It all begins with preschool. The foundation for learning that children need so they are prepared for kindergarten. But across the country, including here in Erie, preschools are underfunded and understaffed, meaning our youngest citizens don't have the support, or the teachers they need to succeed.
 
Incoming kindergarteners are now expected to have already learned skills that used to be taught in kindergarten. But, building that foundation takes money and staff, and right now, Erie County doesn't have enough of either.
 
Debbie Steves has loved being a preschool teacher at Covenant Preschool for twenty years. "They are funny, they are smart. You can see their little light come on when they are coming up with something", said Steves. 
 
Children are the future.  It's a common saying, but for children to be the future they need a strong foundation in the classroom. According to Steves, "They have to be ready to hit the ground running in kindergarten and the things I learned in kindergarten are the things they are learning in preschool, so they really need that, they need that socialization with other peers and not just siblings."
 
Early childhood educational centers and preschools provide children with the interpersonal and educational skills necessary for success. Covenant Preschool, one of the oldest preschools in Erie, provides both of those needs. As Lindsey Kerner, the Director of Covenant Preschool explained, "Covenant is strictly a preschool. We teach academics as well as teaching students how to share and social skills and be kind and empathy and all those skills they need for today's world. But we also teach academics. The children are able to identify the letters, identify the letters in their name, spell their name, eventually write their name, we do counting and calendar and all the things you see in a typical kindergarten class."
 
Covenant brings in money from tuition and fundraising, but like so many other childcare development centers, it could use a boost. "I just wish there was more funding for preschool. I don't think people realize how important it is. When students come to that kindergarten classroom, you can't tell who was potty trained first, or who walked first, or who said mama first, but you can tell who had preschool, who was in that setting before they came to kindergarten, it's just very important these days", explained Kerner.
 
But it's not just at preschool where children are learning things. Jessica Brown makes sure her children at ABC Grow with Me are prepared when they enter the classroom as well, but she said she could use a larger grant from the government. "We really want to advocate for more funding because that's something we really want to don't get and obtain and that's something the parents as far a tuition assistance, there are programs out there but there's a huge piece that we are missing and that's the middle-income demographic", said Brown.
 
She's been an advocate for more funding and plans to keep pushing for an increase as she prepares to open her second childcare development center in Erie. According to Brown, "I'm hoping to advocate on the government side of things that we can get some more resources in. Resources on the teacher side of things, getting to pay them more, to get those high-quality teachers in these centers as well as tuition assistance for families, they really need the help."
 
 
The closure of a child learning center at the end of the year led to parent's scrambling for childcare and preschool options, as a quality education is vital for the success of a child, but proper funding is needed to make that happen. It's a crisis in childcare that's affecting families all over the country.
 
However, Pennsylvania's Pre-K and childcare centers could soon get a big financial boost from the state, with the governor's budget proposal calling for an increase of more than 17 million dollars in early childhood education spending. But even if that proposal passes, advocates say more needs to be done.

 

 
 
Kate Philips, the owner of Kate and Co. Who works with PA for Pre-K said, "Early care learning is in a crisis in Pennsylvania."
 
It's an issue that's affecting families all over the state, not enough child care centers or not enough money to support them.  Preschool and Daycare owner, Jessica Brown agrees, "The funding for the childcare centers to be able to maintain the high-quality standard, there is not enough, barely any. The families need to be able to have the possibility, the children need to have this opportunity."
 
A preschool education is necessary for the success of a child in school, but they can't get a good education if childcare centers and preschools can't retain teachers due to low wages.
 
Fellow pre-school advocate and State Representative Pat Harkins explained, "Believe it or not, schoolteachers are leaving the field with degrees, with the background of education because they can get a better job at Sheetz or Target or Walmart. It's true, it bears out, the numbers are there."
 
Some childcare centers are just barely getting by, unable to find enough staff. According to Philips,  "In Pennsylvania childcare centers report that they are understaffed by nearly 3,000 positions, so think about that. They need a workforce injection. How do they get it? Right now, childcare workers are being paid between 11-12 dollars an hour. That's just not right. That's not a livable wage."
 
Quality education not only helps children, but it helps fuel the economy too. As Philips explained, "Lawmakers support early learning is so vital to a healthy economy. It's vital because we know 90% of brain development happens before the age of five. It's also vital because people need child care and early care learning to go to work."
 
When parents know their children are learning well, it makes going to work easier. Erie County Executive Brenton Davis said,  "At the end of the day, childcare is economic development. If we have folks that are single family incomes, that are often deterred from getting to work, climbing the economic mobility ladder, bringing more money into their household, that obviously that holds a community back.'"
 
Help is coming in different forms, childcare centers will soon get more funding thanks to Erie County Gaming and Revenue Authority, which is distributing $2.5 million dollars to early child learning centers to help pay for better wages and buildings.
 
As Perry Wood, the Executive Director of ECGRA explained, "We need to increase the qualities of the places themselves. We know we need to do at last 2,500 slots countywide. 1,500 in the city, another 1,000 in the county, but it's not just about the numbers, we need to include the quality as well."
Small steps, but every grant goes a long way to helping create a better future for the youngest generation."