Public Policy Reports and Alerts: Fall 2011

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Fall 2011 Public Policy Update
by John Surr

Did you know? The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) indicates that, in 2009, almost half the American children under age 6 lived in families that struggle to provide basic necessities and that more than half of the States don't give most of these struggling families access to child care assistance. According to NCCP, 14% of Maryland children under 6 lived below the poverty line, and 18% more lived at or under 200% of the poverty line. 20% of Maryland's children face multiple risk factors indicating a high risk of school failure. You can check out the profiles for Maryland and other states here.

Federal Policy
Joan Lombardi Resigns
Joan Lombardi has resigned from her position in the U.S. Health and Human Service (HHS) Department, which is in charge of early childhood programs. Though we support her in her new endeavors, this is a great loss to our cause. Check out Joan Lombardi's latest report (9/22/11).

Legislative Updates
Federal legislative efforts continue. The President's Jobs Bill, which was defeated piecemeal in the Senate and has no chance of passage in the House, included up to $3 billion for local school districts to hire or re-hire early childhood teachers. The Senate and the House have approved significantly different versions of a long-awaited reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) is also up for reauthorization, and Senator Mikulski will be managing the process on the Senate Side.

Maryland Policy
Race to the Top
The Governor has filed Maryland's application for $50 million (over 4 years) in Federal Race to the Top (RTT) funding, aimed at structural improvements in our system of supports for young children and their families. You should be able to find the text of the application on MSDE's website soon. The competitive grant awards, for which over 35 States have applied, will be awarded in December and will be funded, beginning in January. Even though the funding shortfalls at the State and local levels have not been as great as were expected, Maryland and local governments continue to face huge structural deficits that will have to be dealt with in January's legislative session. We need to convince our legislators that young lives are going to waste and government expenditures down the line are bound to increase because of short-sighted decisions to cut vital earlychildhood services.

Resources Available
“A Parent’s Guide: Maryland’s Plan for PreK-12 Education”, is a booklet that briefly explains to parents Maryland’s Race to the Top program and Common Core State Standards; state testing and reporting processes; programs available to support student achievement; ways parents can be involved in their child’s education; help for children with disabilities and special needs; and programs to help parents plan for their child’s future. Parents of all kindergarten and 5th grade students will be receiving copies. “A Parents’ Guide” can also be found at the MSDE website under Newsroom/Publications.

Search for New State Superintendent
MSDE has hired a search firm to help it recruit a new State Superintendent of Education. Please consider participating in the survey online that is open until November 18 to support the need for state-supported high quality early childhood education, based on an understanding of developmentally appropriate practice.

Maryland Excels: QRIS Updates
MSDE's Office of Child Care has been working hard to put the Maryland Excels Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) together, as a Web-based and efficient, user-friendly incentive to improve the quality of child care in Maryland. They are looking for Centers to participate as pilots for the system, beginning early in 2012. Contact rhopkins@jhu.edu.

Changes to Child Care Licensing
MSDE will be introducing a Bill in the 2012 Legislative Session to authorize licensing Large Family Child Care Homes, which up to now have been treated as small child care centers. The Bill would allow these Homes to get accredited by NAFCC, and it might facilitate local zoning. Existing small centers could remain as centers.

All child care licensing inspection reports are now available for review the day after the inspection. This new system saves time for inspectors, who are burdened with two to three times the recommended caseload. Maryland's medication administration training is being revised and updated, to bring them into line with what's used in the schools. Child care centers now need to have trained medication administrators.

Get inspired! Check out this Head Start Association video that, in 2 minutes, gives a dynamite message to reinvigorate our efforts to do our best for young children.