Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children President and CEO Joan Benso today made the following comments on Gov. Tom Corbett's 2013-14 budget proposal:

"Governor Corbett's spending plan begins to move Pennsylvania in the right direction when it comes to common-sense investments in our children, who are without question Pennsylvania's greatest resource.

"Budgets are ultimately about priorities, and with this budget, the governor rightfully recognizes that Pennsylvania's 2.7 million children must be a priority," Benso said. "He wants to invest more in programs ranging from pre-kindergarten to health coverage to K-12 education that will build our commonwealth's human capital. When it comes to economic development, that's the smartest investment we can make."

Corbett's budget proposal includes:

• Increases of $4.5 million for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and $1.9 million for Head Start Supplemental Assistance, two high-quality early learning programs proven to help young learners, especially at-risk children, build a solid foundation for educational success.
• Level funding of $100 million for the Accountability Block Grant program, which many school districts use to fund full-day kindergarten.
• An additional $13.5 million for the state's Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), including more funding for outreach to enroll 9,300 uninsured children.
• An additional $7.1 million to reduce the Child Care Works waiting list by about 1,400 children and provide more funding to ensure working families benefitting from child care subsidy have access to the highest quality providers.

Benso also noted the budget includes a $90 million increase in basic education funding, which she termed a meaningful installment toward a larger, long-term investment to close the adequacy gap for public school districts. 

"With the state's revenues improving, it is encouraging to see the governor propose increases – as opposed to cuts - in these critical, cost-effective programs," Benso added.

"When we talk about issues like building a competitive workforce, boosting economic development and ensuring a viable tax base for future needs, those conversations all start with our kids. With this budget, Governor Corbett is telling Pennsylvania's families and taxpayers that if we don't start making smart investments in our children, we have no future."

As Pennsylvania works to improve its response to child abuse complaints, it also must build on efforts to prevent neglect and abuse and reduce its use of foster care, according to a new statewide report from Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

“If done thoughtfully, Pennsylvania can improve its child protection efforts without drawing resources or attention away from efforts that we know are working to keep kids in safe, nurturing homes,” said PPC President and CEO Joan Benso.

PPC’s latest annual State of Child Welfare report documents some of the accomplishments of the commonwealth’s child welfare system, including a decline in the number of children entering foster care and an ongoing reduction in the overall foster care population. The latest report shows the number of children in foster care statewide fell to 22,443 – down nearly 1,800 from the prior year.

Pennsylvania’s approach to foster care emphasizes placing children in family settings – preferably with relatives – rather than relying on group homes or institutions, often termed “congregate care.” Family-focused foster care typically provides a better pathway for foster children to move into permanent families.

Despite the seemingly positive trends in the foster care statistics, there are signs Pennsylvania’s efforts to safely reduce foster care may have reached a plateau. Still, Benso noted, Pennsylvania has new tools to continue its progress, most notably permission from the federal government to be more flexible in how the commonwealth spends its child welfare funds – flexibility that will allow for more investments in prevention strategies.

The State of Child Welfare report also stresses the importance of preserving Pennsylvania’s “differential response” approach to investigating child abuse – an approach more and more states are implementing because they recognize it is a better method of working with families to ensure children are safe.

The commonwealth’s Task Force on Child Protection recently offered numerous recommendations to improve the child welfare system, including some PPC suggested to the panel.

PPC began issuing its annual State of Child Welfare report in 2009 to gauge the performance of Pennsylvania’s child welfare system in meeting the needs of the children and families the system serves. The report includes comprehensive data for each of the 67 counties, including information on foster care placements, children leaving or re-entering foster care, and efforts to reunify children with parents or relatives.

The State of Child Welfare statewide report, as well as county reports, can be found online at www.porchlightproject.org.

“There are troubling signs that our deferred investments in young Pennsylvanians are starting to impact their long-term opportunities to learn and achieve,” said PPC President and CEO Joan Benso. “Unlike some investments, which can be put off until the economy rebounds, we only get one chance to build a solid foundation for each child’s future - and each child helps dictate the future of our commonwealth.”

The 2012 School Readiness report details how well Pennsylvania is doing preparing its youngest children for school by gauging progress on several child well-being indicators, including accessibility to quality early learning resources and medical care.

For the first time ever, this year’s School Readiness report includes county-specific data tables, enabling Pennsylvanians to have a snapshot of local measures and see how their region compares to other parts of the commonwealth.

This year’s report found the commonwealth as a whole has made no significant progress during the past year in several key areas that affect young children and their families, including:

• Children living in low-income families – About 2 in 5 Pennsylvania children ages 0-4 continue to live in low-income households, making them more likely to face nutrition and health problems and less likely to succeed in school.
• Access to health insurance – About 1 in 20 children ages 0-4 lack health insurance, which can lead to a lack of treatment or delayed treatment for a range of physical and behavioral health issues. Uninsured children also are more likely to miss school and struggle academically.
• Access to child care subsidy – The number of state-subsidized child care slots available to infants, toddlers and preschool children has remained flat, at fewer than 42,000. For many low-income families, child care subsidy is a critical means for working parents to obtain high-quality child care so they can hold down jobs.

The lack of progress in these areas is compounded by other, more troubling signs, including a sharp decline in the number of young children who receive health insurance coverage through Pennsylvania’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid. Both programs are critical to ensuring children have the access to physical and behavioral health care resources they need to thrive in their earliest years.

“The number of Pennsylvania children ages 4 and under who are covered by CHIP or Medicaid fell by more than 40,000 in just a year,” Benso said. “Such a large drop is alarming, especially given Pennsylvania’s longstanding reputation as a national leader in covering all kids.”

Pennsylvania also saw the number of children enrolled in publicly funded, high-quality pre-kindergarten programs drop by more than 3,200 in the past year, despite the proven, cost-saving benefits of programs like Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and Head Start. The percentage of Pennsylvania 3- and 4-year-olds benefitting from publicly funded pre-k is at its lowest since 2007.

There are some hopeful signs in the School Readiness report, including an increase in the number of children served through Pennsylvania’s early intervention services and high-quality child care. Both help improve school readiness, and high-quality child care in particular has been shown to have a strong return on investment for Pennsylvania taxpayers.

“From pre-k investments to child care subsidies to health insurance, we know what works to help our youngest learners get off to a good start,” Benso said. “The challenge facing our state leaders is to make these areas a priority in the commonwealth’s budget. We can invest in our kids now - or pay much more later.”

For more information on the 2012 School Readiness report and to see county-specific data tables, visit PPC’s website at papartnerships.org/sr2012.

If the commonwealth does not take action soon to meet a federal deadline for setting up this online resource – known as a “health insurance exchange” - the federal government will create the exchange for the commonwealth, meaning the input and expertise of Pennsylvania consumers, health care providers, insurers and policymakers could be overlooked.

“No one has a better grasp of Pennsylvania’s health insurance needs than Pennsylvanians, and it would be a shame for that knowledge to be wasted because of a missed deadline,” said PPC President and CEO Joan Benso. “The exchange represents a critical opportunity for Pennsylvania to build on its national reputation as a leader in children’s health care, but time is running out to do it right.”

A high-quality, consumer-friendly exchange could help provide coverage to the more than 153,000 Pennsylvania children who still lack health insurance.

The federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires each state to decide by November 2012 whether it will set up its own health insurance exchange or defer this important task to the federal government. The ACA also requires states to have insurance exchanges in operation by January 2014. To date, at least 14 states have moved to create a state-run exchange, including Pennsylvania’s neighboring states of Maryland, New York, West Virginia.

While Pennsylvania began taking steps in 2010 and 2011 to set up a state-run exchange, that work faltered in 2012, leaving the commonwealth behind schedule to meet the federal deadline. The delay makes it unlikely the Pennsylvania General Assembly can pass legislation this year to establish an exchange, but it could still be done through an executive order from Gov. Tom Corbett.

“Regardless of how we create Pennsylvania’s exchange, further inaction only hurts the commonwealth’s families and children,” Benso said.

If Pennsylvania opts to not pursue a state-run exchange, PPC recommends a “partnership” exchange with the federal government. A partnership exchange would allow Pennsylvania to oversee key aspects of the exchange related to the management of health plans and consumer assistance, while the federal government would oversee other functions.

PPC’s new report, “Health Care Reform and Pennsylvania’s Children: A Status Update,” outlines several goals of an effective exchange. Among them:

• The exchange should be a genuine “one-stop shop” for health insurance needs, allowing consumers to examine insurance options, determine eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP coverage, compare plans and buy coverage all through a single website.
   
• It should give families concise guidance on health care issues, in part through the use of third-party “navigators” such as schools, churches and similar community-based organizations.
   
• The exchange should ensure continuity of coverage, so eligibility in one coverage group does not end before enrollment in another group begins.
   
• The exchange should provide children with access to all evidence-based physical and behavioral health benefits.

PPC has monitored the implementation of health care reform in Pennsylvania since the ACA was signed into law in 2010. Our efforts to comprehensively monitor health care reform include the recent launch of “The State of Children’s Health Care in Pennsylvania,” an annual report that uses objective data to gauge whether the reforms are achieving their desired goals.

“When we strip away the heated rhetoric from the public discussion on health care reform, there is one area in which there should be no disagreement: Pennsylvania must continue to be a national leader in keeping all of our children insured and healthy,” Benso said. “It’s good for our kids and good for our commonwealth.”

CONTACT: Michael Race, Communications Director
717-236-5680
mrace@papartnerships.org

“Despite Pennsylvania’s status as a national leader in providing accessible, affordable health care to our children, there are too many areas where we still fall short,” said PPC President and CEO Joan Benso. “A fundamental goal of health care reform is to improve access to physical and behavioral health care for our kids, so we need to make sure that happens.”

PPC’s newest annual report, “The State of Children’s Health Care in Pennsylvania,” uses multiple measures to gauge whether children have access to the quality care they need to grow up healthy. The report is the first of its kind in the commonwealth.

Ensuring the health of Pennsylvania’s children is critical to the commonwealth’s social and economic well-being. Healthy children have better school attendance and academic performance, meaning working parents are less likely to need unexpected time off and employers benefit from a more productive, cost-effective workforce.

The report uses various health indicators to provide a data-driven snapshot of children’s health care in Pennsylvania – its successes, limitations and challenges. The inaugural report compiles data from 2010, the year the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law, to provide a baseline for future reports, which will offer year-to-year comparisons to help identify areas where the commonwealth has made gains or needs to improve.

“The State of Children’s Health Care in Pennsylvania” already has identified some troubling gaps in children’s health care, even among the 1.3 million commonwealth children who are insured through Medicaid or Pennsylvania’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP):

• Fewer than 60 percent of children insured through these publicly funded programs receive the appropriate number of wellness visits between birth and 15 months – visits that are crucial to preventive health care.
• Thousands of children lack access to primary care providers and specialists, which can lead to delayed diagnoses of physical or behavioral health issues.
• About 1 in 4 children fail to receive appropriate immunizations against preventable illnesses such as polio, tetanus or hepatitis.
• Nearly half do not receive annual dental checkups.

“We can do better,” Benso said of these findings. “Children need and deserve access to a full range of physical and behavioral health care resources to ensure their overall well-being. When we ensure our kids grow up healthy, the entire commonwealth benefits.”

Benso said passage of the ACA provides an opportunity to ensure greater access to affordable, quality health care for all children.

Many aspects of the ACA have not yet taken effect, including the establishment of a state health insurance exchange – an online marketplace that will enable families to easily shop for health insurance options that fit their particular needs and budgets. The exchange will be critical in reaching those children that still lack insurance coverage, Benso said, and she urged lawmakers to act this fall to pass legislation to establish the exchange.

“Pennsylvania has a strong history of leadership and commitment in providing health coverage for children, and establishing the health insurance exchange will ensure we continue to be national leaders in keeping our kids healthy,” Benso said.

The KIDS COUNT® Data Book, issued today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, shows about one-fifth of Pennsylvania’s children lived in poverty in 2010, while nearly a third of children were in families in which no parent had full-time, year-round employment.

“While Pennsylvania’s overall national ranking is promising, we clearly have room for improvement in our efforts to provide economic security for our children,” said Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) President and CEO Joan Benso.

This year’s data book uses 16 indicators to rank each state within four Domains. Pennsylvania ranked as follows:

• 8th in the education domain, which looks at preschool opportunities, reading and math proficiency, and whether high school students graduate on time.
• 8th in the health domain, which looks at the percentage of children who lack health insurance, child and teen death rates, low-birth weight babies, and alcohol or drug abuse among teens.
• 17th in the economic well-being domain, which examines data related to child poverty, family employment, housing costs and whether older teens not in school are working.
• 23rd in the family and community domain, which examines the percentage of children living in high-poverty areas, single-parent households and education levels among heads of households, as well as teen birth rates.

Benso noted Pennsylvania had a relatively strong showing in the education and health domains in part because state leaders have made those issues priorities over the years. Over its 20-year history, PPC has worked with policymakers to provide universal health care coverage for children and provide greater access to high-quality early childhood education, both of which helped bolster Pennsylvania’s rankings in the latest data book.

“The challenge moving forward will be not only to improve in the areas where we lag, but also to make sure we don’t backslide from our strong rankings in areas like children’s health insurance and early childhood education,” Benso said.

The 2012 KIDS COUNT® Data Book uses several new indicators of child well-being that are meant to provide policymakers and advocates with more robust information than was available in prior years. As a result of these changes, the rankings in the 2012 report should not be compared to rankings in prior years, which relied on a smaller set of just 10 indicators.

The new, expanded set of indicators puts a more balanced emphasis on education and family and community factors than existed in prior years.

The 2012 KIDS COUNT® Data Book can be found online at www.aecf.org.

CONTACT: Michael Race
717-236-5680
mrace@papartnerships.org

“On the whole, Pennsylvania’s children certainly fared better in the final budget plan compared to the spending plan initially proposed in February,” Benso said. “We saw investments in children improve during budget talks for two reasons: higher-than-expected state revenues and the demonstrated commitment of the General Assembly and the governor to make investing in our kids a higher priority.”

Among the bright spots in the final budget:

• It maintains $100 million in funding for Accountability Block Grants, which many school districts use to fund full-day kindergarten.
• Funding for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and Head Start Supplemental Assistance, both of which provide high-quality early learning opportunities to 3- and 4-year-olds, are maintained at $82.8 million and $37.3 million, respectively.
• It includes the governor’s proposal for the full state implementation of the federal Fostering Connections law, which will provide stronger supports to older foster youth as they make the often difficult transition to adulthood.
• It protects Keystone Exams as an important tool to measure student achievement in order to drive appropriate supports so every child achieves to our rigorous academic standards.
• It creates a more substantive, useful system for evaluating most public school teachers, ensuring they receive the feedback and support needed to improve so their students can achieve.

Unfortunately, Benso noted, the final budget reduces child care funding by more than $28 million overall for 2012-13 compared to the previous fiscal year.

“Child care funding helps ensure working families can afford high-quality child care, so parents can have the peace of mind knowing their children are in a safe, nurturing environment while they are at work,” Benso said. “As many families still struggle in a difficult economy – sometimes working multiple jobs to do so – quality child care is more important than ever. This cut takes us in the wrong direction.”

And while PPC advocated for the improved teacher evaluation system included in the final budget agreement, Benso said the omission of charter and cyber charter teachers from the new evaluation system is troubling, as it puts charter students at a disadvantage with their peers in other public schools. “These evaluations are meant to ensure every public school student benefits from an effective teacher, but for now, charter school students won’t have that assurance,” Benso said.

Charter school teachers were included in a previous version of the teacher evaluation measure, but they were removed from the evaluation process in a final school code bill. The state Department of Education, in a letter to lawmakers, claimed charter teachers did not need to be included in the evaluation system because it was the department’s “intent” to enact charter school reform measures that would include an evaluation system for charter teachers. That measure is still pending.

“We are heartened by the Corbett administration’s commitment to assure that charter school teachers eventually will benefit from the same meaningful evaluations that all other public school teachers receive,” Benso said. “It would be a loss for charter school students and parents if they did not have the same assurances - achieved through comparable accountability standards - that their teachers are as good as they can be.”

Benso said PPC, which helped move the teacher evaluation measure to the governor’s desk, will continue to work hard to ensure every public school student benefits from an effective classroom teacher.

“The Affordable Care Act marked a major step forward in making health care affordable and accessible to families with children, and we are thrilled the court upheld this landmark law. More than 1.1 million Pennsylvania kids benefit from the law’s prohibition against lifetime limits on care, and 65,000 young adults in Pennsylvania are able to stay on a parent’s health insurance plan because of this common-sense law.

“With the law now upheld, we would urge Governor Corbett and state lawmakers to swiftly move ahead with the creation of a statewide health insurance exchange - a user-friendly, online insurance marketplace that will enable all families with children to obtain and maintain high-quality health insurance in a simplified, streamlined way. Despite Pennsylvania’s universal health care coverage for children, we still have more than 100,000 children in the commonwealth who lack health insurance. The exchange can help us reach these children and their families and ensure every child has access to our health care system. In addition, Pennsylvania should make full use of all options available under the Affordable Care Act.”

