[L]awmakers impatient to solve problems with the state’s universal pre-kindergarten program pressed administration officials for specific fixes Wednesday.
On the opening day of the legislative session, members of the Education and Human Services committees in both chambers sat down with Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe and Human Services Secretary Al Gobeille.
Their agencies jointly administer publicly funded pre-K, which saw a number of problems during its first year. Lawmakers last year asked the two agency heads to recommend how to ensure equity, quality and affordability while reducing duplication in the program.
Holcombe and Gobeille first laid out their recommendations in December. The duo will make many appearances before legislators as they hammer out legislation to more smoothly offer 10 hours of free education to 3- and 4 year-olds.
Both secretaries endorse simplifying oversight of pre-K to make sure programs are of high quality and safe.
A first-year debacle around fingerprinting of teachers and staff revealed the difficulties with two agencies running a program, according to Gobeille.
He said the consensus is that his agency’s Child Development Division and Holcombe’s agency “should work together to simplify oversight and the mechanics that allow folks to operate in this space” without dual regulation.
Lawmakers agree but had hoped the two agency heads would have brought specific ideas about how to do this.
Sen. Becca Balint, D-Windham, said she and some other members of Senate Education had the same reaction: “We want to see some actual policy recommendations and not some suggestions of ideas. We don’t want generalities, we want specifics.”
Senate Education Chair Philip Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, zeroed in on a recommendation from the secretaries that includes more staffing for the Education Agency. He wanted to know if the governor would support this in his budget.
“My committee has traditionally been behind getting more personnel at AOE,” Baruth said.
“I think there is support,” said Holcombe, especially because contracting with providers and paying them, which has been happening at the local level, has cost districts $4 million. “In the long run, I think the savings from central administration will be completely offset.”
Both agencies agree that Holcombe’s people should take the lead on contracting and payment.
Lawmakers wanted legislative language, but the secretaries asked for more time.
“We need to come back to you with more detail. We owe that to you,” said Gobeille, adding it took months to get to these broad suggestions. He offered to help lawmakers “detail this out” through the session.
Holcombe said they hope to bring draft legislation to lawmakers in the next couple of weeks. “AOE will work with stakeholders to put together legislative language. We expect a more robust report to the standing committees,” she said.
Some lawmakers are concerned about low-income families not enrolling their children in the free program and requested recent data on that.
House Education Chair David Sharpe, D-Bristol, said data provided last year showed no increase in the number of low-income families putting their children in pre-K after passage of the law providing vouchers. The State Board of Education is concerned about low-income and rural access to pre-K too, according to its annual report.
Rep. Emily Long, D-Newfane, who wasn’t on the panel when the law was passed, asked about the goal. She thought it was to make sure the most vulnerable children had access to early education.
“This is a flawed law, and we keep trying to find paths to make it work,” she said. “Maybe we need to rewrite this law.”
