LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Early-childhood educators in the state say they support President Joe Biden's American Families Plan, which would include an estimated $200 billion for free universal preschool programs.

However, they argued low wages for workers are a major barrier to expanding high-quality pre-K programming.

Geania Dickey, public policy chair for the Arkansas Early Childhood Association, pointed to research, which showed even before the pandemic, rural early-childhood education centers struggled to pay workers an affordable wage and experienced high staff turnover rates, as high as 96%.

"It's already more expensive than some parents can afford as it is, right?" Dickey explained. "So then, how do you increase the compensation and how do you increase quality?"

On average, child-care workers in the U.S. earn around $11 per hour, and Dickey noted the situation grew worse over the past year as the pandemic forced more centers to shut their doors.

Biden's plan includes an additional $225 billion for child care. Opponents of the proposal say it would increase taxes and hurt the U.S. economy. Biden's proposal would also create a national comprehensive paid family- and medical-leave program.

Dickey believes strong paid-leave policies are needed to fill the gap in access to learning options for toddlers.

"There is so little quality infant and toddler care in this country," Dickey asserted. "And in my state, the only way to get rid of that deficit in access is to provide family leave."

She added higher-quality centers tend to employ staff with better qualifications, which increases spending for compensation and benefits, and emphasized retirement and health-care plans are often needed to retain teachers.

Dickey contended access to four-year or community college is viewed as a public good, and believes access to preschool should be viewed the same way.

"So I think it's thinking about early education in that way," Dickey remarked. "How can we support that infrastructure and really provide a foundation?"

More than 9,000 Arkansas kids are estimated to receive child-care subsidies each month, provided through the state's Child Care and Development Fund.

But Dickey stressed current financial reimbursement options for child care still aren't enough to meet the increasing cost.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month and a recent study showed teens bullied in high school tend to become pessimistic about life prospects.

The study, published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence found students who experienced relational bullying were more likely to develop depressive symptoms and over time became more pessimistic about both academics and career prospects beyond high school. Relational bullying includes things like starting rumors, being deliberately ignored and exclusion from group activities.

Hannah L. Schacter, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said a student's perception of social inadequacy can spread into other parts of life.

"You're receiving a message from your peers that you are someone who doesn't deserve positive treatment, and that may then generalize to these other life domains," Schacter explained. "Now you expect that you're not going to be able to do well academically, or perhaps you won't be able to achieve what you wanted in terms of your work or kind of life plans."

Maryland requires county boards of education to track and report on bullying. This year's report showed there were more than 7,800 incidences of bullying reported during the 2022-23 school year, an increase of 25% over the year prior.

Researchers found students who experienced overt victimization such as direct verbal or physical attacks did not report lower future expectations. Earlier research showed relational victimization had negative effects on elementary students' academic performance and standardized test scores over time. Schacter argued schools need to see the effects of bullying not just as a challenging social issue but also an educational priority.

"As there's been increased recognition of how it can negatively impact teens, more and more schools have, at the very least, adopted anti bullying policies," Schacter acknowledged. "Unfortunately, it's very time intensive, and can be quite costly to implement evidence based large scale school interventions for bullying."

Maryland's State Department of Education adopted a model policy to address bullying, harassment and intimidation in 2009 and has updated it in the years since. Last year the department began offering an online introduction to bullying prevention for educators.


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October is National Bullying Prevention Month and a new study showed teens bullied in high school tend to become pessimistic about their future.

Researchers found adolescents who experienced relational bullying were more likely to develop depressive symptoms and over time became more pessimistic about academics and career prospects beyond high school. Relational bullying includes things like starting rumors, being deliberately ignored and exclusion from group activities.

Hannah L. Schacter, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said a student's perception of social inadequacy can spread into other parts of life.

"You're receiving a message from your peers that you are someone who doesn't deserve positive treatment, and that may then generalize to these other life domains," Schacter explained. "Now you expect that you're not going to be able to do well academically, or perhaps you won't be able to achieve what you wanted in terms of your work or kind of life plans."

The study began with more than 300 9th graders at 38 different high schools across Michigan. Students completed online surveys multiple times per year over three years.

Researchers found students who experienced overt victimization such as direct verbal or physical attacks did not report lower future expectations. Prior research established relational victimization affected elementary students' academic performance and standardized test scores over time. Schacter argued schools need to see the effects of bullying not just as a challenging social issue but also as an educational priority.

"As there's been increased recognition of how it can negatively impact teens, more and more schools have, at the very least, adopted anti-bullying policies," Schacter acknowledged. "Unfortunately, it's very time intensive, and can be quite costly to implement evidence-based large-scale school interventions for bullying."

She added it is important to have strong communication between researchers, policymakers and administrators to address bullying so it is not too burdensome for schools and is backed by what researchers have learned.

The biannual Pro-Kid Scorecard from the Children Now Action Fund was released today.

In it, 12 state Assembly members and seven state Senators earned a 100% rating.

Kelly Hardy, senior managing director of health and research at the nonprofit Children Now Action Fund, said the scoring reflects more than how lawmakers vote.

"They voted the right way on health and child welfare, child care, education," Hardy outlined. "They also supported kids in the budget, which is not always an easy thing to do when we've got budget deficits."

The lowest scores hovered around 48%, awarded to lawmakers who voted against certain bills but also voted for proposals like forced outing policies for LGBTQ+ students in schools.

Hardy noted the report is intended to inform voters as they head to the ballot box next month.

"Kids may not vote but we want to elect legislators who do their best to support kids," Hardy explained.

California ranks 35th in the nation for child well-being, according to the latest Annie E. Casey Foundation report and is just above the national average for per-pupil spending on K-12 education.