About 3,500 of those children are in foster care with kinship families and could benefit from a cost-saving proposal included in Gov. Tom Corbett’s budget to provide stronger supports for foster youth.

The KIDS COUNT® report, Stepping Up for Kids: What Government and Communities Should Do to Support Kinship Families, found family members and friends who take on parental responsibilities through kinship care often have limited incomes and struggle to meet the basic needs of children.

In Pennsylvania, the financial challenges facing some families using kinship care can be eased if the commonwealth fully implements the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, which provides states with incentives to improve outcomes for foster youth and promote adoption and legal guardianship.

Under existing state rules, foster parents can receive financial support until a foster youth in their care turns 21, if the youth meets certain educational and/or treatment criteria. Yet similar financial assistance ends at age 18 for families who choose to adopt or act as legal guardians to foster youth.

This disparity can discourage kinship families from adoption or legal guardianship, because it amounts to a financial punishment for making an older foster child a permanent part of the family, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children President and CEO Joan Benso explained.

“Some foster parents – including many providing kinship care - would love to adopt the children in their care, but they cannot afford it because of this financial disincentive,” Benso said. “Thankfully, Governor Corbett has a proposal to fix this problem, and it’s a plan that will save the state and counties money as well.”

As part of his proposed budget for fiscal 2012-13, Gov. Corbett has called on the commonwealth to extend adoption and guardianship subsidies to age 21, the same age limit that exists for foster care support. The governor’s proposal also would allow more youth between ages 18 and 21 to benefit from the support of a foster family in cases where adoption or legal guardianship might not be an option.

Currently, Pennsylvania only extends foster care to age 21 for youth under certain circumstances, such as when a foster youth is working toward a high school diploma, enrolled in post-secondary education or receiving medical treatment. The governor’s proposal would expand the criteria, allowing foster care to continue to age 21 for youth who are enrolled in job training or working at least 80 hours a month.

The KIDS COUNT® report also highlights recommendations for states and communities to take advantage of existing federal funding for these families and to strengthen them and help their kids flourish, avoiding greater costs down the road:

• Increase their financial stability through TANF-funded programs specifically designed to meet their unique needs.
• Remove barriers within the child welfare system through policies that formally seek to involve relatives in a child’s care, such as full implementation of Fostering Connections and reforms to foster-home licensing requirements.
• Establish laws and resources to bolster kinship families by promoting stable housing, access to child health care and community-based services for older relatives.

“The federal government already has a solid framework in place for serving these families, and several states - such as Washington, Arizona and Pennsylvania - have taken steps to actively support extended family and friends as they assume their new caregiving roles,” said Robert Geen, director of family services and systems policy at the Foundation. “Every state and community needs to adopt such changes, especially addressing the needs of lower-income kinship families.”

Stepping Up for Kids includes the latest kinship care data for every state, the District of Columbia and the nation. This information is available at www.aecf.org/kinship.

Significant benefits will be realized by acting on Governor Tom Corbett’s budget proposal to fully implement the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, which provides states with incentives to improve outcomes for foster youth and promote adoption and legal guardianship.

“We know we can do more to help older foster youth make the challenging transition to adulthood and encourage foster families to adopt older youth,” said Juvenile Law Center Executive Director Robert Schwartz. “By fully implementing Fostering Connections, we can do both – all while reducing costs.”

Under existing state rules, foster parents can receive financial support until a foster youth in their care turns 21 if the youth meets certain educational and/or treatment criteria. Yet similar financial assistance ends at age 18 for families who choose to adopt or act as legal guardians to a foster youth.

“This disparity actually discourages families from adoption or legal guardianship by financially punishing them if they make an older foster child a permanent part of the family,” Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children President and CEO Joan Benso explained. “Some foster parents would love to adopt children in their care, but they simply cannot afford it because of this financial disincentive. Thankfully, we have an opportunity to fix this problem.”

The changes proposed by Governor Corbett would extend adoption and guardianship subsidies to age 21, the same age limit that exists for foster care support, thereby encouraging permanent placements and improving educational and long-term outcomes.

The governor’s proposal also would allow more youth between ages 18 and 21 to benefit from the support of a foster family in cases where adoption or legal guardianship might not be an option.

Currently, Pennsylvania only extends foster care to age 21 for youth under certain circumstances, such as when a foster youth is working toward a high school diploma, enrolled in post-secondary education or receiving medical treatment. The governor’s proposal would expand the criteria, allowing foster care to continue to age 21 for youth who are enrolled in job training or working at least 80 hours a month.

Expanding foster care eligibility in this way can provide critical support to older youth as they make the often difficult transition to adulthood. “Whether foster youth go on to college, job training or directly into the workforce, having the continued support of a family can help them navigate the challenges all young people face as they become independent adults,” Schwartz said.

Governor Corbett’s proposed budget for fiscal 2012-13 estimates Pennsylvania can save $4.5 million in the coming fiscal year by implementing Fostering Connections. In addition to these savings, the implementation will enable the commonwealth to gain millions of dollars in federal support next fiscal year.

More information on the benefits of Fostering Connections can be found on PPC’s Porch Light Project website at www.porchlightproject.org/FC2012 or www.jlc.org.

CONTACT:
Michael Race, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, 717-236-5680
Marie Yeager, Juvenile Law Center, 717-699-2206

“On the whole, the governor’s budget priorities fail to show adequate commitment to the well-being of Pennsylvania’s children, and his short-term attempts to cut costs will cause long-term setbacks to the commonwealth’s efforts to build a competitive workforce,” Benso said.

The governor’s proposed budget calls for more than $30 million in cuts to high-quality early learning programs, despite Corbett’s campaign pledge in 2010 to double the number of children who benefit from these proven programs. 

“As a candidate for governor, Tom Corbett vowed to make early childhood education funding a priority, yet halfway through his term, we see no signs of that campaign pledge being put into action,” Benso said. “Every year that goes by with inadequate funding for early childhood education is another year of missed opportunities for tens of thousands of young Pennsylvanians.”

Similarly, the governor’s proposal for funding K-12 education falls short, according to Benso, who noted the elimination of the Accountability Block Grant program likely will mean fewer children benefitting from full-day kindergarten. In addition, a number of line items to fund public education services have been blended into a newly created Student Achievement Education Block Grant, resulting in a net loss of more than $78 million to meet the public education needs of Pennsylvania’s children. 

Benso also questioned the governor’s projected Medicaid costs for the Department of Public Welfare. In recent months, DPW has removed more than 88,000 children from the Medicaid rolls, allegedly because they were ineligible, yet many families have claimed they are eligible and their children were cut from Medicaid due to bureaucratic backlogs in processing paperwork.

DPW officials have publicly claimed the reduction in the Medicaid rolls will yield savings. “However, if children who were improperly dropped from Medicaid due to bureaucratic issues re-enroll, those estimated cost savings will diminish and possibly disappear entirely,” Benso said.

“In the interim, those affected children might have to seek medical care through avenues such as hospital emergency rooms, which are considerably more costly than a physician’s office visit,” Benso added. “In the worst cases, parents might defer medical care for a child due to a lack of insurance, risking greater medical issues, higher medical costs and possibly life-threatening situations.”

A bright spot in the governor’s budget is the proposed implementation of the federal Fostering Connections act, meant to promote adoption and legal guardianship and provide greater support for older youth who remain in foster care.

“Fostering Connections can increase the number of older youth who find permanent families through adoption or legal guardianship and save the commonwealth and its counties money,” Benso said. “It is a great example of public policy that helps young people while using taxpayer resources wisely.”

2012-2013 Select Children's Investments

Pennsylvania has a unique opportunity in the coming year to reach the more than 100,000 children who still lack health insurance, but doing will requires quick, decisive action by state leaders, according to the commonwealth’s leading children’s advocacy organization.

A new report by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children details how the commonwealth can best implement aspects of the federal Affordable Care Act, or ACA, and help reach the 5 percent of Pennsylvania children who still lack health insurance.

“Pennsylvania has long been a national leader in children’s health insurance, going back to the inception of CHIP nearly two decades ago, but we have more work to do,” said PPC President and CEO Joan Benso. “Governor Corbett and state lawmakers, working together, will have the chance in 2012 to enact legislation to build on our successes and reach kids who still lack health insurance and the access to quality care that such insurance provides.”

The pending creation of Pennsylvania’s health insurance exchange will be a prime opportunity to reach these uninsured children. The exchange, which will be established under the ACA, operates as an online marketplace where consumers can comparison shop for health insurance based on their needs and budgets.

PPC is calling on state policymakers to develop a health insurance exchange that will ensure every child has the greatest possible access to all evidence-based physical and behavioral health benefits. It should be streamlined and easy to use, and have the power to aggressively negotiate with insurers to guarantee a broad menu of insurance choices for families with children.

“We need an exchange that truly works for kids,” Benso said. “We know making health insurance affordable and accessible for our youngest Pennsylvanians is a long-term cost saver. It promotes preventive care, reduces more costly emergency medical treatment, encourages lifelong healthy habits and saves all of us money. There simply is no downside to providing our children with health insurance.”

PPC’s report outlines how Pennsylvania policymakers can use all available resources, including federal funding, to keep the commonwealth at the national forefront in providing affordable health insurance for children. The report also stresses the need for Pennsylvania to address potential shortages of health care professionals, particularly in rural areas.

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department announced in November that it will set up a state-run health insurance exchange under ACA, and it plans to apply for some available federal funding to establish the exchange. PPC recommends the commonwealth position itself to secure multiple federal grants that will help lessen state-level costs.

The report notes that federal health care reform already has benefitted Pennsylvania’s children in multiple ways. Among other things, the law prohibits insurers from requiring co-pays for preventative services, blocks insurers from dropping a child’s coverage because the child is ill, and prohibits insurers from establishing a lifetime limit of coverage.

Recent news events have led to an important discussion about how Pennsylvania can better help vulnerable children, and a new state report on child welfare shows one area where the commonwealth is moving in the right direction: foster care.

Pennsylvania’s family-focused approach to foster care is helping to reduce the number of children placed in foster care and drive down the overall foster care population, according to the annual State of Child Welfare report issued today by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

“We have seen horrifying headlines in recent weeks that we hope will spur Pennsylvania’s leaders to make positive, thoughtful changes to better serve children, but it’s equally important for them to know what strategies are working,” said PPC President and CEO Joan Benso. “When it comes to the commonwealth’s approach to foster care, we are making laudable progress.”

The annual report shows a marked increase in the number of Pennsylvania children and families being helped through in-home services that allow children to remain with their families and out of foster care. The number of children receiving in-home services increased by more than 4,700 from 2010 to 2011.

“In-home services help families proactively address the root causes of child neglect and abuse and help make vulnerable families stronger,” Benso said. “The use of in-home services is important because we know outcomes for children are far better when they can remain in their own homes and out of foster care.”

The report also shows state and county officials are moving away from a traditional reliance on group homes or institutions for foster children – often termed “congregate care” - and focusing on family settings instead, which are better pathways for helping foster children move into permanent families.

During the past two years, the percentage of foster care children placed in family settings has seen a marked increase, while the percentage placed in congregate care has seen a closely corresponding decrease. In 2011, 71.4 percent of children were placed in family settings, up from 68.6 percent in 2010 and 67.7 percent in 2009. One in three of these children were placed with a relative. Meanwhile, the percentage of children in congregate care dropped to 22.4 percent in 2011, down from 25.1 percent in 2010 and 27.2 percent in 2009.

Despite such progress, some notable challenges remain. The state’s foster care system needs to do more to better assist older teenagers, especially those 18 and older, in finding permanent homes through adoption or legal guardianship, according to Benso.

“Too many of these young adults end up ‘aging out’ of the foster care system without the support of a permanent family to help them cope with the often stressful transition to adulthood,” Benso said. “We can use common-sense, cost-effective strategies to help these older teens strengthen their family bonds and boost their chances of becoming self-sufficient adults.”

Benso said efforts to better assist older teens in foster care will be among PPC’s priorities in 2012.

PPC began issuing its annual State of Child Welfare report in 2009 to gauge the performance of Pennsylvania’s child welfare system in meeting the needs of the children and families it serves. The report includes comprehensive data for each of the 67 counties, including information on foster care placements, children leaving or re-entering foster care, and efforts to reunify children with parents or relatives.

The State of Child Welfare statewide report, as well as county reports, can be found online at www.porchlightproject.org.

“Teachers, just like their students, need more than just feedback – they also need the right resources to improve and do their best in the classroom,” said Joan Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

“High-quality teacher evaluations can be important roadmaps to help teachers reach their full potential, but evaluations alone are not enough,” Benso added. “Teachers also need quality training, mentoring and solid professional development opportunities to help them grow in their profession.”

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children last night hosted a “Making the Grade Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Effective Teaching” that drew more than 1,400 participants and featured a discussion moderated by Pennsylvania Education Secretary Ron Tomalis. The town hall is part of a growing public discussion on ways to improve teacher effectiveness and boost student achievement.

PPC also will testify at a House Education Committee meeting on Thursday, Nov. 3, to discuss efforts to improve Pennsylvania’s methods for evaluating teachers.

Teacher effectiveness is the focus of a PPC initiative called “Making the Grade: Effective Teaching in Every Classroom.” The goal is to raise awareness about the benefits of effective teaching on student achievement and advance the public policies needed to assure every child reaps the benefits of effective teaching.

An effective teacher has a ripple effect that benefits every Pennsylvanian. Better teachers help raise student achievement, making our graduates better prepared to compete and succeed, in turn strengthening the Commonwealth’s workforce and its economy.

Benso credited the state Department of Education and local school districts for their progress toward creating more meaningful teacher evaluations.

Last year, PDE worked with three school districts - Allentown City, Cornell and Mohawk Area - and Tri-County Intermediate Unit 5 on a pilot program to improve teacher evaluations. This year, the department launched a follow-up pilot program that involves more than 100 local education entities, including nearly 80 school districts.

The Pittsburgh School District also has begun innovative work through its Empowering Effective Teachers Project, which seeks to boost teacher effectiveness by measuring factors like teacher practices, academic growth and students’ classroom perceptions.

PPC supports the use of student achievement data in teacher evaluations, an aspect of classroom performance that is lacking in existing teacher evaluation methods. Benso said at least 23 other states require their teacher evaluations to include some objective evidence of student learning, and Pennsylvania should join that growing list.

“If you craft a fair, substantive method for helping teachers determine their strengths and weaknesses in the classroom – along with providing the tools to help them improve – you’ll find a solution that’s eagerly embraced by educators, students, parents and everyone who cares about making our schools better,” Benso said.

As Pennsylvania families continue to struggle through a sluggish economy, critical state programs are proving essential to helping young children grow up healthy and succeed in school, according to a new state report on school readiness.

The 2011 School Readiness report, released today by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, found publicly funded pre-kindergarten and child care subsidies are helping children at a critical time in their lives, even as their families struggle to maintain self-sufficiency.

“Poverty is at records levels in Pennsylvania, with more than 40 percent of children under age 5 living in low-income households,” said PPC President and CEO Joan Benso. “If there ever was a time that our children needed proven programs to help them thrive, it's now.”

The annual School Readiness report details how well Pennsylvania is doing preparing its youngest children for school by gauging progress on several child well-being indicators, including accessibility to quality early learning resources and medical care.

This year’s report found one state program – subsidized child care – is helping thousands of struggling Pennsylvania families stay employed and make ends meet while having the assurance their children are in a safe, nurturing environment.

More than 42,000 slots are available in Pennsylvania’s subsidized child care system to infants, toddlers and preschool children in low-income households. In many cases, these households earn enough to stay above the federal poverty level – defined as $22,350 a year for a family of four – but still struggle to provide their children with the basic necessities.

“Many of the struggling families who benefit from child care subsidy live in counties with a high cost-of-living, where even a household income that is double or triple the government’s definition of ‘poverty level’ is still not enough to get by,” Benso said. “These are vulnerable families that rely on the subsidy so they can afford child care and hold down jobs.”

Scaling back the income eligibility for child care subsidy would push these families out of the program and possibly onto other, more costly forms of assistance.

The 2011 School Readiness report also shows about 18 percent of Pennsylvania’s 3- and 4-year-olds are benefitting from publicly funded pre-k programs – roughly the same percentage that benefitted last year. While PPC would like to see the availability of quality pre-k increase, Benso said policymakers must be equally adamant about not cutting back on such proven programs as a quick fix for the state’s budget woes.

"If we cut back on our investments in children at such a critical time, we're crushing opportunities for our children when we should be creating opportunities for them,” she said. “Every young child who loses out on the opportunity to have quality early learning is likely to face a much more difficult, and costly, future in school – and we all pay the price for that loss.”

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is a statewide, independent, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health, education and well-being of children and youth.

View the 2011 School Readiness Report

Unfortunately, young people and their families rarely know about the jobs emerging from the new economy, or the education and skills needed to attain them. One solution to this dilemma is work-based learning – diverse methods and strategies for exposing young people to career possibilities, immersing them in the work world, and developing action plans leading to specific career goals. Work-based learning spans from middle school into postsecondary education, providing structured experiences and exposing young people to a range of occupations and careers.

