“Nearly a year of K-12 school closures have caused serious disruptions to an important developmental period for our country’s children. Researchers predict that these disruptions will have serious consequences for America’s economic future. But getting our children back on track will take more than addressing the learning deficits incurred during the pandemic. America must also confront a deeper, more entrenched education problem—one that has put our country’s students behind those from other countries for decades—which, to solve, will require supporting children through another critical developmental period: a child’s years from birth through five.” |
|
who:
Linda Smith and Ben Wolters
where:
|
|
|
According to Bipartisan Policy Center, in 2019, 54% of parents with a child under five said that finding child care within their budget was somewhat or very difficult. The annual cost of center-based infant care that same year was (on average) 107.9% of the cost of tuition at a 4-year college. These costs were pre-pandemic; we would guess that the related financial struggles have only grown since.
|
|
|
State policy
Ohio State House Reps. Stephanie Howse and Erica Crawley penned an opinion piece published by the Dispatch which advocates for the Ohio House, and General Assembly as a whole, to pass legislation they introduced declaring racism as a public health crisis. The resolution would address root causes like health disparities, call for educational efforts for the public to better understand systemic racism and encourage policymaking that would prioritize the health of people of color and initiatives that would mitigate experiences of early childhood traumas that can carry lifelong consequences.
The Dispatch describes the complicated circumstances forcing some families to relinquish custody of their children in order for them to receive the mental health treatments they desperately need that are not covered adequately by private health insurance. A new program announced by Gov. DeWine this week would address the root of the problem and shift care so that “multi-system youth” can access care more easily.
New Ohio legislation would require insurance providers to cover the cost of hearing aids for children, which can cost $5,000 to $6,000 per ear. (Dare we say, there might be something broken about the manner in which health insurance operates in this country?)
|
|
Federal policy
As part of a far-reaching infrastructure plan, Pres. Biden announced his hopes to create a $25 billion Child Care Growth and Innovation Fund through which states could build and update child care facilities. His plan is being critiqued by child care advocates for not focusing enough on the care workers themselves, even though a forthcoming policy child care proposal would create new care investments. (An interesting critique of Pres. Biden’s political strategy on this can be found here.) On a related note, here’s a good case for why “the way we think about infrastructure itself needs a rethink.”
|
|
In Kentucky, lawmakers allocated $140 million to pay for full-day kindergarten in the next fiscal year, a change from the current half-day funding. The bill is on its way to Gov. Beshear for signature. However, education advocates aren’t thrilled with how the funding was passed, as the article explains.
Colorado is considering the creation of a state agency devoted to early childhood education.
In California, teachers are asking for subsidized child care for their own children, spurred in part by reopening agreements in some districts that allowed teachers to bring their own children to the classroom.
Education Commission of the States compiled this concise early care and education legislative update on bills states have introduced so far in 2021 that focus on pre-K-3 issues. The blog highlights a few specific systems-level and equity-focused bills introduced this year.
|
|
“We Gotta Talk with Sonni” hosted media experts Crane senior research associate Dr. Rebecca Dore and Dr. Roberta Golinkoff, University of Delaware, to discuss how to raise children in a technological world. Listen to the podcast or watch here.
|
|
A New America policy report outlines key areas where improvement is needed in current federal policy for English Learner Education from early education through K-12. Among the recommendations to improve English learners’ access to equitable education are to, “provide guidance on best practices for identifying Dual Language Learners across all early childhood systems and how to align those systems with K–12 to facilitate smoother transitions.”
This opinion piece co-authored by Senator Elizabeth Warren urges Congress to pass caregiving legislation that recognizes that health care (caregiving included) is a human right, and asks Pres. Biden to take executive action to address caregiver needs.
Here’s an important read by the Bold Blog on Learning and Development about COVID’s impact on the reading development of young children.
|
|
In 2020, National Institute of Early Education Research (NIEER) conducted two nationally representative surveys of parents of children ages 3-5 years old to understand how the pandemic affected their children’s learning and experiences. The survey showed that preschool participation as well as state funding for preschool has declined compared to pre-pandemic levels. NIEER also lays out next steps for states to take not only to support children but to support their state-funded pre-k programs.
A study published in JAMA Pediatrics attempts to quantify just how many children have experienced COVID-19 loss through the death of a parent. While the overall numbers are relatively small (among the population of U.S. children), the researchers estimate a 17.5% to 20.2% increase in parental bereavement because of COVID-19, with 37,300 children losing a parent to it as of February 2021. Black children comprise 14% of the U.S. child population but 20% of those losing a parent to COVID. The authors also project out how many parentally bereaved children will be left in the wake of policy inaction, or a “natural herd immunity strategy” that would bring the U.S. death toll to 1.5 million: almost 117,000 children.
|
|
This edition written by: Jamie Davies O'Leary, Associate Director of Policy and Caitlin Lennon, Communications & Policy Specialist |
|
|
|
|
|
|
