H-6009 (McNamara) & S-463 (Gallo) – H-5200 Governor’s Budget Proposal, RI Pre-K
Legislation will allocate sufficient resources to ensure all RI Pre-K
classrooms, Head Start classrooms and Early Head Start classrooms continue operating for the 2023-2024 school year. Classroom educators will be paid competitive wages comparable to similarly qualified K-12 educators. In addition, the bill will require the state to revise the Pre-K expansion plan to 1) include the Head Start model, 2) set spending benchmarks to sustain and expand access to high-quality infant/toddler early care and education (including Early Head Start), 3) include high-quality family child care options in RI Pre-K expansion, and
4) ensure that all families, including those who have children with developmental delays and disabilities, can make choices among high-quality preschool options to include those located outside of their city/town of residence.
Due to expiring and insufficient funding and an ongoing staffing crisis related to inadequate and noncompetitive compensation for teachers, there are 40 RI Pre-K classrooms, 30 Head Start classrooms, and 11 Early Head Start classrooms at risk of permanent closure on or before July 2023. Permanent closure of these classrooms would result in a loss of 1,428 high-quality early childhood education seats for children from birth to five (800 RI Pre-K, 540 Head Start, and 88 Early Head Start).
RI Pre-K, Head Start, and Early Head Start are all essential, high-quality programs that help children build skills needed to succeed in school and life. The RI Pre-K program is recognized nationally as a high- quality state preschool program. Rhode Island Head Start classrooms meet or exceed federal Head Start Performance Standards and provide wrap-around comprehensive services to entire families. RI Pre-K, Head Start, and Early Head Start all produce improvements in children’s learning and development.
Despite long waiting lists of low-income children who need services, 30 Head Start and 11 Early Head Start classrooms are currently closed due to an inability to find qualified educators willing to work for the wages offered. The federal government has offered grantees the ability to renegotiate their contracts, permanently closing classrooms and eliminating funded slots so that resources can be directed toward increasing compensation for Early Head Start and Head Start teachers to staff a smaller number of classrooms.
Any reduction of RI Pre-K slots, Head Start slots, or Early Head Start slots is a step in the wrong direction for Rhode Island.