View the Report

View the Promising Pathways to Careers Toolkit

According to research by Nobel Laureate economist James Heckman, investing in early childhood education is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve education, health and economic outcomes for participants, as well as to lower the costs to society of people dependent on social programs. Over a lifetime, children who are exposed to high-quality early learning will be healthier, more self-sufficient and less likely to enter the criminal justice system. They’re more likely to stay in school and graduate and less likely to become teen parents. Those real cost savings add up to as much as a 10 percent annual economic return for communities.

Brain development occurs more rapidly in the first five years of life than at any other time. What young children experience – or don’t experience – during this critical period will forever affect their emotional, cognitive and behavioral development. Just as a building needs a strong foundation, so, too, does a child. But in Luzerne County, only 18 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds attend high-quality publicly funded pre-kindergarten.

I urge U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey and President Obama to make early learning a priority in the 2012 federal budget – with targeted investments in Head Start, Early Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant. Luzerne County’s most vulnerable children and families depend on these investments now, and the future of Pennsylvania’s economy depends on it, too.

• Head Start. A $526 million increase is necessary over the next fiscal year to sustain early learning opportunities for children in Head Start and Early Head Start. Nearly 5,000 children are enrolled in these programs in Pennsylvania.
• Child Care and Development Block Grant. In fiscal year 2011, critical services were stripped away from families at a time of increased poverty. Congress must increase the block grant program by $1.2 billion over 2011 levels to restore child-care services for approximately 220,000 children, including more than 8,100 children in Pennsylvania. The recently passed state budget not only cut nearly $40 million from child care, which will have a grave impact on child-care subsidy, but also gave the secretary for the Department of Public Welfare the discretion to modify eligibility and increase co-pays for child care. More than 8,600 children are on the waiting list in Pennsylvania for child care subsidy.
• Effective early learning with competitive state grants. Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children thanks Congress for supporting the “Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge,” which will help winning states that choose to participate align standards, enhance the quality of and better coordinate early learning programs.

Lawmakers must make investments in early learning a key priority in the upcoming year. Failing to increase funding would have a negative impact on Luzerne County children and economic growth across Pennsylvania.

Joan L Benso

From the Times Leader

The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Pennsylvania scholarship program will no longer be funded with any government funding! The recently passed state budget included cuts to child care and legislative leaders targeted state funds for T.E.A.C.H. as one place to make cuts. Federal funds were also cut in the budget and the Governor’s office decided to partially absorb those cuts by eliminating all the federal funding for T.E.A.C.H.

Long story short – T.E.A.C.H. scholarships are gone!

The Governor can change this and make good on his commitment to early childhood education. His office is responsible for the decision to cut federal funds and they can reverse it.

Click here to send a message to the Governor to keep funding T.E.A.C.H.

More than 50,000 Pennsylvania children currently attend early childhood education programs that are higher quality because staff members are participating in T.E.A.C.H.

Click here to send a message to the Governor to keep funding T.E.A.C.H.

Nearly 2,000 Pennsylvania early childhood professionals may have to drop out of college reducing the quality of early childhood education for the children they serve.

Click here to sign a petition to send a message to the Governor to keep funding T.E.A.C.H.

If the Governor doesn’t take action - T.E.A.C.H. will shut down. Program quality will decline and children will have fewer high quality early learning opportunities.

Send the message: TEACH = Quality Early Childhood Education for Children

Please join us and take action!

2011-12 Budget Spreadsheet – Children's Investments (amended)

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) released a statement today regarding the agreement reached on the 2011-12 state budget, including the restoration of $100 million to the Accountability Block Grant (ABG) that funds two out of every three children attending full-day kindergarten programs in public schools in Pennsylvania.

“We are grateful the final budget agreement includes partial restoration of the Accountability Block Grant. We are very pleased the governor joined legislative leaders in supporting this critical investment to improve the early learning and later academic progress of Pennsylvania’s students. The vast majority of ABG funds have been used to support pre-K and full-day kindergarten – key early learning strategies,” said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children. “It is essential for the governor and legislative leaders not only to appropriate the $100 million for the 2011-12 Accountability Block Grant with reserve funds from the current fiscal year, but to make certain that school districts have the authority to spend this funding. In addition, ABG funds should continue to only be available for evidence-based strategies such as full-day kindergarten. This consensus demonstrates a shared commitment to early childhood education - including full-day kindergarten - which we expect to continue for many academic years to come.”

The budget deal represents one of shared sacrifice and children were not spared taking on part of the burden in these difficult economic times. Cuts were made to other key children’s programs such as county child welfare and child care, which will include increases in co-pays for low-income parents with children enrolled in the child care subsidy program in the new fiscal year. “We were very concerned that efforts to increase ABG funding were focused on making severe cuts to other early learning programs such as Pre-K Counts to pay for it,” noted Benso. “We thank the governor and budget negotiators for their leadership in averting efforts to significantly reduce funding for one very successful education program for four-year-olds in order to fund another critical education initiative for five-year-olds.”

The budget proposal takes modest steps to restore funding cuts to basic education that occurred from the expiration of federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, but falls short in assuring that school districts have adequate and equitable resources to educate every child. “While some restorations to basic and higher education funding cuts were realized, they aren’t enough to ensure that all Pennsylvania children can attend public schools that have adequate resources to educate them to our state’s rigorous academic standards and continue the promise that high school graduates can afford to attend postsecondary education to prepare for the workforce,” Benso went on to say.

“Certainly the governor and House and Senate Republican leadership did what they thought was best for children in the Commonwealth but with reported revenue growth, more surplus funds should have been used to avert cuts to children’s programs,” Benso added. “We should now focus on making the 2012-2013 budget one that more fully addresses the comprehensive needs of children and youth. There is much more work to be done to ensure children have the opportunities they need to grow up healthy, well educated and ready for the next stage of their lives.”

More information may be obtained by contacting Kathy Geller Myers at 717-236-5680, 717-903-3716 (mobile) or kgmyers@papartnerships.org

Though a lot of ruckus was made about federal health care reform, as a pediatrician I'd be hard pressed to find anyone who disputed the importance of the legislation in protecting children's health coverage.

While the law contains many key provisions, one highlight is that it prohibits states from restricting eligibility for public health insurance programs, including Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. And since half of Medicaid enrollees in this country are children, that protection is important.

But now, legislation has been introduced in the House and the Senate to repeal the stability protections that were part of the federal Affordable Care Act. House Resolution 1683 would eliminate the Medicaid and CHIP provisions that require states to hold steady in their commitment to public health coverage.

As someone who has devoted his career to caring for sick infants, it is unfathomable to me that our elected officials would trade the health and well-being of children for politics, and, worst of all, at the expense of families who can least afford it.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that if the repeal proposed in HR 1683 becomes law, half of the states would eliminate their CHIP programs by 2016 and the remaining states would scale back coverage for children -- resulting in hundreds of thousands of newly uninsured kids. This would unravel the recent success our nation has seen in bringing the rate of uninsured children to the lowest point in decades.

In Pennsylvania, the stability protections in federal law have helped preserve CHIP and helped maintain a crucial lifeline to children and families during tough economic times. If HR 1683 were to be enacted and the stability protections eliminated, the health care coverage of nearly 200,000 Pennsylvania children -- including more than 13,000 in Allegheny County -- would be put at risk.

Health care coverage is a vital link between children and a successful future. Without health insurance, children are more likely to suffer undiagnosed and untreated conditions, such as ear infections, that interfere with their ability to learn. They may not be able to afford eyeglasses or get timely screenings for autism spectrum disorders. Uninsured children are more likely to miss school and have diminished academic achievement.

Roughly two-thirds of those who would be harmed by HR 1683 are children. And with families and communities still struggling to gain a foothold after turbulent economic times, this is no time to pass more costs onto those who can least afford it.

I encourage Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, and the rest of the Pennsylvania delegation in Congress to oppose HR 1683 and any attempt to whittle away health coverage protections for kids.

Even if we succeed in curbing this proposal, it's sure to be just the first in a series of measures with similar aims. We need to stand up and let our members of Congress know that protecting children's health is a priority.

The stability protections in place in the Affordable Care Act are there for a reason: To guarantee more children have the opportunity to grow up healthy and strong.

Dr. Robert C. Cicco is a neonatologist at West Penn Allegheny Hospital.

An improved teacher evaluation system is a core component of a strong teacher effectiveness model.  An improved evaluation model coupled with incentives to ensure the most highly effective teachers serve the highest-needs students; expanded and improved teacher induction and mentoring programs; and, strong career pathways are the steps to assuring that every child benefits from an effective teacher.

PPC supports SB 1087 and believes that student performance should be included as part of a set of multiple measures to evaluate teachers. Most teacher evaluations are currently based on limited classroom observation and result in merely a satisfactory or unsatisfactory rating and do not link student performance with a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom.

An effective teacher is the most important school-based factor influencing school achievement and one of the missing links in assuring that every child learns at least a year’s worth of knowledge for every year spent in the classroom, from kindergarten through high school.

“Every child deserves an effective teacher who prepares him or her to one day graduate ready for the rigors of college and career,” said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO, PA Partnerships for Children. “We applaud Governor Corbett, Sen. Piccola and Sen. Dinniman and other members of the Senate Education Committee for advancing this dialogue and their commitment to making this a priority. The Department of Education’s pilot coupled with the learning from the Pittsburgh Public Schools provides an excellent foundation for this work.  We are fully committed to lending our support to advance this important agenda.”

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children released a paper on teacher effectiveness in 2010.

View a copy of the report

Full-day kindergarten works. Just ask parents, teachers, superintendents and school board members.

Just don’t ask Gov. Tom Corbett.

In Corbett’s 2011-12 budget, $166 million in Accountability Block Grant funds will be cut, creating concern among Valley school districts and parents.

A report released Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children showed a connection between full-day kindergarten enrollment and later success in elementary school on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests.

School districts that elected to provide full-day kindergarten through Accountability Block Grant funds are apparently seeing improved performance on standardized assessments. The evidence emerged when the first students who attended ABG-funded full-day kindergarten reached third grade and took the PSSAs in 2008.

Since ABG funds first became available to school districts, the number of full-day kindergartners in Pennsylvania has grown 91 percent. In 2008-09, about 80,000 kindergarten students were enrolled in full-day programs in public school districts, charter and cyber-charter schools.

About 66 percent of the full-day enrollment — two out of three full-day students — was financed through the ABG program.

Don’t cut education funding, said Joan Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

“We appreciate the difficult decisions that administration has to make,” Benso said Wednesday. “But cutting resources for public education shouldn’t be one of them.”

The ABG program works, Benso said, and cutting the funds should be revisited.

“We need to restore this,” Benso said. “Districts across the state will be struggling trying to figure out what to do.”

Benso said that 350 school districts with 50,000 kindergartners are fully or partially funded by the ABG program.

The pattern of improved performance continued at the state level for the next two years. In 2010, school districts with full-day kindergarten saw math proficiency scores rise twice as much as districts with part-day programs.

And now, just as PSSA results are showing a correlation between full-day kindergarten and scores in third and fifth grade, the Accountability Block Grant has been eliminated in Corbett’s 2011-12 budget.

Cutting the program isn’t on the table, even with a $5.1 million budget shortfall, Shikellamy district Superintendent Robin Musto said.

“That’s the last thing we would do,” Musto said. “It wouldn’t even be an option because that is one of the most important programs.”

Eliminating all-day kindergarten is also non-negotiable in the Milton Area School District’s “Balancing the Budget” plan.

From Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Katie Richter has been teaching first grade for six years. Three years ago, she started seeing a difference in her students.

"They're much more prepared for school," she said. "I remember kids used to fall asleep in class because they were used to taking a nap in the middle of the day. That doesn't happen anymore."

Richter, who teaches at McAnnulty Elementary School in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District, attributes the change to full-day kindergarten, which the district adopted four years ago with the help of the state's Accountability Block Grant program.

"It just makes sense -- the more time you spend in school, the better you're going to be," Richter said.

Full-day kindergarten programs like the one at McAnnulty are facing elimination next year as school districts struggle to close vast budget gaps, but a new study by a Harrisburg advocacy group, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, suggests that the all-day classes may be making a difference.

Looking at third-graders' Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores, the group found that districts with full-day kindergarten have made greater gains, especially in reading. Since the first cohort of full-day kindergarteners reached third grade, these districts have seen students reach grade level at higher rates.

Between 2006 and 2010, districts with full-day kindergarten brought 7.9 percent more children to grade level in reading, while those with half-day programs raised the number at grade level by 4.4 percent. In math, full-day districts brought 3.2 percent more children to grade level, while others brought 0.6 percent up.

The results of this analysis were consistent with numerous other studies of full-day kindergarten, although a 2008 study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Loyola University Chicago found that the gains diminished over time. The researchers attributed that to differences in socioeconomic status -- poor students were more likely to be in full-day programs.

According to state Department of Education enrollment statistics, about 85,000 of Pennsylvania's 125,000 kindergarteners were in full-day classes last year. More than three-quarters of them were in programs funded by Accountability Block Grants.

But Gov. Tom Corbett, citing the state's $4 billion budget deficit, has called for the elimination of the program, which costs Pennsylvania $260 million a year.

Facing vast budget deficits of their own, school districts across the state are preparing to cut their full-day programs -- or scrambling to find the money elsewhere.

"I'm going to keep it, but we may have less teachers and larger classes," said Cynthia Chelen, superintendent of Monessen City schools, which received a grant of $188,000 this year. The benefits, she explained, were too valuable to give up.

"They're reading!" Chelen said. "They used to not be reading until first grade."

Christine Oldham, superintendent of Ligonier Valley schools, said she was not surprised by the findings of the Pennsylvania Partnerships study.

"If we do away with full-day kindergarten, we're just postponing kindergarten to age 6, because first grade becomes kindergarten," she said.

Oldham said that Ligonier was working to keep its full-day program, which began in 2005.

"The board and the administration are committed to full-day kindergarten," she said. "However, nothing is a sure thing."

Other districts are considering laying off kindergarten teachers and cutting full-day programs. East Allegheny school directors voted last month to return to half-day kindergarten.

Though school districts must consider the governor's budget as they assemble their own spending plans for the 2011-12 school year, the cuts still must be approved by the General Assembly.

Joan Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships, said that lawmakers from both parties had expressed concerns about the cuts, while others were worried that public school spending was too high.

"I think it's highly likely that a discussion about full-day kindergarten will be part of the budget process," she said.



Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children today released a report saying that full-day kindergarten -- now in jeopardy in many districts because of proposed state cuts -- makes a significant difference in children's reading skills.

The report compared children who were in full-day kindergarten with those in part-time kindergarten statewide. Of the state's 500 school districts, more than 300 have full-day kindergarten.

Many of the districts rely on state accountability block grants to pay for some or all of full-day kindergarten programs, but Gov. Tom Corbett has proposed eliminating such grants.

In Allegheny County, the following districts used such funds to pay for all or part of their full-day kindergarten programs: Avonworth, Baldwin-Whitehall, Brentwood, Carlynton, Chartiers Valley, Clairton, Deer Lakes, Duquesne, East Allegheny, Elizabeth Forward, Fox Chapel Area, Highlands, McKeesport Area, Montour, North Hills, Northgate, Penn Hills, Plum, Quaker Valley, Riverview, South Allegheny, South Park, Steel Valley, Sto-Rox, Wilkinsburg and Woodland Hills, according to the organization.

The organization's study focused on the percentage of students who were not proficient, that is, scored basic or below basic on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests. It compared the third-grade scores of the first groups of full-day kindergarten students after block grants became available to third-graders from previous years when such money wasn't available.

Its figures showed that full-time and part-time kindergartners overall improved, but the full-day kindergarten students generally improved more.

For those who were in kindergarten in 2005 and third-grade in 2008, the percentage not proficient in reading in third grade dropped by 9.1 percent in schools with full-day kindergarten and 6 percent in schools that had part-time kindergarten when compared with third-graders in 2005. Math scores were about the same.

Differences also were noted in the next two classes of kindergartners when they reached third-grade. The percentage of students scoring below proficient dropped by 9.4 percent for those who were in full-day kindergarten in 2006 and third-grade in 2009 compared to third-graders in 2006. The drop was 6.5 percent for third-graders who had been in a part-time kindergarten in 2006. Part-time kindergartners had a small edge in math, with a drop of 1.1 percent, compared to 0.1 percent of the full-day kindergarten students.

For the kindergarten class of 2007, the drop in nonproficient students was similar in both groups in reading, around 1 percent. That class had the biggest improvement in math, a drop of 6.1 percent in students not proficient for those with full-day kindergarten and 3.3 percent for those in part-time kindergarten.



A new report released today by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) shows a connection between full-day kindergarten enrollment and later success in elementary school on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA).

