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THE ISSUE: From 2017 through 2020, the Pennsylvania General Assembly spent $203 million “just to feed, house, transport, and provide rental offices and other perks for lawmakers and their staffs,
The Chestnut Ridge preschool program was recently evaluated by a representative of PreK Counts in order to receive continued grant funding. The evaluation process includes a program review by a state-appointed specialist, who comes to the district yearly to observe instruction and analyze the operations of the program. This year, an evaluation was done virtually due to COVID-19. The program is evaluated on 36 indicators, including ratio, teacher and paraprofessional qualifications and continued education, instruction, enrollment, classroom and school environment and audits. âMrs. Bowser ...
But even with these investments, Pennsylvania is nowhere near the level of funding that NIEER recommends. The report calls for $12,000 per student, compared to the $6,850 per student the state spends now. And while Pennsylvania has increased overall spending on early childhood, it has not increased the basic rate of reimbursement for child care services since 2007. Quality or access? Maintaining quality and standards is a tall order in the state’s complex public-private system of child care and early childhood education. The state measures quality through its Keystone Stars rating system, e...
The pandemic was no match for the evolution of early childhood education in Franklin County. In September, First Start Partnerships for Children and Families officially opened the Chambersburg Early Learning Center. Although a COVID-19 surge changed plans to welcome preschoolers to the classrooms in November, a remote program was put in place until students could safely enter the new school in March. The facility hosts six Pre-K Counts classrooms, each with 18 students. Overall, First Start Partnerships – formerly known as Franklin County Head Start – ensures 712 children from low- to ...
Luzerne County Head Start Inc. will re-open 20 of its classrooms for in-person preschool services March 15 at 15 different sites in Luzerne and Wyoming counties. It will be for 131 preschool-aged children â approximately 10% of children LCHS is funded to serve. Classrooms have been closed for in-person learning since March 2020, with the exception of two Wyoming County sites that opened for a brief period in November before closing again due to increasing COVID-19 cases. âThe benefits of in-person preschool services for young children are invaluable. They learn social and emotional ...