Pre-K schools in La. must step up

White: Low-performing centers will be denied state aid under overhaul

“Every program that takes public dollars will be held to a common standard.” John white superintendent of education, on low-performing pre-kindergartens

State Superintendent of Education John White said Tuesday that low-performing pre-kindergarten schools and centers will be denied state aid as part of Louisiana’s overhaul of the system.

“Every program that takes public dollars will be held to a common standard,” White said.

The revamp stems from a state law passed earlier this year, called Act 3, that is designed to better prepare pre-K students for kindergarten.

However, many of the details of the new setup were left to White and the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, which will consider the issue next month.

The list of pre-K or child care providers includes LA 4, Head Start, day care and private school programs.

“There are a lot of different choices out there, but children and their families do not have equal access and quality varies widely,” White said.

“It all adds up to a fragmented picture that allows students to fall through the cracks,” he said.

White said the overhaul means that:

• Whether pre-K schools and centers get public dollars will depend on performance and demand.
• Schools will get letter grades based on childrens’ kindergarten readiness and classroom instruction.
• Families will be able to use a one-stop website to enroll and compare programs.
• The state will beef up training for pre-K instructors.

Pilot projects to usher in the changes are set for the 2013-14 school year, followed by a statewide test run the following school year.

All the changes are supposed to be in place by the 2015-16 school year.

While the programs cover youngsters from birth to age 5, the chief focus is on 3- and 4-year-olds.

About 42,000 students are enrolled in publicly-funded pre-K programs for 4-year-olds.

BESE, with advice from White, is supposed to come up with performance targets for children under the age of 3 and academic standards for 3- and 4-year-olds.

In response to a question, White said he does not expect opposition to plans for denying funds to low-performing pre-K schools and centers that fail to make improvements.

He said state officials have spent months meeting with those who run the sites.

In addition, White said it may make sense to delay any decisions on how letter grades are assigned until the pilot projects are complete.

John Warner Smith, chief executive officer of Education’s Next Horizon, said he was generally pleased with the plan, including pilot projects before the changes take full effect.

“I think it is a good start,” Smith said. “I am very encouraged.”

He noted that schools and centers with low ratings will have a chance to make improvements before they are denied public dollars.

“What I heard him say is that they will be very careful and very deliberate about that process,” Smith said after hearing White’s briefing.

The state spends about $300 million for pre-K education programs.

State officials say 54 percent of students enter kindergarten ready to learn, such as being able to count to 20 and recognizing the alphabet.

The state has about 1,800 child-care centers.

Exact figures on how many pre-K schools operate were unavailable.

Comments

1) Comment by Iamhopeful2 - 01/11/2012

White is trying to take credit for a new pre-K plan that was designed by Jindal's Bright Star Advisory Council and submitted to Fed-Ed for an ARRA grant in 2010. http://www.brightstartla.org/assets/files/LA%20ECAC%20Application.pdf The "common standard" will be performance scores gleaned from standardized tests administered to babies. My reading of all the material tells me: 1) a data system to accommodate this is not ready, hence the delay. As the grant app states, there are privacy and FERPA issues to be worked out. 2). DoE claims it has presented all school boards w explanation and brochures explains why "diverse delivery" ( privatization) in "community settings" (private facilities) is beneficial. After all, they won't have to build classrooms to serve all these new children. 3). There is no budget for this, hence the need to get it during next legis session which will surely include a pre-K voucher bill. Because public schools will probably not get additional Pre-K funding there has to be a delay for new private programs to get up and running. 4). Don't get excited about the common standards and accountability. That just means that all pre-K will be evaluated on testing results. That will ensure that high poverty areas including public schools will have a high fail rate and the children will be eligible for vouchers to the diverse deliverers. 5). The popular waiver provision is included as a carrot and stick measure: "waivers to licenses for providers who participate in outcome based grading." So grades will replace the requirements for licenses. Draft standards will be published on the Bright Start website this month and presented to BESE for approval in December. Oh and by the way, if you are familiar with Michelle Rhee's Stand For Children, the DoE has partnered with them and Education's New Horizons on elements of the program. I wonder how much Stand For Children is making off taxpayers. Another legislative initiative will be tax credits for personnel and providers to fund merit pay if their performance scores qualify them.

2) Comment by catherineja - 31/10/2012

The author of this article seems very uninformed by not mentioning the Quality Start program.

3) Comment by jeffsadow - 31/10/2012

It appears that @riroon is the one that doesn't know crud. Private schools' voucher students are held to a meaningful performance standard. Charter and traditional schools both have the same one. And how are parents being told what to do when all the state is doing is providing a clearinghouse of information which apparently will include whether a pre-K school meets standards and is eligible for government funding? How does that restrict "free enterprise and parental choice?"

4) Comment by Concerned_Parent - 31/10/2012

3 yr old programs are already having to be selective due to a lack of funding(my child didn't qualify b/c our household income was too high), and now Mr. White is looking for another way to "reform" our schools by threatening to cut their aid. He wants to judge a classroom of 3 yr old kids that live below the poverty line and then cut their funding if they don't stack up to some grading scale. The fact that these children are in a structured environmnet, with a warm meal at least twice a day, and being able to interact with other children is worth the money being spent. Does he think that eliminating a 3 yr old program at a school is going to make a positive change? That child will go back to sitting in grandma's house watching cartoons all day(if they are lucky) or get dropped off at some daycare in the back room of someone's house. This is just yet ANOTHER way to point his finger at our schools and teachers and say they are failing! I'm sorry, but if your child is not ready for Kindergarten then you have failed as a PARENT. This is getting sickening.

5) Comment by phil - 31/10/2012

Pre-K is just free daycare by another name and is designed to use school/education tax dollars for daycare services. Just call it what it really is.

6) Comment by Riroon - 31/10/2012

Okay, so for k-12 education, we are told that parents know what is best for their kids and that free enterprise will determine what schools survive and what schools go. We are also told that a diversity of institutions (voucher schools, charters, RSD's, content course providers, on-line, etc) is the way to go, and that only the traditional public school need be held to a standard. And now, for pre-k, we are told that parents don't know crud about choosing their child's education, free enterprise doesn't work in this case, and all pre-k institutions need be held to a single standard. Make up your mind, Mr. White. Does free enterprise and parental choice work, or doesn't it? We'll wait while you check with ALEC and TFA for the answer.