In Full-Day Kindergarten: A Proven Success, PPC notes that statewide, school districts that elected to provide full-day kindergarten through Accountability Block Grant (ABG) funds are seeing improved performance on standardized assessments. The evidence emerged when the first cohort of children who attended ABG-funded full-day kindergarten reached third grade and took the PSSAs in spring 2008. Overall, school districts with students attending full-day kindergarten improved their reading proficiency scores over the previous year by 50 percent more than those with part-day kindergarten programs.

The pattern of improved performance continued at the state level for the next two years. In 2010, school districts with full-day kindergarten saw math proficiency scores rise twice as much as districts with part-day programs.

Since ABG funds first became available to school districts, the number of full-day kindergartners in Pennsylvania has grown 91 percent. In 2008-09, about 80,000 kindergarten students were enrolled in full-day programs in public school districts, charter schools and cyber charter schools. And about 66 percent of the full-day enrollment two out of three full-day students - was financed through the ABG program.

And now, just as PSSA results are showing a correlation between full-day kindergarten and scores in third and fifth grade, the Accountability Block Grant has been eliminated from Governor Corbett's 2011-12 budget.

"Nearly 350 school districts use ABG to fully or partially fund their FDK programs for more than 50,000 children," said Joan L. Benso, President and CEO, PA Partnerships for Children. "Eliminating this flexible funding source will force school districts to make difficult decisions which could hamper student outcomes. If school districts can't make up the difference in their budget gaps due to the loss of ABG, thousands of children may be forced to start their academic journeys without the proven benefits of full-day K."

"Full-day kindergarten is too vital to be eliminated," said Rich Fry, superintendent of Big Spring School District in Cumberland County. "We hope to maintain the program through staff attrition this year, but in the future we could be looking at furloughing teachers which could impact other education programs."

First-grade teacher Katie Richter, of the Baldwin-Whitehall School District in Allegheny County, has witnessed the difference in reading skills between full- and part-day kindergarten students. "Overall the full-day kids are much more prepared for first grade. These students come with routines, procedures and rules in place. They've already mastered the expectations."

Richter said that first grade teachers whose students come from full-day kindergarten can jump into lessons at the start of a new school year without having to spend prolonged time on letter names and sounds. "My experience is the full-day K students are better readers in first grade than the part-day students were," she said.

"We urge our legislature to work to restore the Accountability Block Grant or create a dedicated funding stream for full-day kindergarten," Benso implored. "Full-day K is a proven strategy for success and an important building block in our early learning continuum. Children won't have the opportunity to go back and do kindergarten again when our state budget situation improves. We must make restoration of state funds for full-day K a high priority in budget negotiations this spring."

More information may be obtained by contacting Kathy Geller Myers, PPC Communications Director, at 717-236-5680 or 717-903-3716 (cell) or www.papartnerships.org.

Download this release as a PDF

Early Childhood Action Day 2011 is sponsored by PennAEYC (the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children) with support from Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, the Pennsylvania Child Care Association,  Fight Crime Invest in Kids,  Public Citizens for Children and Youth, the United Way of Pennsylvania and local AEYC affiliate chapters (Delaware Valley, Pittsburgh Area, York Area, Central Susquehanna, Central Region, Capital Area, Monroe County, NE Penn, NW Penn, Lehigh and Northampton, Lancaster Area, Lebanon Valley, Bucks County and  Eastern Penn).

Nearly 675 early childhood education advocates from across the state converged in the Capitol Rotunda today for Early Childhood Action Day 2011 and to meet with legislators about the importance of continued investments in early learning programs.

Those in attendance came to stand in support of early childhood investments including Pre-K Counts, Head Start, Keystone STARS and child care subsidy and to thank Gov. Tom Corbett and his administration for championing these programs. While advocates sent a message that early childhood education investments appear to be protected for now in the governor’s 2011-12 budget request, there is more work to be done to ensure all children have access to quality learning programs that create a solid foundation:  

• Fewer than 18 percent of Pennsylvania’s 3- and 4-year olds have access to high-quality, pre-kindergarten utilizing public education funds.
• Pre-K Counts sites reported waiting lists of more than 4,500 children for the 2010-11 school year.
• Currently, nearly 12,000 children are on the Child Care Works waiting list. Some have been on the waiting list for more than a year.

Only 3.5 percent of child care slots for children birth to 4 years old are in the highest quality programs - achieving Keystone STARS four rating or other accreditation.

Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley kicked off the rally by speaking about why investing in early childhood education is so important to the Commonwealth. “Pennsylvania faces tough choices as we rise to the challenge of a $4 billion budget deficit.  But Governor Corbett and I understand the importance of investing in early childhood and so this budget maintains support for critical developmental programs,” Cawley said, noting the budget includes nearly $38 million for Head Start and more than $83 million for Pre-K Counts.

Other speakers included Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh) and Rep. Phyllis Mundy (D-Luzerne), co-chairs of the Early Childhood Education Caucus, a nearly 90 member, bi-cameral, bi-partisan group; Lloyd Lamm, First National Bank of Pennsylvania; Jane Ervin, president of Community Services for Children, Allentown, and concerned parents.

“As a member of the Early Childhood Education Caucus, I am committed to protecting and preserving state support for the vital early childhood education programs that give young people the opportunity to succeed in school and later in life,” said Sen. Pat Browne.  “Now more than ever we need to ensure these children receive the proper tools to succeed.  Over the past few years it has become clear that businesses, business leaders, and law enforcement officials in the Commonwealth understand the importance of becoming shareholders and supporters of early childhood education programs. 

“I applaud the advocates here today for voicing their support for early childhood care and education programs. These advocates understand that high-quality early childhood programs are a smart investment - one that, over time, pays for itself and then goes on to generate billions of dollars in savings and revenue for government budgets, increased earnings to participants’ families, and reduced costs to crime victims,” said Rep. Phyllis Mundy.  “I will do all in my power to ensure that funding for our state’s early childhood education programs is restored, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.”

Bringing a business perspective to the event was Lloyd Lamm, president of the Harrisburg office of First National Bank of PA.“Investments in early learning will boost Pennsylvania’s economy today, create jobs, and ensure that Pennsylvania’s businesses will have a workforce with the 21st century skills needed in today’s world,” Lamm told the crowd. His words echoed a recent report by America’s Edge which showed that $1 invested in early care and education in Pennsylvania generates nearly $2 for local economies.

“I believe if we invest in children and their education, we invest in the future,” said Jane Ervin, CEO and President, Community Services for Children, Allentown. “I urge our legislators to put children first by protecting the investment in early learning. Early childhood education saves taxpayers money in the long run in educational remediation, welfare, criminal justice, and other public spending.”

"Education is a collaborative effort. And as a working parent, I feel confident that both the child care center and I worked together to cultivate my children's learning and development,” said Nicole Coleman, a mother of three from Pittsburgh. “The staff in a quality child care facility works together with parents to lay a strong foundation for our children, and for their future.”

More information on Early Childhood Action Day is available by contacting Kathy Geller Myers, PA Partnerships for Children, at 717-236-5680 or kgmyers@papartnerships.org.

“We couldn’t be more pleased by the ongoing commitment to pre-K and child care made by this new Administration,” said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO, PA Partnerships for Children. 

“Gov. Corbett honored the pledge he made as candidate Corbett when he vowed to continue to invest in early childhood education. And that’s what it is, an investment. It saves us money today, tomorrow and in the years to come.”

Benso noted that children who attend high-quality early learning programs enter kindergarten with better language, reading, math, and social skills and need less remediation, saving schools and taxpayers money. However, while PPC declared the preservation of early childhood education a victory in these tough economic times, the child advocacy organization is deeply concerned about the elimination of the Accountability Block Grant (ABG) which helps schools pay for fullday kindergarten.  

Enrollment in full-day K has grown from approximately 35 percent of students to today’s enrollment of more than 68 percent.  ABG funds 75 percent of the children who benefit from this important investment.

 “We are deeply concerned that many children will not be able to benefit from full-day kindergarten programs.

Like pre-K and child care, full-day kindergarten is a proven investment,” Benso said.

Pennsylvania school districts with full-day kindergarten demonstrate a greater rate of improvement in reading achievement than districts with part-day programs.  Research also indicates that children who attend full-day kindergarten experience fewer grade retentions, require less remediation and make more successful transitions to first grade

In "Strengthening Democracy, Increasing Opportunities: Impacts of Advocacy, Organizing, and Community Engagement in Pennsylvania," the report describes and monetizes the policy impacts of 13 Pennsylvania organizations – including PPC - between 2005 and 2009. The report shows for every dollar invested in the advocacy, organizing and civic engagement activities of the 13 nonprofits, there was a return of $122 in benefits to local communities.

How gratifying for us to do this work that truly makes a difference to children, families and communities and that also is recognized by a national research and advocacy organization that promotes philanthropy. You can see PPC mentioned on pages 9, 21-24, 27 and 28. 

His work during this period was key to the 2007 expansion of Pennsylvania’s CHIP through the Cover All Kids initiative, which allows uninsured children of any income to access CHIP coverage. George also administered adultBasic, a health care coverage program for low-income uninsured adults.

“There may be no single greater victory in recent years in the area of children’s health than the expansion of CHIP through Cover All Kids and George’s leadership was instrumental to that success,” said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO, PA Partnerships for Children. “We are thrilled to have George join our team and lead state and federal health policy work on behalf of children.”

Prior to joining the Insurance Department, George worked in the Department of Public Welfare for more than 30 years, serving in a variety of key management positions, including the executive director of a local welfare office and director of eligibility policy for the Food Stamp Program (now known as SNAP), and from 1993 to 2005, directing Medicaid eligibility policy.

George is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and lives in Mechanicsburg with his wife.

More information may be obtained by contacting Kathy Geller Myers, PPC Communications Director, at 717-236-5680 or kgmyers@papartnerships.org

York County -- and all of Pennsylvania -- is getting "a mixed bag of results" when it comes to children'seducation and welfare, officials said.

Nearly 40 percent of Pennsylvanian children lived in low-income families in 2008, according to a SchoolReadiness report released earlier this month by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

The fact that the state -- and York County -- has a significant amount of young children in poor homes is "very worrisome," said spokeswoman Kathy Geller Myers.

"Children living in poverty now may lead to poor nutrition, chronic health problems and experience more difficulty in schools," she said. "Economic liability is paramount to a child's success in school.

"The study looked at factors including low-income families, insurance, subsidies for children and education level of mothers, said Myers.

Pennsylvania lost ground on six of the 16 categories analyzed, according to the study, and York Countymirrored those results.

'Poor' result in York: In York County 8,716 children younger than 5 were members of poor orlow-income families in 2008, the most recent year for which data is available. That's up from 6,860 inrecorded in 2000.The percentage of children younger than 5 living in poverty in York County increased from 30.2 percent to 33.1 percent.

The income data compared numbers from the 2000 Census and 2006-08 American Community Survey,Myers said, noting the study defines "low-income" as $44,100 for a family of four.

At the same time, the county had 478 fewer children receiving subsidized child care from August 2009 toSeptember 2010, Myers said.

The state's lean budget was to blame for the lack of resources and "tough decisions that had to be made," which included the decline in the number of subsidized child care slots available to theunderserved, said Myers.

"Kids don't get a 'do-over,'" Myers said. "They'll only be 2, 3, 4 years old once. So it's important tocontinue to invest in high quality-early learning experiences for them."

On the bright side: Not all news was bad for York County, according to the report.But even "good news" wasn't all that impressive, said Myers.

The availability of child care slots in York County deemed "high-quality" has expanded slightly from 468 children in 2009 to 511 children in 2010, according to a "snapshot" taken of child care providers in June2009 and June 2010.

Whether child care is considered high-quality is determined by the state or national child care associations, Myers said, noting factors include the number of staff members who hold college degrees.

Although York's numbers of quality providers increased a bit this year, the entire state needs to work onimproving the number of "high-quality" providers made available to children, Myers said."If you look at the state's average, even though York did see an increase, the number is still below thestate's 3.5 percent rate, and not all that impressive," she said.

Services in York

York County provides hundreds of low-income pregnant mothers, infants, toddlers andpre-kindergarten students with free educational, health and social services through Early Head Start and Head Start programs.

The programs, combined, serve 627 children, "but there is still a waiting list in the hundreds," said Jennifer Molloy, director of York County's Early Head Start and Head Start Programs.

"It's definitely worrisome (to see the waiting list), but we're funded federally and by the state so we can only serve the amount of people we have grant money for," she said.

There has always has been more of a demand for early childhood services than Pennsylvania has been able to serve, said Michael Race, spokesman with the state's Department of Public Welfare.He noted that until 2002-03, state funding for the Head Start program didn't exist and that people need to look at the issue from a long term perspective.

One in two children ages 4 and under in Lycoming County belong to a low-income family, and according to PA Partnerships for Children, children living in poverty are more likely to suffer from poor nutrition and chronic health problems and to be less prepared for school, leading to academic struggles down the road.

The partnership's 2010 School Readiness report, which studied all of Pennsylvania, showed that more young children than ever are living in low-income families this year. That is just one of several factors studied in the report, which concluded that Pennsylvania is losing ground in six areas that have a huge effect on a young child's education.

"Living in poverty, having a parent or parents who don't speak English in the home, hunger, abuse and neglect - all can have dramatic effects on a child's ability not only to do well in school, but to attend school consistently," said Kathy Geller Myers, PA Partnerships for Children spokeswoman. "Safety and stability in a child's home life play a huge role in educational success."

The percentage of young children lacking health insurance increased this year, both across the state and in Lycoming County.

In Pennsylvania, 4.6 percent of children ages 4 and under are uninsured; in Lycoming County, that number climbs to 5.3 percent of children 4 and under. Lack of health insurance for young children can cause delays in the diagnosis of chronic or acute health conditions, and delays in treatment can affect a child's development on several levels. Children who lack health insurance also are more likely to miss school and less likely to achieve academically.

Myers said these numbers are probably a reflection of the country's financial situation: "The growth in uninsured children could be the result of lingering hard economic times if a parent got laid off and lost a job and lost access to his company's health plan that provided insurance coverage for the family. Certainly unemployment causes a loss of benefits."

Hard economic times also have led to state budget cuts in early childhood education over the past two years, which Myers said impacts school districts and the offerings they are able to provide young children.

"Like the Commonwealth, school districts struggled to put together their budgets. Districts have been doing their best to make responsible cuts without doing real damage to the educational opportunities offered to students," Myers said. "But with the cuts and layoffs that were approved this year, everyone should be concerned about the kinds of choices school administrators and school board members could be forced with next year. The $200 million state increase for basic education was significant for districts to keep moving forward, but it was not enough to close the local revenue gaps. And next year stimulus funding will not be available, so school districts will have some tough conversations and some tough decisions to make."

Those tough decisions could affect local and statewide pre-K offerings for children. Pennsylvania's offerings of pre-K programs held steady this year, with 17.6 percent of children ages 3 and 4 enrolled in publicly funded pre-K, but Lycoming County's numbers dropped from 20.7 to 19.3 percent. This year, the county offers four pre-K programs, at East Lycoming School District, Jersey Shore Area School District, Lycoming-Clinton Counties Commission for Community Action (STEP) Inc. and Montgomery Area School District.

The Montgomery program, established three years ago, offers 50 state-funded slots for students. Karen Snyder, Montgomery Elementary School principal, said nine additional students were accepted into the program this year and are being paid for by local funds.

"It's been a wonderful, wonderful program," said Snyder, adding that students' baseline scores on assessment tests upon entering school have improved since the establishment of the pre-K program.

East Lycoming School District has offered pre-K in various forms for about 10 years, and has had the Pre-K Counts program since 2007. This year's program has 50 students and still can accept 10 more, according to Patti Wylie, literacy coach for the district, who said the program has been a great asset for young children.

"We are so pleased with what's going on," she said. "When students are coming to kindergarten, they're comfortable with our school, they're comfortable with the routines, and academically they are excelling."

Myers said pre-K offers several advantages for young children.

"High-quality pre-K helps improve the school readiness of young children by enhancing their social, emotional and cognitive development. Children who attend high-quality pre-K enter school more prepared and achieve greater success, including fewer grade retentions, less special education placement and higher standardized test scores," she said. "For a child at risk of education failure, having access to high-quality early education can help create the foundation for education success."

One area in which Lycoming County excels is in its full-day kindergarten offerings. While only 68 percent of kindergarteners across the state have access to full-day kindergarten, 98 to 100 percent of kindergarten students in Lycoming County districts attend full-day programs. Myers said students who attend full-day kindergarten have been shown to make a more successful transition to first grade and to earn higher scores on tests and on their report cards.

While many of the factors affecting a child's success in education are controlled by outside forces, there still are plenty of ways parents can work to increase their child's chance of success in school.

"A parent is a child's best and first teacher," Myers said. "Parents can do a lot to facilitate and encourage a child's school readiness through reading at home and engaging in everyday activities that are fun but also opportunities to learn for a young child."

Myers also stressed the importance of advocating for early childhood education funding: "We need to increase investments and ensure that every child has the opportunity to enter school ready to learn, ready to thrive."

Half of northwestern Pennsylvania's youngest children are members of poor or low-income families, according to a study released by the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children this week.

