TEACH funding cut

Earlier this month, it was announced that Pennsylvania will no longer fund the T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship Program. Until now, a glimmer of hope remained that the anticipated cuts to the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® PENNSYLVANIA scholarship program somehow would be avoided.

The recently enacted state budget required cuts to child care. The Governor's office decided to cut state and federal funding for T.E.A.C.H. The outcome is that PA will no longer invest in the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program. The announcement confirms nearly 2,000 Pennsylvania early childhood professionals working with thousands of young children in early childhood classroom across the Commonwealth may have to drop out of college. "We cannot have high quality early learning environments without high quality teachers," said Terry Casey, president of the Pennsylvania Child Care Association, "Governor Corbett's administration has cut both state and federal funding for the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® PENNSYLVANIA Scholarship program. This elimination will undermine Keystone STARS, Pre-K Counts and Pennsylvania's overall efforts to improve the quality of early childhood education," PACCA board of directors and the state's early care and education coalition members are urging the Governor to restore the cuts the T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship Program.

Read more at http://www.pacca.org/advocacy.aspx?id=1116

Excerpted from the enewsletter of the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children (www.pennaeyc.org) :

With the announcement of an agreement for a 2011-12 state spending plan, the governor and House and Senate Republican leaders drafted a budget that has included some supports for early childhood care and education even in such difficult economic times.

Though this is not an ideal budget, what has now been agreed upon does reflect investments in early education. Financial support was held level for Nurse Family Partnerships (NFP) and only minor reductions were made to programs such as Pre-K Counts ($836,000) and Head Start ($377,000).

While the governor initially called for the complete elimination of the Accountability Block Grant line item, the budget agreement now includes a partial restoration of these early childhood funds as well. The vast majority of Accountability Block Grant (ABG) funds have been used by school districts to support pre-K and full-day kindergarten.

Partial restoration for Community-Based Family Centers also was included in the budget agreement at $3.258 million, something that the governor had previously proposed to eliminate.

Other early learning programs were drastically reduced. Child care services and child care assistance lose over $38 million state funds ($17.455 million and $21.320 million respectively). In addition, low-income families receiving child care subsidy will see an increase in their co-pays.

For a spreadsheet from Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children showing the details of the budget regarding investing in children, go to www.papartnerships.org.

What's happening in the state legislature:

On May 24, the House passed a budget bill (HB 1485) that is now being considered in the Senate. The bill cuts nearly $40 million from the line items that fund Child Care Works, Keystone STARS, and the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship, as well as more than $1 million from the Nurse-Family Partnership program. The bill is now in the Senate for consideration, but reports say that legislative leaders and the Governor's office are beginning negotiations now, before the bill is considered in the Senate. To follow the progress of the bill, visit the PA General Assembly website . The deadline to pass a budget is June 30.

Governor Corbett released his budget proposal for the 11-12 fiscal year in March, maintaining or increasing nearly every OCDEL program. You can read more about OCDEL's programs, accomplishments and the proposed budget on the PA Key website.

The Pennsylvania House SLASHED nearly $40 million of the Governor's proposed funding for Early Childhood Education!

If you believe in quality early learning we need you to Reach out TODAY and tell your Senator how these cuts in Child Care Works subsidy, T.E.A.C.H. scholarships and Keystone STARS would affect your parents, you program and your coworkers, and the future of this state!

Senator Casey Proposes Federal Bill to Help States Invest in Early Learning

Learn More at Senator Casey's website.