Financing Child Care in the United States - Ewing Marion Kauffman ...

UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN
PROGRAM (NEW YORK STATE)
DESCRIPTION
New York State’s Universal PreKindergarten program
(U–PreK) provides state funding to local school districts.
Quality preschool programs are developed, which support
family needs and use the available early childhood
resources in a community. The goal of this program is
universal opportunity for all 4–year–olds in the state to
participate in voluntary preschool education programs.
WHEN ESTABLISHED
In 1997, the legislature established a new universal
prekindergarten program for 4–year–olds, as part of an
overall education improvement bill that included a variety
of provisions, such as financial incentives to school
districts to reduce class sizes in the early grades and to
offer full–day kindergarten. The new preschool programs
began in the 1998–99 school year and will be phased in
over five years. 1
ANNUAL AMOUNT
In the first operational year of the U–PreK program
(FY1998–99), $67 million was appropriated. For
FY1999–00, the amount appropriated was $100 million,
which translated into $89 million actually committed for
expenditure. The FY2000-01 appropriation is $225
million. The annual appropriation would be expected to
rise to $500 million by 2003. The statute sets the
minimum and maximum per child state contributions at
$2,000 and $4,000. The legislature has increased the
minimum to $2,700 each year to date.
SERVICES FUNDED
U–PreK is a quality preschool program that must be
delivered in ways that support the needs of children and
of parents who may be working or attending school. The
legislation authorizing U–PreK requires that family needs
be taken into consideration in planning programs. To
ensure that all preschool resources in a community are
used, the legislation requires that districts “collaborate
with eligible community agencies.” The statute requires
that districts contract at least 10 percent (and allows
them to contract up to 100 percent) of their U–PreK
funding to eligible community agencies, which include
Head Start, child care centers, nursery schools, private
schools and preschool special education providers. In the
first year of the program, more than 35 percent of
funding was used for collaborative U–PreK programs
provided by eligible agencies. By 1999–00, the
proportion of funding for collaborative U–PreK programs
rose to 51 percent.
U–PreK programs must offer preschool education for a
minimum of 2.5 hours per day for 180 days per year.
Programs must implement curricula appropriate for the
ages and developmental stages of the children and must
provide activities for parent participation, including:
parent–staff conferences, weekly communication and
parent meetings. Class size is generally 16 children with
a teacher and an assistant, and by regulation may not
exceed 20 children (with three adults); qualified staff
members are required. In public schools, teachers of
U–PreK classes must have certification in elementary
education or elementary with the early childhood
annotation, or bilingual elementary or early childhood
education. Teachers in U–PreK programs offered in
agencies other than public schools must meet the staff
qualifications requirements of those agencies and be
supervised by a certified teacher. Beginning in the
2001–02 school year, teachers in other agencies must
meet the same requirements as those in public schools.
HOW FUNDS DISTRIBUTED
Local school districts are eligible to receive an annual
allocation for U–PreK according to a formula based on
needs–related factors such as relative property wealth
and income and on the number of eligible children. In the
1998–99 school year, 130 districts (out of about 750
districts statewide) were eligible. In 1999–00, 125
additional districts became eligible, and 99 were
participating. In 2000–01, a total of 491 school districts
will be eligible.
To receive their allotted funds, districts must submit a
plan to the State Education Department for approval.
The U–PreK program plan must reflect the following
minimum program components noted in the law and
elaborated in regulation: child–centered curriculum that
is age and developmentally appropriate, focus on
developing language, cognitive and social skills,
continuity with instruction in the early elementary grades,
emphasis on developing children’s independence and
self–assurance, co–location and integration of children
with special needs, provision of social services according
to child and family needs, qualified staff, a strong parent
partnership and involvement in the planning process and
implementation, and professional development.
Districts are notified during the year prior to being eligible
for funding. In the year prior to a district being eligible to
receive funding, the superintendent must appoint a
Prekindergarten Policy Advisory Board to recommend to
the Board of Education whether and how the district will
implement U–PreK. If the advisory board recommends
implementation and the Board of Education accepts the
recommendation, the advisory board is responsible for
developing the prekindergarten program plan to submit to
the school board for its approval. By law, advisory boards
must include: at least one member of the Board of
Education, district teachers, parents of children in district
schools, community leaders, child care and early
FOOTNOTE
1
SInce 1966, New York has funded a prekindergarten program for economically disadvantaged 3– and 4– year–olds. Called the “Experimental PreK
Program,” it can be operated only by the public school districts. State appropriations for this program over the past several years have been level at $50
million per year. Districts are required to pay at least 11 percent of the cost of these programs.
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