And that could have a profound effect on their health, education and prospects of prospering as adults, said Kathy Geller Myers, spokeswoman for the Harrisburg-based partnership, an advocacy group that promotes the health, education and well-being of children.

"Children from low-income families are likely to have poor nutrition, chronic health problems and fewer educational opportunities, and because of that are poorly prepared for school and for the education that they need to succeed in life," Myers said.

Half of the preschool-aged children in Erie and Crawford counties will have to overcome those obstacles to succeed, according to the new "School Readiness in Pennsylvania 2010" study released Wednesday.

In Erie County, 47.1 percent of children younger than 5 were members of poor or low-income families in 2008, the most recent year for which data is available.

That's up from 43 percent in 2000.

More than half of Crawford County preschool-aged children -- 51.1 percent -- were members of low-income families in 2008. That's a slight improvement from 2000, when 53.7 percent of young children lived in low-income homes.

Statewide in 2008, almost 40 percent of young children were members of poor or low-income families.

The study defines low-income as $44,100 for a family of four. Poverty level for a family of four is $22,050, according to federal guidelines.

The findings are "disheartening" but not surprising, said Laura Lewis, of Erie Together, a community initiative to fight poverty.

"There are people who have been well aware for a long time that poverty is a major issue here. There's been a call to action, and we are making progress in addressing poverty," said Lewis, who is chairwoman of the social work/sociology department at Mercyhurst College.

Erie Together is looking at ways to ensure all children are ready for school. One way to do that will be to provide more quality preschool opportunities for children of all income levels, Lewis said.

"The number of children living in poverty and in low-income homes is disheartening, but I think that a lot of people are coming together to help children and families, largely by aligning services and resources that we already have," Lewis said.

Blair County children are feeling the effects of a statewide reduction of funding and availability of public pre-kindergarten, an obstacle that could affect their school readiness, according to Blair County Head Start.

There have been severe state budget cuts to pre-kindergarten programs such as Head Start that have forced them to cut hours and accommodate fewer children, Planning and Development Coordinator Erica Peterson said.

Blair County Head Start - a comprehensive program for children of low-income families that addresses emotional, social, health, nutritional and psychological needs - has lost about $87,000 in state funds in the past year, Peterson said.

The loss has affected some programs so severely that the former six-hour days have been cut nearly in half, resulting in a significant loss of instruction time, Peterson said.

"If the state keeps cutting our budgets and we have to reduce our hours with [children], it's so much more difficult to get them to where they need to be with their peers when they start kindergarten," she said. "We have to keep doing more with less, and it hurts the children, especially at such a crucial age."

The county Head Start currently works with 428 children, with 70 more on the waiting list.

"It's just unfortunate because these kids are just waiting to get in who really need our services," Peterson said. "If they have to wait too long, they might miss out altogether, and that's certainly not good for their school readiness."

The inability to accommodate more children comes at an especially inopportune time. The number of children younger than 5 years old living in low-income families - which would qualify them for Head Start's programs - has grown statewide and locally since the 2000 census.

According to the 2006-08 American Community Survey done by the U.S. Census Bureau, 50 percent of children in Blair County are living in low-income families. The statistics were included in an annual school readiness report released earlier this week by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

Statewide, about 40 percent of children are living in low-income families, the report said.

It's possible that the financial situation throughout the country due to the recession has increased those numbers even more since 2008, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children spokeswoman Kathy Geller Myers said.

"What's happened has resulted in a a lot of unemployment, and families are just barely getting by," she said. "A lot of them are living in poverty, and their children are losing health insurance and other things they need, especially at such a young age."

Joan Benso, president and CEO of PPC, said it's important to make sure every child has the opportunity to enter school ready to learn and thrive.

"The formative years between birth and 5 cannot be recaptured," she said. "So we need to do everything we can to ensure young children get the early learning experiences that create the foundation for a successful life."

Pennsylvania's youngest children face serious hurdles getting ready to succeed in school, a report by a statewide advocacy group suggests.

The Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children released a "school readiness" report this week that finds about 40 percent of children under age 5 live in low-income families and thus, deal with economic difficulties. Weighing 16 indicators of child well-being covering matters ranging from health care to pre-school programs, the report finds children lost ground on six of those indicators as compared to last year.

The report records decreases in children with health insurance, access to child care and enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs. On a brighter note, more kindergartners are enrolled in full-day programs. The years from birth to age 5 are crucial to determining a child's ability to do well at school, the partnerships group said.

"The formative years between birth and 5 cannot be recaptured, so we need to do everything we can to ensure young children get the early learning experiences to create the foundation for a successful life," added PPC President Joan Benso.

Some troubling trends are evident in Northeast Pensylvania, according to the report.

In Lackawanna County, the number of children under age 5 living in low-income families (a family of four earning less than $44,000 annually) increased from 41 percent in the 2000 census to 47 percent in 2008, according to an American Community survey by the federal Census Bureau. In Schuylkill County, the comparable number increased from 38 percent to 45 percent, while in Luzerne County the percentage stayed around 44 percent.

The percentage of children up to age 4 in Lackawanna County who are uninsured increased from 0.7 percent in 2004 to 7 percent in 2008. The percentage of uninsured children decreased from 1.5 percent to 0.6 percent in Schuylkill and fell from 3.9 percent to 3.2 percent in Luzerne.

In another report indicator, the percentage of children under age 5 who live in a home where English is not the primary language increased from 1.5 percent in 2000 to 3.5 percent in 2008 in Lackawanna and Wayne counties. In Luzerne and Columbia counties, that percentage decreased from 4.6 percent to 1.8 percent. The percentage went from zero to 1 percent in Schuylkill County.

The swelling ranks of needy Monroe County children have fewer resources available to help them, according to an annual survey released Wednesday by a child advocacy group.

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children found that the rates of children who are under 5 and from low-income families grew by one-third over the first part of the 2000s.

By 2008, more than 40 percent of kids in Monroe County were living in families that earn up to twice the federal poverty level, which translates into $44,100 or less for a family of four. That level is enough to qualify for public assistance.

High poverty tends to predict other obstacles in children's lives.

"Children who live in low-income families are likely to have poor nutrition, chronic health problems, and fewer educational opportunities causing them to be less prepared for school," reads the School Readiness Report.

The findings, which were based on state and federal data, underscore a local trend that has been observed in other indicators — including surging foreclosures and free- and reduced-lunch enrollment in local schools. While Monroe County's population has increased since 2000, it also has grown significantly more poor and needy.

"On the face of it, people don't think of Pennsylvania as an impoverished state," said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children. "These are real indications of how fragile our economic base is."

Illustrations of this fragility in Monroe County — which both reflect and drive other needs — increased across several categories.

The number of reported cases of child abuse and neglect doubled in Monroe County, from 23 to 47, between 2008 and 2009. Of these, 11 were substantiated in 2009, which reflected a near-doubling over the previous year.

The rate of births to mothers with less than a high school education ticked upwards, to 12 out of every 100, though it still was lower than the state average.

The percentage of children under 5 living in homes where English is not the first language tripled from a relatively low 1.5 percent to 4.8 percent, which is higher than the state average.

Glimmers of good news also surfaced. The number of uninsured children shrank dramatically, dropping by nearly three-quarters between 2004 and 2008.

But resources available to help troubled families dwindled. The number of subsidized child care slots dropped 20 percent between 2008 and 2009. The number of spots available for publicly funded pre-kindergarten remained static, with just 15 percent of those eligible able to use the service.

These trends strike advocates like Benso as short-sighted. She pointed to research suggesting that pre-K programs aimed at 3- and 4-year-olds can diminish the cost of special education later in life. State funding for pre-kindergarten programs was trimmed 1 percent in the current budget and frozen the year before.

"We have to take a multiyear approach to our investments," she said. "If we try to do this on the cheap, we will not get the returns on investments that we can have. We'll pay again later, and we won't give kids the foundation and opportunities they'll need later in adulthood."

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children's latest school readiness report shows that two in five children under age 5 live in low-income families.

"That's a pretty startling fact -- the percentage of children who live in families who don't have enough to meet the basic essentials of kids' lives," said Joan Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

The report looked at 16 measures and concluded Pennsylvania lost ground in six of them compared to last year's report. The years covered by the data are the latest available but vary by category.

The report showed larger percentages of young children lack health insurance and larger percentages live in homes where English is not the primary language spoken.

It also said smaller percentages are in publicly funded pre-kindergarten programs and smaller percentages were proficient on the third-grade state reading tests. It also said there are fewer slots for child care subsidy.

Ms. Benso called the report a "wake-up" call for policy-makers.

"We can't wait to make investments in children's lives until the economy gets better," she said. "Children don't get the opportunity to do over their preschool years or get another chance at being an infant or a toddler."

She said the trends are true across the state.

"The pain is being shared in 67 counties," she said.

The percentage of low-income children is based on the 2006-08 American Community Survey done by the U.S. Census Bureau. It showed 29,618 more young children living in low-income families than in the 2000 Census, an increase from 264,067 to 293,685.

In percentage terms, the growth was from 36.9 percent to 39.8 percent.

Low-income is defined as 200 percent of poverty. In 2010, that amounts to $44,100 for a family of four.

The report also showed that 51.3 percent of children from birth through age 4 receive public health insurance, most of them Medicaid and some of them CHIP health insurance. That was an increase from 49.4 percent.

Other areas counted as improvements included a smaller percentage of births to mothers with less than a high school diploma and a small decline in the percentage of babies born with low birth weights.

It also noted that of children from birth through age 4 there were fewer reports and substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect and fewer children in foster care.

The full report is available at papartnerships.org.

PA Partnerships for Children (PPC) today released its 2010 School Readiness report which details how well Pennsylvania is doing preparing its youngest children for school. According to the report - which features well-being indicators such as access to pre-kindergarten and high-quality child care, health insurance coverage and early intervention - Pennsylvania lost ground on six of 16 measures.

Most worrisome is that the number of children living in low-income families in Pennsylvania grew this past year to nearly 40 percent of children birth to five. The state also lost ground in the number of children lacking health insurance, access to child care subsidy and the availability of public pre-kindergarten. Today, just over 17 percent of 3 and 4 year olds benefit from public pre-K, while there was a loss of more than 9,000 slots available in the state's subsidized child care system since last year. And while more children birth-4 are funded by public health insurance, more than 4.5 percent of youngsters remain uninsured.

"Children grow up too quickly. We all know how fast the early years race by," said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO, PA Partnerships for Children. "The formative years between birth and five cannot be recaptured, so we need to do everything we can to ensure young children get the early learning experiences that create the foundation for a successful life." 

Third-grade PSSA scores stalled this year indicating a need to increase our commitment to early childhood education and not allow it to diminish as studies demonstrate children enrolled in high-quality early learning programs experience fewer grade retentions and have better math and reading scores in the critical elementary school years.

But there is some progress to share. This year's report indicates the Commonwealth has made improvements in the availability of high-quality child care as well as full-day kindergarten programs. The percent of kindergartners in full-day programs increased over the past year as did child care providers rated high quality through accreditation by national child care associations or Keystone Stars, the state's quality improvement system.

While more third-grade students scored proficient in math than in 2009, third-grade PSSA reading scores declined.

"A myriad of research shows that investing in high-quality early learning experiences reaps dividends down the road for children, schools and communities," Benso said. "We must stay the course and ensure that every child has the opportunity to enter school ready to learn, ready to thrive."

More information may be obtained by contacting Kathy Geller Myers, PPC Communications Director, at 717-236-5680 or kgmyers@papartnerships.org.

The way Dr. David Hawk sees it, the public's going to pay for uninsured children one way or another. 

If families don't have insurance, they're more likely to delay getting medical care for a child. They may put it off until a medical problem reaches an acute stage. That's when they end upin an emergency room, where the medical care ends up being a lot more expensive than early treatment would have been.
And if the families can't pay, hospitals end up eating the costs, which ultimately drives up the price of health care for everyone.

That's why Hawk hopes the state Legislature votes to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, next week. The York City Bureau of Health, where Hawk isdirector, provides services for free, so insurance isn't an issue. But as a member of the Healthy York County Coalition's steering committee, he believes CHIP provides a vital service.

"I believe very strongly that this is a great program for families so that children can access needed health care," Hawk said.

Rosanne Placey, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, said the CHIP program will end this year if the state Legislature doesn't renew it. Lawmakers are considering three pieces of legislation: One to renew it for three years, one to renew it for five years and one to renew it indefinitely. Since CHIP started in 1992, Placey said, it has had wide bipartisan support.

"We don't anticipate any issues with CHIP's continuation," she said.

Neither does Joan Benso, president of Pennsylvania Partnership for Children. But just to be on the safe side, her organization has started a campaign to publicize the program's imminent sunset date, and the importance of renewing it. 

"We're optimistic about the level of support, but this is not something to let drop off the radar," Benso said.

Benso said the program is particularly important now, when so many parents are unemployed. Ten years ago, she said, 100,000 children were in the program. The number of enrollees has nearly doubled since then, with much of the growth during the past couple years.

Still, Placey contends that the state would pay more for the care of those children if they ended up in emergency rooms for treatment.

"It would have a devastating impact on every community in this state if the program ended," she said.

About CHIP

Former Gov. Robert Casey signed the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, into law in 1992. It served as the model for the federal government's SCHIP model, authorized in 1997. Children and teens up to the age of 19 who are not eligible for other medical assistance can be insured through CHIP. Depending on family income, it can be free or come with monthly premiums or co-pays. There is no income limit for eligibility. The insurance comes through private providers. As of February, enrollment in the program was 196,220 in Pennsylvania, and 7,050 in York County. Gov. Ed Rendell has proposed increasing spending on the program by $26.8 million to a total of $437.3 million, and covering an additional 10,300 children.


More school districts are offering full-day kindergarten, and last year more Pennsylvania children had access to preschool than ever before, according to a report released Wednesday by the nonprofit Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

Despite the good news, the report, "School Readiness in Pennsylvania," included some troubling statistics.

"Pennsylvania's clearly on the right path, but we have a long way to go," said Joan Benso, the group's president.

More than a third of Pennsylvania children younger than 5 lived in low-income families last year.

• In Fayette and Indiana counties, which tied for the second-highest poverty rate after Philadelphia, three out of five children lived in low-incomehouseholds.
• In Allegheny, Westmoreland, Washington and Beaver counties, the figure was one in three.

The report showed that the economic downturn has driven more parents to seek government aid for child care and children's health insurance. This year, 16,000 children were on a waiting list for Child Care Works, a subsidized day care program.

"In these lean economic times, people are turning to government more and more," Benso said.

Statewide, full-day kindergarten enrollment grew from 62 percent to nearly 66 percent of students between 2008 and 2009. This year, about half of the districts in Allegheny, Westmoreland and surrounding counties enrolled every kindergartener full time.

"All the education research is showing children have the propensity to learn early," said Donald Lee, superintendent of the Shaler Area School District, which switched to full-day kindergarten for the 2008-09 school year.

In the New Kensington-Arnold School District, 100 percent of kindergarteners were enrolled full time last year, up from three quarters the year before.

"The teachers in first grade have told me they are seeing, behaviorally and academically, that children are readier for first grade," said Lynn Buczynski, principal of the district's Greenwald Memorial School.

Many districts across the state have been able to begin full-day kindergarten programs because of grants from the state Department of Education, Benso said. Over the past six years, this funding has helped to double the number of 5-year-olds enrolled all day. The result has been gains on the math and science Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests for third-graders, she said.

"All-day kindergarten works," Benso said.

Pre-kindergarten is important, she said, but the state has further to go on that front. Statewide, nearly 18 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds had access to publicly funded pre-kindergarten last year, up a fraction of a percentage point from the previous year.

In Allegheny County last school year, more than 21 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds were enrolled in publicly funded preschool, including Head Start and Pre-K Counts. This year, however, hundreds of children are not in preschool because Pennsylvania's ongoing budget crisis has prevented the state from providing its share of the funding.

In the Allegheny County suburbs, nearly 300 children are missing out on preschool, said Sarah McCluan, spokeswoman for Allegheny Intermediate Unit 3, which manages public preschool programs. Sixteen classrooms have closed this year, including those in high-poverty school districts such as Duquesne and Sto-Rox.

"That is a direct result of the budget impasse," said McCluan.

Benso worried that the gains Pennsylvania has made on early child care education could be erased if the governor and General Assembly cannot agree on a budget soon. The delay, she said, has prevented more than 6,500 children across the state from starting pre-kindergarten this year.

"If we don't get a budget done soon, it's hard to imagine how we will maintain the gains we have made and grow further," she said. "Four-year-olds only get to be 4 once. They don't get to be 4 again when the budget passes."

State has gained ground but still long way to go for all kids to be ready

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) today released its annual report on School Readiness in Pennsylvania showing steady growth in early education programs including pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten. The state also has improved on child well-being indicators including births to mothers with less than a high school degree and babies born at low birth weight. Yet greater reliance on public programs including child care subsidy and health coverage points to an escalation of families turning to the government for help in lean economic times.              

