Posted on: Monday, November 22, 2004

Isle preschool data mixed

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer

Hawai'i is in the middle of the pack when it comes to providing access to quality preschool programs, but ranks 15th for the resources spent on the children served, said a report released today by the National Institute for Early Education Research.

The second annual State Preschool Yearbook — which looks exclusively at state-financed preschool programs during the 2002-03 school year — said Hawai'i served 934 4-year-olds through its Preschool Open Doors Project, down from 1,249 children the previous year. As a result, the state's ranking dropped from 21 to 25.

However, because of the drop in enrollment and a $577,672 increase in financing, per-child spending rose $419, boosting the state's ranking for resources to 15, from 19 last year.

Since Hawai'i still does not have a state-financed program for 3-year-olds, it remains at the bottom of the list in that category.

Steve Barnett, director of the institute, said the study's key finding is that quality early education programs across the nation are the exception, rather than the rule.

"Access to high-quality preschool depends on where they live and how much money they have," he said. "Quality preschool programs are essential if we're going to meet the goals of No Child Left Behind."

The study does not take into account the nine Hawai'i Pre-Plus sites that have since opened at elementary schools, offering care to 155 children. Four more are waiting to be opened and money has been set aside for another four sites, said state Department of Human Services spokesman Derick Dahilig.

A site at Fern Elementary will open by the end of the year, and sites at 'Aiea, Waiau and Waipahu elementary schools are expected to open in the spring, Dahilig said.

Early education is critical because children who do not have access to quality programs can enter kindergarten 18 months behind their peers.

"There's no way to make that up," Barnett said.

In Hawai'i, Barnett said, "the biggest improvement that needs to be made is to have fully-qualified teachers."

To be fully qualified, teachers should have four-year college degrees and specialized training in how to educate young children. To attract these teachers, average salaries will have to double to be comparable to the pay of public-school teachers, Barnett suggests.

Liz Chun, executive director of the Good Beginnings Alliance, said the survey was accurate, with only 55 percent of Hawai'i 4-year-olds attending preschool and half the kindergarten teachers reporting their students enter school unprepared.

She also said half of the low-income children who qualify for preschool subsidies do not receive them.

To improve the situation, Chun suggests putting more money into the Preschool Open Doors Program, which provides money to preschools that parents choose to send their children to.

"If you put more money into quality preschool, you pay an increased amount of money into the preschools who can then hire teachers with higher degrees because they can pay a higher amount of money," she said.

Teacher qualifications are among the things Gov. Linda Lingle's administration is working on while developing a comprehensive early education proposal to present to the Legislature in January.

The proposal will focus on families who earn too much to qualify for childcare subsidies, but who still cannot afford quality programs.

"It will enable these parents to afford a quality preschool program to prepare their children to succeed in school when they enter kindergarten," Lingle said. Approximately 9,500 of the state's 16,000 4-year-olds fit into this category.

Lingle said the state should also focus on training preschool teachers to have a strong background in early childhood education and raising salaries "to make it a real profession."

Any program receiving government money should meet state content standards for preschool. "Any sort of subsidies to be spent by the government should be spent on facilities that are truly making children ready to learn when they get into kindergarten," she said.

Sen. Norman Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Airport, Salt Lake), chairman of the education committee, agrees that access to quality preschool should not be limited to only those who can afford it or those who qualify for government subsidies.

He said continuing the Pre-Plus program is one way to improve access, but wants to look at other ways to prepare children for kindergarten. He noted the state already made some strides earlier this year when the Legislature approved a junior kindergarten program that will better prepare 4-year-olds born late in the year.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.