BURLINGTON – When Secretary of Education Rebecca Holcombe asked a group of children Thursday whether they liked preschool, every hand shot up.
The children at the Ira Allen School in Burlington and throughout the state got an early Christmas present this week when the federal government gave Vermont another $33 million to support its path toward universal pre-kindergarten education.
The Preschool Expansion Grant, which will be spread out over four years, comes on top of a $37 million award from the feds last year, Shumlin administration officials said at a news conference.
The latest batch of money will be used to provide direct services to early education professionals, parents and children, Gov. Peter Shumlin said.
It will help the state realize the goals of Act 166, which the Legislature passed last year. That law requires that every child age 3 to 5 years old has access to pre-kindergarten programs. The law was to go into effect for the 2015-16 school year but was pushed back a year to allow school districts to prepare for it in their budgeting process.
“This grant allows us to ensure that every child in Vermont that is below 200 percent of poverty — every 4-year-old — will be able to access free pre-k going forward for the next four years and on into the future,” Shumlin said Thursday.
The administration says that at the end of the four-year grant, 70 percent of all 4-year-olds at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty rate ($48,000 annual income for a family of four) will be enrolled in full-day, pre-k programs. That’s about 1,800 children, the state says.
Holcombe and others at the news conference said that because 90 percent of a child’s brain is “wired” by age 5, early education ensures they have the fundamentals needed to maximize their learning potential once they start kindergarten.
Holcombe said the money would be used “to support the initial implementation … of universal pre-k and target children who are most in need of services.”
The money will go to the state’s seven Head Start programs and 26 school supervisory unions, according to a news release.
Eighteen states were awarded more than $1 billion in competitive grants and Vermont scored third, according to Alyson Richards, deputy chief of staff and director of intergovernmental affairs for Shumlin. The officials said they were “thrilled” and a little surprised by winning a second award.
The earlier Race to the Top grant was used to develop systems and training for universal pre-k, while the new $33 million award will help providers improve program quality and expand to full-day sessions, Richards said.
“The first grant was for developing expertise, coordinating services and measuring — making sure we’re doing it right,” said Richards, who Shumlin credited with leading the successful grant application. “This grant is direct service. Once you’ve built the system, then (you) get the money out into the community and let them pay for providing services.”
All three members of the state’s congressional delegation helped secure the grant as well, Shumlin said.
After patiently listening to the grownups for about 20 minutes the preschoolers posed the final question: “Can we go outside now?”