Full-day kindergarten enrollment grew seven percent from 2008 to 2009 to its current level of nearly 66 percent. And the expansion in pre-K is a strong sign of the state’s continuing commitment to early education. When public resources are made available to improve achievement, public schools and other programs are taking advantage and it is making a difference. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, nearly every child (99 percent) showed age-appropriate or emerging age-appropriate proficiency in literacy, numeracy, and social skills after attending a PA Pre-K Counts program in the 2008/09 school year.

Yet only 17 percent of all 3-and 4-year-olds in the Commonwealth had access to publicly-funded pre-K. And the waiting list for child care subsidy ballooned to an all-time high this year: 16,000 kids found themselves on the waiting list for Child Care Works, which helps low-income working parents work by providing a subsidy for child care. This year’s School Readiness Report shows that funding for child care subsidy is failing to keep pace with demand.

A plus on the child care front is that the state has reduced its reliance on unregulated care by more than 11 percent, signifying that more children are being served in safer, more reliable, regulated programs.

“Pennsylvania has remained consistent in growing its investments in early education programs that make a difference in a child’s life,” said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO, PA Partnerships for Children. “But at the same time more growth is needed to keep up with the demand for programs and services.” 

The report, designed to give policymakers and community leaders the information they need to track the outcomes of their investments and to target resources for the future, shows an increase in the number of children who now have coverage through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medical Assistance (MA). While it’s reassuring that more children have a safety net and are not without health insurance, more kids needing insurance is indicative of the increase in unemployed or benefit-less parents needing coverage for their children. 

“It’s clear Pennsylvania has made important steps forward to assure that all our children enter school ready to learn and prepared to succeed, but we still have a long way to go to achieve this goal for every child,” Benso said.

More information is available online at www.papartnerships.org or by contacting Kathy Geller Myers, PPC Communications Director, at 717-236-5680; 717-903-3716 (cell).

Earleena Sewell was one of those urban high-schoolers who stayed below society's radar.

She wasn't high-achieving enough to warrant special academic attention at John Bartram High School. Nor was she a troublemaker whose chronic acting out demanded chronic intervention.

She was never truant, and her grades weren't bad.

Although, Earleena says, "I got A's and B's just for showing up. I wasn't challenged at all."

She had no idea what she'd do after high school. No one in her fractured, low-income family had gone to college, and it never occurred to her to attend, either.

"I had no focus," she says. "I went to school just to see what my friends were wearing. It was like a fashion show."

The city's schools are filled with Earleenas: good kids who muddle through, from families for whom muddling through is a way of life - because they haven't the resources or opportunities to do anything more hopeful than survive.

So their desires go unexpressed, their gifts unseen.

And they stop dreaming.

So it's thrilling that Earleena, now 20, will graduate with a degree in history from Temple University this December - almost two years sooner than most college students her age.

She then plans to get master's degrees in business and psychology. The education will help her start an organization to help teens stay involved in their churches, long after their parents stop making them attend Sunday services. Once that's established, she'll become a minister. "I have direction now," she says. "I'm a different person."

Community College of Philadelphia deserves props for Earleena's rebirth. When Earleena was in 10th grade, she enrolled in a new program at CCP called Advanced Tech at College (ATC).

The program brings well behaved, low-income, academically decent students like Earleena to CCP's Spring Garden campus for their final two years of high school. They take their required high-school classes there, while also replacing their elective high-school courses with mostly technology classes.

They earn college credit for the latter - up to 30 over the program's two years.

They return to their high schools for graduation. But by then they've dipped their toes into college life - an experience that exposes them to a world beyond their limiting neighborhoods and high schools.

"Our goal isn't to bring in the kids who are going to attend college no matter what," says ATC's academic coordinator, Willette Whitaker. "We want students who, with a little extra encouragement and exposure, may decide to go to college."

Of the 119 students who've taken part in ATC since its 2004 inception, 89 have gone on to college; the rest are finishing their high-school requirements.

ATC is funded by a five-year federal grant, in partnership with CCP and the Philadelphia School District. The grant ends this year, a situation that Whitaker says is "concerning, but we're actively working on it."

That's important, because ATC is free, a huge boon.

A new report by the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children shows that 71 percent of the state's college class of 2007 graduated with an average debt of nearly $27,000. Among the country's public colleges and universities, Pennsylvania's are the sixth- most-expensive. That's for students who at least have the desire to attend college.

Can you imagine how the cost would hold back low-income students like Earleena, who come late to the idea of attending post-secondary school?

"Going to CCP was very maturing for me," says Earleena, who attends Temple full time and works full time at a social-services agency. "I was surrounded by college students and adults who already knew what they wanted, and they were very focused."

She hit some bumps at CCP. "My mouth and attitude got me into trouble," she says, grinning broadly. But CCP counselors helped her understand that she was expected to meet the program's high academic standards.

"I had a lot of issues to get past," she says, "emotional stuff. A lot of us did. Where we come from, life isn't easy." Today she's an honor student who surrounds herself with only positive people who support her hard work.

"I'm going places," she says. "All I think about is my future."

That's right: She's dreaming again.

A Pennsylvania education panel is recommending the state establish a "no-frills" college to let students earn bachelor's degrees at a lower tuition rate.

The idea is one of nine recommendations endorsed by the State Board of Education's higher education council to reduce the cost of attending college. The council voted Wednesday to forward the recommendations to Gov. Ed Rendell and state lawmakers.

The institution would offer an accelerated, year-round academic program similar to a community college, but students would graduate with four-year bachelor's degrees instead of two-year associate degrees.

Money would have to be set aside in the state budget for the idea to be implemented.

Some public universities in Pennsylvania are seeing a surge in applications as students and parents fret over the recession.

"We believe the economy is having some impact on us," said Bill Bailey, dean of enrollment management at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. "There's a trickle-down approach from students who may have looked at private schools or large state-related universities where the costs are higher."

One concern is the debt that graduates carry. In 2007, 71 percent of college students in the state graduated with an average debt of about $24,000, according to a report from the Pennsylvania Partnership for Children.

Applications are up 8.9 percent at Clarion this month over the same period last year. They're up 15 percent at California University of Pennsylvania, 12 percent at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and 9 percent at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

"In this economy, students realize the value of their dollar may go a little further at a state school," said Bill Edmonds, dean of admissions at California University.

Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities charge in-state residents $5,358 a year for undergraduate classes.

"Right now, we're several hundred applications ahead of where we were at this point last year," said W.C. Vance, director of undergraduate admissions at Slippery Rock University. He declined to be more specific.

Vance and officials at other public universities said the increase in applications could be due to better marketing and recruitment.

"At this point," he said, "we haven't encountered students who said that they were planning on going elsewhere, but might be looking at a more affordable institution because of the economy."

The University of Pittsburgh is "in the range" of last year's record-breaking 20,685 applications, said Betsy A. Porter, Pitt's director of admissions and financial aid. She expects to learn more about the impact of the economy in March, the deadline for applying for financial aid.

Penn State has 53,580 undergraduate applications as of Jan. 13. That's 5 percent higher than the same time last year. Penn State eventually received a record 64,792 undergraduate applications.

Anne Rohrback, executive director of undergraduate admissions at Penn State, doesn't see an impact from the dour economy yet. But she said there could be a domino effect, with students who might normally apply to private colleges applying to four-year public universities, and students who might normally apply to public universities applying to community colleges.

Ninety-three percent of private college presidents said they were "greatly or moderately concerned about preventing a decline in student enrollment," according to a survey released last month by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Officials at private colleges are feeling some anxiety about this prospect, admitted Don Francis, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, based in Harrisburg.

"At this point," he said, "I don't think anyone knows" what will happen with the economy.

The rising cost of a college degree coupled with an expectation for families to contribute more of their income to cover that cost is creating a knowledge gap in the state, according to a report released today by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

"Jobs of the future require postsecondary education, yet our report shows college is financially out of reach for many Pennsylvania families," said Joan Benso, the Harrisburg-based advocacy group's president and CEO.

The report recommends the state launch a scholarship program for students from low-income families that would pay all remaining costs to attend a community college or state university once other financial aid is exhausted. Another idea it suggests is indexing tuition to a student's or family's income so that lower-income students pay less than those better off financially.

The State Board of Education's Council of Higher Education on Wednesday issued a paper that echoes the partnership's concern about college affordability.

Noting college costs influences students' decisions to enroll in college or stay in college, state board members called on policymakers to consider such ideas as providing more need-based aid, expanding access to community colleges, and encouraging efforts to help middle and high school students prepare to enroll in college and know how to access financial aid.

"If Pennsylvania wishes to increase its college going and graduation rates, especially among its lower income populations, the cost that students and their families bear must be addressed," the paper states.

Even though 75 percent of Pennsylvania's future jobs will require post-secondary education, less than half of the state's workforce has the skills and education to fill the positions, according to a report today released by Harrisburg-based PA Partnerships For Children (PPC).

Part of the problem is the expense of Pennsylvania's colleges, according to the report titled "The High Cost Of Education." College costs in the state are the sixth highest in the U.S. Even after financial aid and student loans are figured in, on average it takes 29 percent of a family's income to send a student to community college, according to the report.

As of 2007, 71 percent of college graduates in the commonwealth incurred an average debt of about $24,000. College costs increased 439 percent from 1984 to 2006, according to PPC. Central Penn

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) today released a new report that shows while three-quarters of the jobs of the future require postsecondary education, less than half of today’s workforce has the skills and education to fill these jobs. The price tag for college in Pennsylvania may be one reason for this knowledge gap. In “The High Cost of Higher Education,” PPC notes that college costs in PA are the sixth most expensive in the nation and that 29 percent of family income is required to send a student to community college (after financial aid and student loans are calculated), while 41 percent of family income (of all income groups) is needed to pay for four-year institutions in the state.  

In 2007, 71 percent of college students in Pennsylvania graduated with an average debt of nearly $24,000.  The cost of college tuition has out-paced economic conditions – and parents’ ability to pay.  Between 1984 and 2006, the Consumer Price Index increased 106 percent, median family income increased 147 percent, and the cost of college climbed 439 percent.

“Jobs of the future require postsecondary education yet our report shows college is financially out of reach for many Pennsylvania families. They simply can’t keep up,” said Joan L. Benso, President & CEO, PA Partnerships for Children. “The Commonwealth must do what it can to help all young people attend college. Doing so is an investment not only in our children, but in the future of our economy.” 

In Pennsylvania, about 265,000 young people of college age – 18 to 21 – live in families with income of less than $41,000 for a family of four. The reality is that lower-income families must dedicate a significantly higher percent of their yearly  income to pay for school than moderate and higher income families. Before student loans, families making $20,000 or less with a dependent student attending a PA State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) institution must devote an average of 73 percent of their income to pay for college, a significant hardship. Families making $60,000 with a dependent student attending a PASSHE school must pay almost one-quarter of their income in college costs. And still, students graduate with oppressive debtloads.

In its report PPC outlines recommendations to help Pennsylvania students and their families pay for college. Two models to consider include last-dollar scholarships (after all other forms of financial aid have been exhausted) to lowincome students, and alignment of college costs with family income that would establish the share of tuition a family pays based on their income. This model would not only provide greater assistance to low-income families, but middleclass families who struggle to send their children to college would benefit too. 

Tuition, fees, room and board for Pennsylvania undergraduates at the 14 PASSHE schools total more than $13,000 a year. The average student attending a PASSHE university receives $4,300 in aid. This leaves a balance of $8,700 annually. Whether or not a student can afford college depends on many factors – how much financial aid is available, and how much debt a student will have to take on are critical considerations for students and their families.   

Adding to the money crunch is that in today’s weakening economy, lenders are tightening credit requirements for private student loans, limiting the number and amount of loans and raising rates for potential students and their parents.  

Katie Morgan is a senior at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) majoring in Public Relations. Morgan, from Harrisburg, said that although she has spent summers and breaks working to save money for tuition and has received PHEAA grants each semester to help defray the cost of her education, she will graduate in May owing about $30,000.  “I am terrified,” Morgan said, “I don’t know how I will find a job in this recession let alone earn enough to pay it all back.”  

The first people laid off in tough economic times often are those with limited skills -- such as high school dropouts or those working entry-level jobs.

But this is the best time for unemployed, low-skilled workers to get their diploma or brush up on job skills, take college courses or get vo-tech training, according to officials.

Mary Jendrey, director of the Alle-Kiski Learning Center in Arnold, encouraged those who are unemployed to enroll in classes.

"It's a great time for dropouts and others to go back to school," she said.

Then, when the economy recovers, these workers will be prepared for better jobs -- and higher pay.

Most laid-off workers can collect unemployment benefits for six months and President Bush this month signed a bill extending benefits by seven weeks.

The unemployment rate in the Alle-Kiski Valley's four counties was about 5 percent recently. But it's been creeping up, as it has in the rest of the country.

A recent state report showed that high school dropouts are twice as likely as graduates to be unemployed.

In Armstrong County, the unemployed rate among dropouts was nearly 40 percent in 2007 -- among the highest in the state -- according to a report by the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children. The statewide average was 10 percent in 2007.

Chuck Pepper, Armstrong School District coordinator of child accounting, said that although most of the dropouts he contacts report they are unemployed, he thought the state study's 40 percent figure seemed high.

Still, he attributed a high rate in Armstrong to the lack of jobs in the area.

The wage disparity for dropouts is startling.

In the Valley's four counties, the average wage for a high school dropout is about half the average county wage.

Actually, Jendrey says a high school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma is not enough any more.

"The emphasis now is on continuing education after high school -- technical school or college," she said. "The state has several new programs of intensive service grants to help young people get more than a high school diploma.

"They come in here for 20 hours a week and we give them homework, help with test-taking or help them research papers," Jendrey said. "Then we work with them on transitioning to higher education, whether that's college or a training program."

And their classes are drawing older people -- in their late 20s and 30s -- because they want better jobs, jobs that pay more than fast food or entry level wages.

Despite the stereotype, dropouts often quit school not because of failing grades but because of family or personal reasons.

Pepper said he hears a variety of answers when making his calls to Armstrong School District dropouts -- some are young mothers, others don't want to return to school and some have jobs.

"I see more young people coming in now," Jendrey said. "Some kids say they dropped out because their parent lost a job and they need to work more to help the family.

"Many dropouts come into the center and their test levels are high," she continued. "One guy simply dropped out of school because he was bored and thought he would like work better. He went into construction, but he didn't like it. So he came here, got his GED and now is in a technical school."

Some people work and go to school at the same time.

"We're seeing more people wanting evening classes because they have part-time jobs during the day," Jendrey said.

Pepper encourages all of the school's dropouts to take the GED test and about 100 people do so each year.

GED classes are free, but the GED test costs $50. It is given monthly in New Kensington.

Jendrey says about 350 to 400 area residents use the Alle-Kiski Learning Center's programs each year.

Of course, keeping students in school, and preventing them from dropping out in the first place is important, too.

One program Armstrong School District uses to help at-risk students stay in school is Your Educational Success, a collaboration with the Adelphoi Village youth program. Students in the program work independently on subjects to earn credits toward graduation, Pepper said.

"They're not locked into a time frame," he said.

Students who qualify for YES must be at least a grade behind and show a commitment to the program, he said. During the 2007-08 school year, 25 students participated in the program. Twenty-one of those students either graduated, returned to the program or returned to school. Four quit or were terminated.

"It's one of the better programs we have. I really like it," Pepper said.

Joan Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, said educators must find alternative options to connect dropouts with education opportunities and work.

"It is imperative that we provide the necessary supports to not only keep kids in school and prevent them from dropping out in the first place, but to find a way to re-engage them in their education once they have dropped out," she said.

A SUCCESS STORY

Pam Smith, 38, of Brackenridge is one of the success stories at the Alle-Kiski Learning Center in Arnold.

Smith moved to the Alle-Kiski Valley about a year ago from South Carolina. She had a high school diploma and had some work experience but she had been out of the work force for four years while she stayed at home with her young children.

She wanted to get back into the work force, but knew her skills were rusty. She had job experience with computer programs such as Word Perfect and Excel, but she knew computer software programs change rapidly.

Free career-training classes at the learning center during six months helped her update her computer business skills, helped with a resume and in applying for jobs.

After completing the career classes in February, she landed an office job first as a temporary and now as an administrative assistant with Fire Pro Services in East Deer.

She would recommend the classes highly.

"I'm happy," she said, "I knew I wanted to work in an office, and they really helped me. And they helped me find a better-paying job."

High school dropouts are twice as likely to live in poverty than folks with degrees.

That statistic was provided by Joan Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC). It’s a staggering number, especially considering the relatively high dropout rates in some area school districts.

According to the Times-Shamrock Newspapers’ annual analysis of academic performance, the dropout rate for Shamokin Area is 3.7 percent, more than twice the state average of 1.6 percent. North Schuylkill and Line Mountain were also above average, with 2 percent and 1.8 percent. Mount Carmel Area and Southern Columbia Area, though, were below average with 1.4 percent and .7 percent dropout rates, respectively.

