Data gathered shows Springfield wants universal pre-K

Date: 12/8/2008

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



SPRINGFIELD Is the Pioneer Valley ready to support a Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) program? Does it want to?

Those were the questions asked of parents of young children by Opinion Dynamics Corporation (ODC) in a survey conducted from June 27 to July 29. The answers were discussed during a meeting of the members of the Cherish Every Child Initiative last Tuesday at the Community Music School of Springfield.

Cherish Every Child is an initiative of the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation and is working to realize the vision that every child entering kindergarten is ready for school, healthy and fully prepared for learning success.

Earlier this year, Gov. Deval Patrick stated, "I pledge to you that we will increase funding further in the coming budget and we will stay on the path of annual increases until we have delivered on the promise of universal, high-quality early education for every child in this Commonwealth." He signed an Act Relative to Early Education and Care into law in July.

His promise was made before the country entered a recession, but Fifth Bristol District State Rep. Patricia Haddad, also House Chair of the Joint Committee on Education, plans on moving the Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) initiative forward.

"UPK has received a small cut [in funding]," she said, "and in the grand scheme, it is a minor cut. But going forward to fiscal year 2010, we're already talking about an eight percent cut across the board ... but the legislature is committed to UPK ... This can be a real opportunity to advance Massachusetts."

UPK would provide early education to any child three to five years old whose family wanted the child to receive it. The survey conducted by ODC asked 300 caregivers in Springfield and 100 caregivers in Holyoke whether or not they'd be interested in UPK and what they would be looking for in such a program.

Caregivers ranged in age from under 18 to over 45, and the majority of caregivers' household incomes totaled less than $30,000 a year. The majority of caregivers in both cities were Latino. In Springfield and Holyoke eight percent of caregivers were unemployed.

The survey found that less than half of these cities' children regularly receive early education and care from non-family sources. A statewide survey conducted in 2006 found the state average to be only eight percent.

"We wanted to get a sense [of] why they [the survey takers] didn't use non-family care," Chris Anderson of ODC said.

In Springfield, the two biggest reasons listed were caregivers only wanting family members to care for their children and the cost of such care. In Holyoke, the reasons spread across the board: only wanting family members to care for children, inability to find good quality care, cost, inability to find care with well-educated teachers, inability to find convenient care and care only available in unsafe neighborhoods.

Those who currently enroll their children in early education or care programs pay approximately $120 a week for the service.

When asked how interested caregivers would be in a high quality UPK program, 83 percent of Springfield caregivers said they were, and 77 percent of those in Holyoke agreed. If the program were offered at the same price caregivers pay now, a similar number of caregivers said they would use the program more or about the same.

The numbers did not change drastically when caregivers were asked if they'd be interested in UPK if it were offered free of charge. Eighty-nine percent of those in Springfield said yes, as did 82 percent of those in Holyoke.

"This is the key data that Northeastern [Center for Labor Studies] is using to come up with a cost estimate [for UPK]," Anderson explained.

The key findings of the survey were that Springfield and Holyoke children are much less likely to receive non-family early education and care than children statewide, and that caregivers utilizing early education and care are largely satisfied, but see significant room for improvement in the areas of safety, convenience of hours and curriculum quality.

"The gap is communicating what is available, what benefits are available," one member of the audience stated.

Another asked if there would be space in programs for all the children in the area if UPK were implemented. Margaret Blood of Strategies for Children said that across the Commonwealth, programs are wanting for children.

Haddad said that to make UPK a reality, those who support it have a job of supporting State Rep. Thomas Petrolati (of the Seventh Hampden District), State Rep. James Welch (of the Sixth Hampden District), State Rep. Michael Kane (of the Fifth Hampden District) and Sen. Stephen Buoniconti (of the Hampden District, including Agawam, Chicopee, Springfield and West Springfield), all of whom are in favor of UPK.

"Your job is to support [them] so when they go in, this [early education] is a place for at least level funding," Haddad said. "Assure them that this is beyond the best support for kids."

For more information on how the program is moving forward, visit www.eec.state.ma.us.