Special guest Sam Flynn, Executive Director for the Team Kentucky Pre-K for All Program addressed the August meeting of the Cumberlands Workforce Development Board with an earnest plea for support of Pre-Kindergarten funding in Kentucky.
Governor Andy Beshear launched an initiative in June with the goal of expanding preschool access in Kentucky to all four year olds. Currently only about 27% of four year olds in the state have access to state funded preschool.
Flynn gave compelling statistics from surrounding states that bear out the advantages for children, families, and communities as a whole when Pre-K is available.
“What we’ve seen is kids that go to preschool are more ready than kids that do not,” said Flynn. “46% of our kids are ready on day one of kindergarten—an incredibly low number. It’s low relative to the national average of 64%. It’s low relative to our neighbors. We’ve got a lot of work to do.
“But that’s just the educational side of this. It’s also an issue for childcare. Kentuckians are making less and paying more for childcare than in all of our neighbor states and in all of our peer states as well. Some parents are paying between seven and $10,000 a year per child to send their kids to childcare if they can find childcare at all.”
Pre-K for All is expected to have a significant impact on workforce participation. “This is a workforce development initiative,” said Flynn. “This is going to put moms and dads back to work who otherwise left the workforce or want to get into the workforce but can’t because they can’t afford the childcare or they can’t find the childcare.”
Flynn emphasized that this is a non-partisan issue and is getting support from across the political spectrum when the issue is explained and recognized.
“The goal of this initiative is to get an appropriation in the next budget cycle and thereafter ensuring that all of our kids at four years old have access to preschool,” said Flynn. “We’re going from superintendent to county judge to mayor to local chamber, and we are hearing from folks endorsing this across the Commonwealth.”
Flynn ended by encouraging the board and the various county Judge Executives at the meeting to lend and voice their support for Kentucky Pre-K for All before taking questions. You can learn more about this initiative at: https://prek4all.ky.gov
