Education experts say children in New Hampshire are at risk of falling behind their peers in other states with well-funded preschool programs.
Nearly half of 3- and 4-year-olds in New Hampshire are not receiving early education, which is known to provide foundational knowledge and skills used in school and later in life.
Steven Barnett, senior co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, said research shows children who attend preschool are more likely to attend college, find professional success and are less likely to be involved in the criminal justice system.
"We know that kids who miss out from low income families can start two or three years behind their peers," Barnett explained. "And they will rarely catch up."
Barnett acknowledged while individual school districts can opt to pay for preschool, a well-funded state program would help ensure all New Hampshire children get a chance to learn the fundamentals of math and language as well as develop the social-emotional skills they will carry into adulthood.
New Hampshire is one of just six states to not fund preschool, and Barnett pointed out it affects the economy as well. Thousands of Granite State parents report they frequently miss work or have had to quit their jobs due to the lack of affordable and accessible preschool. But where it is available, often staff is not.
Barnett added of more than 200 majors offered in college, early childhood education is one of the lowest paid.
"If we're serious about producing the kinds of benefits that preschool can, we need an adequate paid workforce," Barnett contended.
The Community College System of New Hampshire has created multiple scholarship and tuition assistance programs to help draw more people to the field of early education, but Barnett argued greater federal investments and a state commitment to universal preschool with adequately paid staff are needed to ensure kids get the best start on life.
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New legislation in Olympia aims to ease the burden of child-care costs for Washington families by allowing businesses to help their employees pay for it.
Under House Bill 1564, businesses could reduce the amount they spend on business and occupation taxes by the amount they pay for child-care assistance to workers.
State Rep. Joshua Penner, R-Orting, who authored the bill, said prices for child care in the state can exceed the cost of college tuition.
"That's just a really tough position that we put our workers in," he said, "that they have to decide whether or not to be underemployed or forgo opportunities in order to get good child care."
Nearly 40% of Washington parents have reported quitting a job or being fired because of child-care challenges, costing families almost $7 billion annually in lost income. The bill was just introduced and is in the House Finance Committee.
Penner added that if a business didn't use the full tax benefit in one year, the bill would allow it to apply the remaining amount to the following year. He said he isn't worried about the potential loss of tax revenue for Washington state.
"I think nothing is more efficient than those 'B&O' taxes being directly applied to child care for the workers within that business," he said.
Washington ranks seventh, just behind Oregon, for the least affordable infant care in the country, with an average year of full-time care topping $20,000. Penner said many factors, including low pay for providers and the high cost of running a child-care business, have driven up price tags for families. He said the bill has bipartisan support.
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A majority of California children are failing to meet educational standards, according to this year's County Scorecard on Children's Well-Being.
Researchers from the nonprofit Children Now have published the scorecard every other year since 2008, so policymakers from all 58 counties can track progress over time.
Kelly Hardy, senior managing director of health and research for Children Now, said academic scores have begun to rebound to pre-pandemic levels, which are still much too low.
"Only 43% of third graders met standards in reading, only 33% of fifth graders met standards in science, and only 32% of eighth graders met standards in math," Hardy reported.
The percentages are even worse for Black and Latino students. For example, among eighth graders, only 20% of Latinos and 14% of Black students meet standards in math. Kids in Marin, Orange and San Francisco counties fared better, while children in the rural north counties face greater challenges in education and health.
Youth in foster care are falling behind even further, with 21% meeting standards in English, 11% in science and 7% in math. Hardy hopes lawmakers keep the issues in mind when crafting the next state budget.
"It really makes no sense for a relatively high-tax state like California to be so far behind other states in outcomes for education," Hardy contended. "We need the state to provide more funding."
The report does reveal some bright spots. More than 97% of kids in California now have health insurance, and more low-income families with kids are accessing CalFresh food support.
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Free school lunch and breakfast may soon be the law in the Commonwealth.
House Bill 1958 would require local school boards to participate in federal school lunch and breakfast programs through the Department of Agriculture. The programs make school lunches and breakfasts available to any student who asks for one.
Some schools are already taking part in the programs but the legislation would make it a requirement statewide.
Emily Hardy, deputy director of the Center for Healthy Communities at the Virginia Poverty Law Center, said there is a need for expanded free school meals across the state.
"Almost 400,000 kids would qualify financially currently to get school breakfast that don't," Hardy reported. "We do know there are a lot of children in Virginia who are food insecure, but aren't currently getting the service in their school."
Nearly 1.3 million Virginia children are currently enrolled in public schools across the Commonwealth.
Research from No Kid Hungry suggested free school breakfast also cuts down on rates of chronic absenteeism, where students miss 10% or more of the academic year.
Hardy noted sometimes, a free school meal could come with a stigma for students. A blanket policy, she added, can also help other parents, not just those in a tough financial position.
"Reducing stigma, making it so that all children have access to this, it both helps parents who could afford to pay for meals but maybe don't have the time to make them, or are struggling with other things," Hardy emphasized. "It also helps those children who are low-income, who then don't have to face the stigma of being the only kid getting the free meal."
Other states have already taken steps to provide blanket school meals to students, including in Minnesota, New Mexico and Maine.
Disclosure: The Virginia Poverty Law Center contributes to our fund for reporting on Civil Rights, Housing/Homelessness, Poverty Issues, and Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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