Children experience healthy child development that is crucial for success in school and in life, in family child care, centers, and school-based early childhood programs. Knowing this, the Kirwan Commission and the “Blueprint” legislation stood strong on a mixed delivery approach to delivering preK. That means having preK available in schools AND in child care centers and family child care.
Implementation has been challenging for school districts for a variety of reasons. Community-based early childhood educators know what it takes to participate as a true partner.
Providers and families also know that all of these ideas of care and learning are intertwined. If we’re really building the system we are looking at opportunities and barriers for families and early childhood educators in preK, Child Care Scholarship (infants through school-age), Growing Opportunities for Family Child Care (GOFCC) and Maryland EXCELS all at the same time. That takes time, and each year we have a chance to keep trying.
Let’s look at HB 1441 together
The Joining Voices team has been following the work on HB 1441(Early Childhood Education – Publicly Funded Prekindergarten Programs – Alterations) this legislative session, as each provision directly impacts our programs, our families, and our whole neighborhoods.
- Read our two-page fact sheet of HB 1441
- Review the preK teacher qualifications presented in HB 1441
- Download sample testimony about HB 1441
- Read the whole bill text (as available 3/27/24)
Delegates and Senators need to hear from us
Early childhood educators in centers and family child care tell us, “We are here, we are ready, we simply cannot take the preK risk without more clarity in policy and practice. The ideas in HB 1441 can help.” Community-based child care programs cannot participate under the current expectations because of funding confusion, the early childhood educator hiring crisis, and the need to stand strong as a full-day, full-year early childhood experience for children while their parents go to work or school.
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- Download a short email you can copy, paste, personalize and send to your Delegates and Senators
Our message to legislators includes:
“Implementation has been challenging for school districts for a variety of reasons. Community-based early childhood educators know what it takes to participate as a true partner. We continue to see first-hand that it is right to evolve the thinking in the original Blueprint work. We can work together to strengthen the laws and the real options so that parents can choose what is best for their family, and the whole community benefits from partnering with early childhood educators in child care programs.”
