then completely ignored? This dubious criticism of the current collection of citizen advocates is contained in the “Roles and Goals Workshop” that will be held next Monday.  This includes a “Wish List for Board Improvement” that was derived from a meeting held June 8, 2012.

Here are some of the bullet points under the heading “Board’s Relationship with the Public”:

• Acknowledge that a small number of citizens dominate the conversation about our school system

• Include broader spectrum

• Be improved if not skewed by squeaky wheels

• Be respectful and collaborative (mutual)

• Be less combative/confrontational (mutual)

• Broader – more need for non-organized parents

I certainly hope that the Fairfax County School Board will make a more concerted effort to meet the needs of students and the concerns of parents, whether they are organized or not. Don’t sit around waiting for non-organized parents to jump through hoops. Just do the right thing.

Sequestration to force unpaid leave on military base teachers. According to this Washington Times article, “about 8,350 teachers at military elementary, middle and high schools around the world will be forced to take one day of unpaid leave each week for 22 weeks.”

From the people who brought you elected school boards, now comes–grades for schools! Instead of actually doing anything to help schools, such as insisting on better schedules, the Virginia General Assembly has now passed legislation that would direct the Virginia Board of Education to devise grading scales from A-F for all public schools.

The Washington Post reports “Republican House Majority Leader Kirk Cox of Colonial Heights, a retired teacher, and other supporters said the grading system is the only way to hold underperforming schools to account and that it would stimulate parental involvement in failing schools.”

What an inspiring call to action to parents! If the parents weren’t involved in their schools already, our wise solons think that that a grade of D or F for local schools will inspire helpful parental action, perhaps leading to a grade of A or B!

Watchdog.org quotes Chris Braunlich, a former Fairfax County Public Schools board member:

“Accountability and transparency can exist only with a system that is understandable and can be acted upon,” Braunlich told Watchdog.org in an email. “An A-F grading system will simplify that system, help parents and the community more fully understand the performance of their local school, and create the kind of community conversations that can lead the drive for better schools based on improved school achievement. It will increase parental and community involvement, and that’s what we seek in education.”

The Fairfax County School Board already has enough parental and community involvement. It often pays little or no attention to suggestions made at public hearings. What it has been lacking since the days of appointed school boards is a willingness to challenge the status quo on important issues.

Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder. –Mason Cooley