The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writers:
Virtually everybody agrees on the value of high-quality early education as a preparation for success in kindergarten. High-quality early childhood experiences mean that a child is more likely to succeed in school and in life. And that means not only better lives for these future adults, but significant savings for taxpayers.
In the current pandemic environment, the need for high-quality early education is more crucial than ever, not only for the children, but for their parents and grandparents, for community health and for economic recovery. Front-line health and other essential personnel immediately need safe, high-quality care for their children in order to continue to work. Without child care, workers in every profession will be unable to return to employment and restarting our economy will be impossible.
A huge proportion of all child care is provided by small local business owners, many of whom are minorities and women, in centers and in individually licensed homes. Businesses are keenly aware of this need and they support child care for their employees.
Before the pandemic, fewer than 20% of the children in our community attended high quality preschool. Cost was the primary barrier. However, in the last five months, according to the Arizona Department of Health Service (Child Care Licensing Division), 73% of licensed child-care centers and homes statewide have closed. It is reported that locally, that 50% of child centers and 45% family home child care are closed. A recent national study by the National Association for the Education of Young Children indicates that without significant financial federal, state and local support, only 17% of child-care centers will be open by June 2021.
Moreover, even where programs do exist, many families are unable to afford required fees or copays. These fees continue to rise as a consequence of increased costs for safety-required smaller class size, enhanced sanitation βboth workers and products β and protective equipment for employees and children.
Financial support to send their children to high quality early education is crucial to parentsβ ability to return to work. With financial support for families, high-quality early education settings will be able to reopen and again serve this community. Without this support, some families will be forced to place their young children in low-quality, perhaps even dangerous, care settings. Without access to high-quality, safe child- care options, some workers will choose to remain out of the work force altogether.
Children will lose the educational and life benefits of early education. Many parents, mostly women, will simply be unable to return to work, and many child-care businesses will remain closed permanently.
We propose that the city of Tucson and Pima County designate a portion of federal and/or state recovery funds for support of high-quality early childhood education in the form of grants to families. These grants should be part of a comprehensive system of supporting the care and education of children of all ages, both in and out of school hours (e.g. Parks and Recreation programming, Kidco, school-sponsored programs, high-quality preschools, and high-quality family home child care.)
In the current public-health and economic crisis, providing access to affordable high-quality early education is a crucial step in our recovery. If families cannot afford this high-quality child care, there will be no recovery.