Ten percent of high school dropouts in the state were unemployed in 2007. Last year, unemployment in Northumberland County was 5 percent. For high school dropouts, 8.6 percent were unemployed, as compared to the 3 percent of college graduates who are without work.

In 2007, 14.8 percent of Northumberland County residents who didn’t graduate high school were living in poverty. Also living in poverty are the less than 7 percent of people who have an associate’s degree or some college education. Two-and-a-half percent of those hold bachelor’s degrees.

Benso said there’s a “glaring difference” between dropouts and college graduates’ yearly wages. On average, Northumberland County dropouts are making $16,660, as compared to the $28,741 yearly earnings of college graduates.

“It would be next to impossible to raise a family on that,” said Benso. “If they had finished high school, they would be making more.”

PPC is a statewide independent child advocacy program. Its goals are to ensure that all children enter school ready to learn; all children have health care; all children live in a safe, nurturing family free from abuse and neglect; all children have effective after school and youth development programs; and all children have high quality education from pre-school through post-secondary education to prepare them for life.

“We are the voice for children in Harrisburg and Washington,” said Benso.

Benso said compiling accurate dropout numbers sometimes proves challenging. Pennsylvania law defines a dropout as someone 16 years or older that informs the school district that they are leaving.

Instead, PPC looked at the number of students who entered ninth grade in the 2003-04 school year versus how many of them graduated four years later in 2008. Statewide, 20.7 percent of students did not graduate. In Northumberland County, the number is less. Here, 10 to 15 percent of students did not graduate. However, Benso explained, the number doesn’t account for students transferring.

“There has yet to be a system that effectively accounts for every student,” said Benso.

Because of that, Benso said many officials aren’t confident the numbers are correct.

“The number isn’t as important as the reality of kids not finishing,” said Benso. “If 10 percent aren’t finishing, is that any less of a problem? It’s not acceptable for any kid to drop out if they’re twice as likely to live in poverty.”

According to Benso, research says half of potential dropouts can be identified in the sixth grade by studying their math and reading performance, attendance record and behavior.

“It’s highly unlikely that I could do high school level work if I can’t do sixth grade level. By the time I’d hit ninth grade, I’d begin to disengage,” said Benso.

The single biggest reason students opt to drop out, she said, is because they have been performing poorly academically not just in high school, but since middle and elementary school.

At one time in the central Pennsylvanian area, Benso said a person could still make a good living working in the coal and lumber industries without having to graduate high school. Unfortunately, though, “those jobs don’t exist anymore,” Benso pointed out.

The problem doesn’t just affect dropouts. Society suffers as well.

“They need more financial support of the government to meet their needs,” Benso said of dropouts. “They don’t only cost us more; they contribute less.”

Dropouts pay less taxes and spend less money, directly affecting the economy.

Benso and PPC work hard to provide support to those who have dropped out by reengaging students in a different way — including providing information about alternatives to four-year universities— like community colleges and technical schools.

“We can’t lose a single kid,” said Benso.

No. Unemployed

• 10 percent of state
• 5 percent of Northumberland County
• 8.6 percent of Northumberland County dropouts
• 3 percent of Northumberland County college dropouts

Living in Poverty

• 14.8 percent of Northumberland County dropouts
• Less than 7 percent with associate’s degrees or some college education
• 2.5 percent with a bachelor’s degree

Yearly Wages

• High school dropouts making $16,600
• College graduates making $28,741

Dropout Rate

• State Average: 1.6 percent
• Shamokin Area: 3.7 percent
• North Schuylkill: 2 percent
• Line Mountain: 1.8 percent
• Mount Carmel Area: 1.4 percent
• Southern Columbia Area: .7 percent

High school dropouts in Luzerne County are three times as likely to be unemployed when compared with graduates, according to a recently released study.

And, dropouts who are in the workforce are earning less than half of the county’s $37,295 median household income — and $23,483 less than a county resident with a bachelor’s degree — according to Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

The study shows how different levels of educational attainment correspond to employment and salary trends.

It also emphasizes the importance for doing more to keep children in schools — and to get dropouts back in the classroom, according to Joan Benso, Pennsylvania Partnership’s president and chief executive officer.

The study uses household income statistics logged over the past three years by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The median household income for Luzerne County was $37,295 two years ago, while high school dropouts earned $16,850 at the time, the study says.

“If you think about trying to just live independently as an adult on that much income, it would be really difficult,” Benso said Tuesday. “But if you think about trying to raise a family making that kind of wage, it’s next to impossible.”

In comparison, a person with a high school diploma or GED earned $25,508 at the time and the average salary climbed by another $5,620 for a person with “some college” experience or an associate degree. A Luzerne County resident with a bachelor’s degree earned $40,333 while pay for a person with a graduate or professional degree climbed to $54,536.

Poverty, unemployment

The study also examined unemployment and poverty rates based on educational background.

Twice as many high school dropouts were unemployed last year, when compared with Luzerne County’s rate, the study says. The county reported a 5 percent unemployment rate while 10.9 percent of dropouts were without jobs, the study says.

Less than 4 percent of high school graduates were unemployed at the time while just above 3 percent of people with a college or associates degree weren’t working in 2007, the report says.

“Data on our workforce, the U.S. Labor Department statistics, say that by 2020, we’ll have a 20 millionperson work labor shortage,” Benso said, adding that there will not be enough service-sector jobs in existence.

Students should be brought back to schools and secure the college degree and perhaps advance to medical and technical fields — where the fastest job growth has been reported, she said.

“It should be some type of college education,” Benso said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean a four-year degree. Then they’re making an income where they’re living comfortably in Pennsylvania’s middle class.”

Poverty rates were subsequently higher for dropouts when compared with figures reported for “all persons” in the county.

The county had a “small area income and poverty estimate” of 12.7 percent in 2005 while an estimated 16.9 percent of Luzerne County dropouts were living in poverty.

In comparison, 9 percent of high school graduates were living in poverty while 7.8 percent of people with college experience or an Associate’s Degree were at poverty level at the time, the report says.

School’s perspective

Benso said the study is evidence that schools have to pursue strategies that effectively engage students. “Dropping out of high school is not something that a student does in one day,” she said. “It’s a process. (Dropouts) tend to have low literacy skills, tend to be behind academically and potentially do not really understand the connection between education and employment opportunity.”

Hazleton Area Acting Superintendent Sam Marolo said he believes the key is intervention — and having guidance counselors and teachers targeting students before they get to the point of failing.

“I think it’s critical we get to these kids,” Marolo said. “Otherwise, they’re condemned to minimum wage.”

Installation of a new student software program will eventually enable district staff to pinpoint struggling students with ease, he said. The district can pick a cut-off score and start pulling students for remedial programs, he said.

“You don’t want to get them when they’re failing,” Marolo said.

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Deb Carr said the district has been offering the Twilight Program, which is designed to help students who are at risk of failing to graduate.

Care teams — which offers academic and lifestyle support for high school students — and the district’s home and school visitor program — which monitors attendance — are other layers designed to keep students in school, Carr said. A state Migrant Education program, run in Hazleton Area in conjunction with Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, closely monitors academic performance, Carr said.

“By no means have we exhausted our resources,” Carr said. “We continue to look for ways to support our students. We need to look at more avenues.”

Every year in Pennsylvania, one of five high school students fails to graduate.

That decision to quit school has long-lasting results on dropouts’ lives and may affect their abilities to get good jobs and support themselves and their families, according to a recent study by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

PPC, a statewide children’s advocacy agency, issued a report this week that details the economic implications of dropping out of high school and outlines strategies to encourage dropouts to continue their educations.

In today’s world, securing a high school diploma is a must, said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO of PPC.

The PPC report shows that those who drop out of high school are twice as likely to live in poverty as youth who have received a high school diploma, and three times as likely as youth who have attended some college or earned an associate’s degree.

“Earnings and employment are directly linked to the amount of education a person possesses,” Benso said. “Dropping out of school in today’s high-tech world, where a high school education just isn’t enough anymore, severely limits a person’s ability to secure a job and make a good living.”

Barbara Butensky, director of the Lifelong Learning Center, Frackville, said most dropouts who come to the center to obtain their GED, or General Equivalency Diploma, realize that their chances for success are limited.

“At first, when they leave school, everything’s great, but soon the reality sets in, and they realize they cannot pursue any kind of employment or any secondary training or education without that diploma,” Butensky said. “They come back because they want a better job, they want to be a better role model for their own children, they want to improve their lives.”

Statewide, 10 percent of high school dropouts were unemployed in 2007. In Schuylkill County, 16.5 percent of high school dropouts are unemployed compared to only 1 percent of college graduates, according to statistics provided to PPC by the state Department of Education.

Also, in Schuylkill County, a dropout is likely to earn half of what a graduate with an associate’s degree would earn and dropouts are six times more likely to live in poverty than college graduates.

In Pennsylvania, young people who drop out of school can expect their annual earnings to be less than half those of a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree — roughly $19,000 versus $45,000, Benso said.

“Many students don’t consider the long-term repercussions of dropping out such as increased unemployment, less earning potential, poverty and reliance on public assistance,” she added. “It is imperative that we provide the necessary supports to not only keep kids in school and prevent them from dropping out in the first place, but to find a way to re-engage them in their education once they have dropped out.”

Helping youth successfully transition to adulthood requires a solid dropout prevention strategy that aids students at risk of educational failure and ensures that graduating students are prepared for postsecondary education and work, Benso said.

“We must rethink the traditional way of securing a high school diploma and find alternatives that expand education options and create links among high school, postsecondary education and high-skill, higher-wage occupations,” Benso said.

“We can do this, but it will require clear state priorities on dropout prevention and re-engagement, as well as postsecondary access.”

Several community initiatives suggested by the study include:

• Academic support to struggling and low-literacy students
• Career education programs and programs that connect students, employers and caring adults
• Accelerated learning and credit recovery for students who are over-age and severely under credited
• Evening classes, online courses and other options to address the needs of out-of-school youth
• Learning supports for special populations, including pregnant and parenting teens or foster care youth

More information, including unemployment, poverty and salary data by educational attainment in Pennsylvania is available by visiting www.papartnerships.org/droppingbackin/

All are rules that make sense for kids but a new report makes it painfully clear just how much sense the last rule makes. Drop out of high school in Lancaster County?

You'll make about $24,000 a year, about $18,000 less than the $42,000 annual salary of a local resident with a bachelor's degree from college.

The poverty rate for high school dropouts in Lancaster County is about 12.4 percent. That's about twice the 6.6 percent poverty rate for those who graduate and three times the 3.1 percent rate for those who earn a bachelor's degree.

Those figures are included in a report issued today by the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, an advocacy group located in Harrisburg.

Overall, the report shows that kids who drop out of school face a less lucrative lifestyle than those who finish or earn some college education.

The report urges schools to provide support to keep kids in school and outreach to those who are teetering on the edge.

The report came out on the same day as a national report prepared by an advocacy group called the Education Trust. That report showed that one in four kids is dropping out of high school.

In the statewide report, Lancaster County fared a bit better than other areas across the state.

Here, the unemployment rate among high school dropouts was 3.7 percent, versus 10.1 percent statewide. Still, for county residents who had a bachelor's or higher degree from college, the unemployment rate was just 1.9 percent. In the state, the rate was 2.5 percent for college graduates.

Countywide, the average graduation rate was 91 percent in 2007, according to state Department of Education statistics released earlier this year.

The report released today suggests several ways to retain or reach out to struggling students, including providing support to kids who have reading problems, providing connections to local employers or college programs, and providing chances to learn in non-traditional ways.

Some local school districts already are following the recommended methods.

The School District of Lancaster has a 65.8 percent graduation rate, one of the lower rates in the county. The district is actively engaged in trying to increase that rate, said superintendent Pedro Rivera.

The district offers several alternative education programs, allowing students to take classes at night or later in the day, in a condensed structure, for teens who work or already have children. It provides self-paced, small-group instruction for kids who have failed in a traditional classroom setting.

Kids who are struggling with reading and math in ninth grade get a double dose of those classes.

The district pays the tuition of students who are taking college classes while still in high school, to get a jump start on life.

The district also has a Future Planning Center, where it urges students to think about what they will do after high school and begin preparing for that.

"We're trying to use every minute of every day to immerse kids in thinking about the future and making good choices," Rivera said. "It's showing them how to get there and be productive young adults."

Columbia School District, which had a graduation rate of 79.6 percent in 2007, is trying some new ways to engage teens in thinking about their future, and staying in school, said counselor Peggy Woods.

Students are enrolled in career units as early as seventh grade. All ninth-graders take a career choices class, which discusses how education affects income and how to set goals for the future. It gets kids who may be thinking they are headed for the NBA to consider realistic alternatives, Woods said.

"We set up a 10-year plan, from age 14 to 24. How are you going to get there?" Woods said.

Lackawanna County residents who have dropped out of high school are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as those who have received a high school diploma — and four times as likely as those who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to a study released Thursday.

The study, by Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, highlights the wide disparities among household income and the unemployment and poverty rates between those who dropped out of high school and those who furthered their education.

“It’s a very dramatic financial impact,” said Joan Benso, the organization’s president and chief executive officer. “The notion you could live on $14,982 — as an adult, and potentially support a family — is pretty much beyond concept.”

The $14,982 figure is the average amount a high school dropout makes in Lackawanna County — $10,000 less than what people whose highest education is a high school diploma earn. Those with a graduate or professional degree earn an average of $50,559 annually.

In Luzerne County, dropouts earn $16,850, less than half of the $40,333 someone earns with a bachelor’s degree. Monroe County dropouts earn $25,013.

The study cites data from the 2007 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics were not provided for the other Northeast Pennsylvania counties.

Other highlights included:

• Lackawanna’s unemployment rate is 4 percent for those whose furthest education is a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma. The rate for someone with a bachelor’s degree or higher is 2.9 percent.
• The gap widens in Luzerne and Monroe counties. In Luzerne, 10.9 percent of high school dropouts were unemployed, compared to 3.8 percent of high school graduates. In Monroe County, 22.3 percent of high school dropouts were unemployed, compared to 1.6 percent who had a bachelor’s degree.
• Almost 25 percent of Lackawanna residents who did not complete high school lived in poverty, compared to 6 percent among those who have a bachelor’s degree. The 2008 federal poverty income guideline is $21,200 for a family of four.
• In Luzerne County, 16.9 percent of high school dropouts live in poverty, more than double the percentage of those who live in poverty who attended some college or have an associate degree.

Dave Mitchell, a teacher at Scranton High School and the district’s adult education coordinator, said he sees people who want to obtain their GED for a variety of different reasons, including access to better-paying jobs.

At the Employment Opportunity and Training Center, employees assist people with varying education levels, from high school dropouts to those with advanced degrees, said Nina Olmedo-Foreman, workforce development team leader.

People who have the most trouble finding jobs are those without high school diplomas. Workplace training opportunities are also limited without a diploma.

“It’s very difficult, because most places at least want to see a GED,” she said.

Finish high school in Luzerne County and you’ll earn an annual average of $8,658 more than if you dropped out. There’s also a much better chance you’ll actually have a job, and one that keeps you above the poverty threshold.

Overall, the county data reflects the state data showing that finishing high school and going on to higher education positively correlates with higher salaries and better job opportunities, according to a Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children report released Thursday.

While that wasn’t ground-breaking news, the difference a few years of education make was more startling. High school dropouts make an average of $16,850, graduates $25,508 and with some college or an associate degree the average salary moves to $31,066. Completing a bachelors degree earns an average of $40,333 and a graduate or professional degree holder gets $54,536. Those Luzerne County numbers are thousands of dollars lower than the state average, however.

Poverty rates drop according to the level of education people obtain, and in all but one category, some college or associate degree, the county numbers are lower than the state. Locally, 16.9 percent of high school dropouts are living below the poverty line. That drops almost in half with the completion of high school, to 9.0 percent, and down to 3.0 percent with a bachelor’s degree.

A higher percentage of Luzerne County dropouts are unemployed, 10.9 percent, than the state average of 10.1 percent. With a high school degree, the unemployment rate drops to 3.8 percent, and with a bachelor’s to 1.8 percent.

However, local students have a better graduation rate than the state average, with 91.76 percent of the 2006-07 class graduating, almost 2 percent higher than Pennsylvania overall.

The numbers didn’t surprise Mary Ghilani, director of career services at Luzerne County Community College, who said the changing job market demands workers with more skills and education.

“It takes more than a (high school) diploma to get not only a good paying job, but a family sustaining job,” said. “Over last three or four years we’ve been seeing a lot of those adult students coming back to school because they either are not happy in their careers, they’ve been downsized or lost their job or they can’t make enough in their current job.”

Associate degrees and skills training opens some doors, she said, but with a bachelor’s or higher degree the job opportunities open much wider.

Hanover Area’s Bob Biscontini, chairman of school counseling, said he believes students understand how additional education leads to better jobs, pay and opportunities. However, they sometimes get caught up enjoying high school and delay applying for college or are too busy trying to deal with life situations to go straight from high school to college.

