PreK: Who can help?
Vermont Community Preschool Collaborative
By now you are confident that preschool is important, it is possible to pay for publicly funded preschool without adding to the homestead tax rate, and there are a number of key players who can help make preschool happen. What are the next steps?
Get started: Contact Mark Sustic or Sherry Carlson at the Vermont Community Preschool Collaborative (www.permanentfund.org/vcpc) to discuss your ideas and interests. Mark or Sherry can help you orient an approach to organizing your community to put together a plan for publicly funded preschool. You can also contact your regional Childcare Resource and Referral Agency (www.vermontchildcare.org) for advice.
Lay Your Groundwork: Have individual conversations with some or all of the stakeholders mentioned above. Ask what they know about the benefits of preschool and the possibilities for starting publicly funded preschool. Share with them what you know. Understand their concerns but ask for their support. Organize other parents and get their commitment in name if not in person. Assess your most supportive allies and nurture their involvement. Always ask them what they might need from you.
A public conversation: Develop an agenda for a public conversation to articulate opportunities and build relationships. Ask the Childcare Resource and Referral Agency if there is an existing early childhood planning group or council who meets regularly and if you could get on their agenda. If not, work with the superintendent or a school board member or childcare provider(s) to organize a meeting, and invite other parents and the key stakeholders we’ve already mentioned. Be prepared to discuss the importance of preschool and public funding for preschool in Vermont works. Make an estimate of the number of preschoolers in the community. Find out where they now go for childcare or preschool. Assess the capacity for childcare in the community to deliver high quality preschool. Set clear outcomes for a meeting that could include identifying who can deliver quality preschool, making a commitment to working out cooperative agreements between the school district and childcare providers, and developing a strategy for you and your partners to take your request to a school board meeting.
Funding the first two years
The Vermont Community Preschool Collaborative has grant funds available to implement and support high quality preschool programs through their first two years until public ADM funds provide a permanent source of funding. Work with your VCPC consultant to develop a grant proposal. You will need to define the need for preschool in your community, identify working partners who can deliver preschool, and create a time frame and budget for creating preschool.
The Vermont Community Preschool Collaborative also realizes that starting a publicly funded preschool can become complex. Planning grants are available to help communities create a strategy for implementing preschool.
What challenges should you be concerned about?
Everyone you encounter may not share your passion for creating publicly funded preschool in your community. The Superintendent probably understands the importance of preschool, but there may be differences in opinion about whether preschool should be school-based or childcare-based. Every Superintendent has urgent priorities that can get in the way of planning for new programs. High turnover in leadership in the Superintendent’s office or other key leadership positions disrupts the continuity of planning discussions. Also, the Superintendent can only get involved if the school board agrees preschool is a priority. Some school board members may be ideologically opposed to preschool because they believe educating young children is a family responsibility. Center-based and home-based childcare providers will have different needs and feel different impacts depending on how preschool is implemented.
Who else should I talk with?
Other parents
Other parents of preschool age children probably want access to publicly supported preschool in the same way that you do. A partnership between the public school and childcare providers helps meet parents’ desire for high quality affordable childcare and making sure their children are ready to enter Kindergarten. Because childcare and preschool can be provided simultaneously, this partnership ensures that children’s and parents’ schedules are not disrupted.
Others involved in the lives of young children
You should be aware that there are a host of other professionals and volunteers who care about the link between childcare and early education. Pediatricians, librarians, social workers and others all have an interest positive outcomes for children, and they will recognize preschool as an important strategy in attaining those outcomes. Early Childhood Coordinators and the regional Childcare Resource and Referral Agency (www.vermontchildcare.org) also work closely with the childcare community
Other resources
For additional support, contact:
- Mark Sustic or Sherry Carlson at the Vermont Community Preschool Collaborative, www.permanentfund.org/vcpc
- Your local Childcare Resource and Referral Agency, www.vermontchildcare.org
- Vermont Department of Education Early Education Coordinator Manuela Fonseca at (802) 828-3850 or manuela.fonseca@state.vt.us
- Vermont’s Early Childhood Resource Directory: http://education.vermont.gov/new/pdfdoc/pgm_earlyed/pubs/educ_early_childhood_directory.pdf
You may also want to talk to other parents who have helped create publicly funded preschools in their community. Ask Mark and Sherry at VCPC to put you in touch with another parent who can provide support and talk you through an approach that makes sense for you and your community.