“I think they know that, they hear it from us often enough,” he said. “A lot of kids just have stuff in the way.”

To give some of those students a push, he said Hanover Area aggressively works with students on setting up plans for after college and will even give students the applications to fill out.

At Greater Nanticoke Area, Superintendent Anthony Perrone said he would do anything to get his students to go on to higher education, but realizes the economic problems in the community. According to the state, 45.2 percent of GNA students were considered low income in 2006-07.

“Right now, the way the economy is, if you have technical skills you might have a better chance to get a job than someone with a four-year liberal arts degree,” he said.

New data shows a large gap between people with less than a high-school diploma and those of other educational levels for economic indicators like median household incomes, poverty rates and unemployment rates in Central Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Partnerships For Children, a Harrisburg-based nonprofit child advocacy group, today released the data to push for increased state and local attention to the issue and to re-engage out-of-school youth, said Joan L. Benso, the group's president and chief executive officer.

Median Household Income is about $10,000 more for workers with at least a high-school degree in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties, according to the data.

Poverty Rates were more than triple for those without a high-school diploma. Unemployment Rates were more than double for those with and those without a high-school diploma, except in Cumberland and Lancaster counties.

"The high-school diploma is a gateway to higher post-secondary training, which produces family-sustaining wages," Benso said, "but a high-school diploma is not enough anymore."

Students need to continue with education and training after high school to be larger contributors to the economy, she said.

The partnership's data is built on information from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 American Community Survey.

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children released a report Thursday that spells out the dire economic consequences for students who drop out of school.

The study did not give financial statistics specific to McKean County because of the low population numbers here; however, the general statistics show earnings and employment are directly linked to the amount of education a person possesses.

“Statewide 10 percent of high school dropouts were unemployed in 2007. Dropouts were three times as likely to live in poverty than youth who attended some college or earned an associate’s degree,” according to Kathy Geller Myers, communications director for the agency.

“In today’s high-tech world, securing a high school diploma is a must but far too many Pennsylvania children fail to graduate,” said Joan L. Benso, president and chief executive officer of the agency.

“Earnings and access to employment are directly linked to the amount of education a person possesses,” Myers said.

“In Pennsylvania, young people who drop out of school can expect their annual earnings to be less than half those of a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree,” she said, adding that amount is roughly $19,000 for dropouts versus $45,000 for a college graduate. “Many students don’t consider the long-term repercussions of dropping out such as increased unemployment, less earning potential, poverty and reliance on public assistance.”

The report does give a list of graduation rates for each county in the 2006-07 school year as compared to the ninth grade enrollment of 2003-04.

For the Bradford Area School District, the report lists 283 students enrolled in ninth grade as compared to 207 students graduating three years later, which is a Pennsylvania Department of Education graduation rate of 88.1 percent. From that number of graduates, 147 students planned to further their education.

For the Kane Area School District, the report lists 101 students enrolled in ninth grade and 84 students graduating three years later, which is a PDE graduation rate of 88.4 percent. From that number, 70 graduates planned to further their education.

For the Otto-Eldred School District, the numbers were 72 in ninth grade and 61 graduating three years later, which is a PDE graduation rate of 84.7 percent. Forty students planned to continue on to higher education.

In the Port Allegany School District, there were 92 students in ninth grade and 85 who graduated three years later, which is a 97.7 percent graduation rate according to PDE guidelines. Of the graduates, 51 planned to seek higher education.

In the Smethport Area School District, there were 90 students in ninth grade and 86 who graduated in 2007, leading to a PDE graduation rate of 96.6 percent. Of the graduates, 54 planned to continue their education.

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) today released a new report that shows that young people who drop out of high school are twice as likely to live in poverty as youth who have received a high school diploma, and three times as likely as youth who have attended some college or earned an associate's degree.

Dropping Back In: Re-engaging Out-of-School Youth - which also shows that twice as many high school dropouts are unemployed as their diploma-holding peers - recommends state and local policy strategies and initiatives to re-connect high school dropouts with their education. The report details income, unemployment and poverty rates based on educational attainment from data available through the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry and the 2007 American Community Survey of the U.S. Census.

Earnings and access to employment are directly linked to the amount of education a person possesses. In Pennsylvania, young people who drop out of school can expect their annual earnings to be less than half those of a college graduate with a bachelor's degree (roughly $19,000 vs. $45,000). Many students don't consider the long-term repercussions of dropping out such as increased unemployment, less earning potential, poverty, and reliance on public assistance.

"In today's high-tech world, securing a high school diploma is a must but far too many Pennsylvania children fail to graduate," said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO of PA Partnerships for Children, a statewide children's advocacy organization. "It is imperative that we provide the necessary supports to not only keep kids in school and prevent them from dropping out in the first place, but to find a way to re-engage them in their education once they have dropped out."

Helping youth successfully transition to adulthood requires a solid dropout prevention strategy that aids students at risk of education failure and assures graduating students are prepared for postsecondary education and work. An effective strategy also reconnects high school dropouts with continued education and the workforce. According to the PPC report, options to reconnect high school dropouts to their education are comprehensive, youth-centered and flexible.

They also:

Provide low-literacy support to advance literacy skills for struggling students;Use real-world context, are relevant and provide connections to employers and occupations;Provide strong connections to postsecondary education/training;Include accelerated learning and credit recovery for students who are over-age and severely under credited;Have a variety of options including evening classes and online courses to address the particular needs of out-of-school youth;Provide small learning environments and include connections to caring adults; andProvide access to needed supports for special populations including pregnant and parenting teens or foster care youth.

"We must rethink the traditional way of securing a high school diploma and find alternatives that expand education options and create links among high school, postsecondary education and high-skill, higher-wage occupations," Benso said. "We can do this, but it will require clear state priorities on dropout prevention and re-engagement, as well as postsecondary access."

More information including unemployment, poverty and salary data by educational attainment is available by visiting www.papartnerships.org or by contacting Kathy Geller Myers, Communications Director, at 717-236-5680.

PPC Releases its 2008 School Readiness Report

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) today released its annual report on School Readiness in Pennsylvania showing that investments in early education are paying dividends in later school success. The report is designed to give policymakers and community leaders the information they need to track the outcomes of their investments and to target resources for the future. In this year's report, the state improved on 10 of 16 indicators and lost ground on three. (There were no updates available for the remaining three indicators.)

The report shows that full-day kindergarten is making a difference in later school achievement: Schools with students attending full-day K in 2004-05 improved their third-grade reading proficiency scores on the 2007-08 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) twice as much as schools where students attended part-day programs.

Furthermore, the report indicates that enrollment in school readiness programs - such as pre-kindergarten - has reached an all-time high, due in part to an aggressive state investment strategy. More than 58,000 three- and four-year-olds attended high-quality pre-K programs this past school year funded by Pre-K Counts, Head Start and basic education funding. But when all the state and federal funds are combined, Pennsylvania still has only committed enough funding to serve 20 percent of our preschool children.

"Pennsylvania continues to receive high marks fr its commitment to school readiness initiatives including pre-kindergarten, full-day kindergarten and access to health insurance," said Joan L. Benso, president & CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children. "While we are making great headway in Pennsylvania, we must be vigilant in our efforts and continue to invest in education strategies that help ensure that every child enters school ready to learn and has the education experience he or she needs to reach his or her full potential."

"While money isn't everything, clearly resources matter. This year's improved third-grade PSSA scores show a clear connection to children who attended full-day kindergarten. This demonstrates that funding connected to common-sense accountability reaps rewards for our children," Benso said.

"We must continue to make investments in proven school readiness programs like pre-kindergarten and an adequate and equitable school funding formula a top government priority. The action taken by the General Assembly this July to pass a rational school funding formula was the most important step taken for children in our state in decades. Fulfilling our commitment to the education funding goals agreed to this summer is of critical importance to the later life success of our children."

More information may be obtained by visiting www.papartnerships.org or by calling Kathy Geller Myers, PPC Communications Director, at 717-236-5680, kgmyers@papartnerships.org.

PPC Urges PA to Make Diplomas Count for all Youth

In Ensuring Success for All High School Graduates Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) today recommended that the Commonwealth take steps to assure that all Pennsylvania high school graduates have the academic foundation they need by improving our statewide accountability system. PPC urges the Commonwealth to develop and require that every student take a series of statewide end-of-course exit exams called Graduation Competency Assessments (GCAs) that are aligned to state standards in English/language arts, math, science and social studies to graduate from high school. The proposal should be phased in by 2014.

One of the requirements to graduate from public high school in Pennsylvania is that students must demonstrate achievement of the state standards either by scoring proficient or advanced on the 11 th grade PSSA or a local school district assessment that is aligned to the state standards. In 2006, 45 percent of public high school seniors (nearly 57,000 students) who graduated in Pennsylvania did not score proficient on the 11 th grade reading and math PSSAs or 12 th grade retake, or did not take the PSSAs – yet received high school diplomas based on local assessments. The report shows that 461 of Pennsylvania’s 498 school districts that awarded high school diplomas in 2006 graduated at least 20 percent more students than scored proficient on the 11 th grade PSSAs and 12 th grade re-take.

The report concludes that the state has a responsibility to ensure that all high school students receive a diploma that confirms their achievement to the state standards and creates the same opportunity for all students everywhere to be successful.

“Pennsylvania is a state with a long history of local control over education matters, but we have an obligation to our youth to take steps to assure that all students have met the Pennsylvania academic standards which prepare them for the next phase of their lives,” said Joan L. Benso, President and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC). “The disparity between graduation rates and performance on PSSAs is cause for alarm.”

To ensure students are proficient in the state standards and have the academic requirements they need to be successful in postsecondary education and careers, PPC recommends Pennsylvania eliminate the local assessment option and develop a series of statewide end-of-course high school exit exams, called the Graduation Competency Assessments (GCA). As a prerequisite for graduation, students should be required to take a series of GCAs and demonstrate proficiency on the state standards by either passing the GCAs or by scoring proficient or advanced on the 11 th grade PSSAs or the 12 th grade PSSA re-take.

Benefits of the GCA include placing assessments closer to the point of instruction and creating a sense of relevance for testing and progress of all students; assessing smaller bodies of knowledge at one time; allowing students to begin taking the GCAs earlier and having multiple opportunities to retake and pass; and diagnosing specific areas of weakness allowing for targeted remediation.

PPC believes that school districts should be able to decide other graduation requirements such as course requirements, determination of whether students pass courses and other elements such as graduation projects, but that all our youth pass a common set of exams prior to graduation. Replacing the local assessment with GCAs would build common expectations for all youth across the state and create uniform accountability for students in all school districts.

“We need to give kids a chance to achieve to the same high expectations and we believe school districts will rise to the challenge by increasing rigor and improving instruction as part of the reforms necessary to prepare our youth to succeed after high school,” Benso said.

“For example, when a student completes Algebra I in one Pennsylvania school district, we have no way to be sure that his or her mastery of those critical math concepts are comparable to a student who has taken Algebra I in another school district,” Benso added. “The purpose of the state accountability system should be to assure that all children, regardless of where they attend school, master the core standards.”

PPC’s report notes that the Commonwealth should take a more comprehensive approach to providing support to students, teachers and school districts by developing a model core curriculum; implementing a sixth and ninth grade intervention system; creating remediation for students who don’t pass the GCA; and other reform measures.

Data used in the report shows that 25 states have or are phasing in mandatory high school exit exams which require students pass an exam or series of exams to receive a high school diploma. By 2012, more than 70 percent of all American public high school students will be required to take and pass one or more exit exams to receive a high school diploma.

More information and a PDF of the report may be obtained by visiting www.papartnerships.org or by calling Kathy Geller Myers, PPC Communications Director, at 717-236-5680, kgmyers@papartnerships.org

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children issues report on Risk & Protective Factors

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC), a nonprofit organization that provides policy recommendations based on research and analysis of children’s issues, today released a report on the conditions in teens’ lives that either expose them to danger or safeguard them from harm.

“Risk and Protective Factors of Pennsylvania’s Youth” shows that almost half of teens surveyed said they do not feel supported or safe in their school environments, while a third said they do not feel strong attachments to their parents.   

The Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS), conducted in 2003 by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, obtained data from a representative sample of 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in urban, rural, and suburban communities in every region of the state.  

The PAYS survey queried students about “protective factors” in their lives - such as clear standards for behavior communicated by families, schools and communities – that buffer young people from risks and promote positive youth development and help smooth the journey from youth to adulthood.  Fully 45 percent of students responded that they are not praised by teachers for good work, that their teachers do not tell parents about good work, and that they do not feel safe in school.  

The PAYS survey also identified a number of “risk factors” - such as the availability of drugs and firearms – that are known to increase the likelihood that a student will engage in one or more problem behaviors. 

“In order to have a successful transition from youth to adulthood, our young people need to feel safe at home and in school; they need to feel supported by the adults in their lives; and they ought to have hope and anticipation for what the future holds,” said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC). 

“There must be an expectation by our young people that their parents, teachers and community members will encourage them and care about the choices they make.” 

In the PAYS survey, 25 percent of teens reported that their parents do not express pride in their accomplishments, while one-third said they do not feel strong enough family attachments to share thoughts and feelings with parents. To help smooth the transition from youth to adulthood, PPC is dedicating resources to analyzing the conditions of teenagers in Pennsylvania; convening the Pennsylvania Ready By 21™ Coalition - comprised of key stakeholders from across the state - to develop and advance a public policy agenda; and reaching out to policymakers at the state and federal level to partner with PPC to improve chances that youth in PA will transition successfully to adulthood.   

“Risk & Protective Factors” is the third in a series that looks at the lives of youth 12-21 in Pennsylvania. “Graduation Gap” was released in June, while “The State of Youth Employment” was published in August. The project is funded by The Annie E. Casey Foundation and the William Penn Foundation.  

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is a strong, effective, and trusted voice for improving the health, education, and well-being of the Commonwealth’s children.

Visit us at http://www.papartnerships.org.  More information may be obtained by contacting Kathy Geller Myers at 717-236-5680; kgmyers@papartnerships.org

To be successful in a 21st century economy, Pennsylvania needs a highly-educated workforce with the knowledge and skills to compete. But too many young people graduate from high school (or fail to graduate) lacking the academic foundation and competence required to be successful in postsecondary education or careers. Young people who are preparing for more education and training or work require a similar foundation including high levels of aptitude in math and English. A key point in the report explains that all young people don’t need to attend a traditional four-year college, but some form of postsecondary education is essential in order to gain the skills necessary to become competitive in the new economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 62% of jobs in 2005 were classified as “skilled” and required some postsecondary education as opposed to only 45% in 1991. Professional roles account for only 14% of jobs in 2005 versus 20% in 1990.

“This is a critical issue for the Commonwealth,” said Joan L. Benso, President and CEO of PPC. “We need to act now to develop a public policy agenda and strategy to ensure our young people have the knowledge, skills and career guidance they need to become contributing adults and qualified workers, capable of earning family-sustaining wages one day. The fastest growing part of our job market is for skilled workers, including those who will be prepared in our technical education and associate degree programs.” Employers indicate that workers who earned 2-year college degrees are nearly equally well prepared (74%) as those who received 4-year college degrees (75%) for positions in today’s workplace.

Yet data offers a distressing picture of college and career readiness for Pennsylvania’s youth. Approximately 22% of Pennsylvania public high school students fail to graduate in four years. Of those who graduate, only 41% are “college ready,” according to the Manhattan Institute, a public policy think tank. Nearly 50% of 11th graders are not proficient in math and nearly 35% are not proficient in reading, making their prospects for successful postsecondary education or employment bleak.

While a large number of young people do graduate from high school and enroll in postsecondary education, many require remediation. In Pennsylvania, 75.5% of high school graduates plan on continuing their education. But of high school graduates nationwide entering four-year institutions, just over six in 10 earn a bachelor’s degree within six years.

PPC’s report states that young people need rigorous academic courses in high school to prepare them for postsecondary education and work, along with effective career education and guidance. Furthermore, in a May 2006 Issues PA/Pew poll, 85% of voters polled said being sure high school graduates have the skills they need to be college and career ready was the most important education issue. Preparing PA Youth for Success in a 21 st Century Economy outlines several action steps for Pennsylvania:

• More closely align pre-K-12 education with the postsecondary system to better prepare high school students for postsecondary success, including increasing academic rigor for all students and instituting a more appropriate uniform statewide accountability system.
• Institute effective career guidance and education programs that expose young people to the jobs of the future in real-world settings and guide students to the appropriate courses for college and career choices.
• Place a higher value on our career and technical education schools and assist them in providing a rigorous curriculum that promotes high academic achievement and advanced career and technical skills.
• Connect out-of-school youth with multiple pathways for educational opportunities that allow them to finish high school and gain postsecondary experience that builds on their skills and provides the flexibility required to meet the complexities of their life circumstances.

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children will continue to examine youth issues this year as part of its new PA Ready By 21™ initiative ensuring that young adults are ready for college, ready for work and ready for life. More information may be obtained by contacting Kathy Geller Myers at 717-236-5680, 717-903-3716 (cell) or kgmyers@papartnerships.org.