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Business & Tech

Does a One Size Fits All Approach to Pre-School Make Sense, Dollars?

Universal Pre-K is a complex and controversial topic that merits further in-depth study and reflection.

In 10 years New York State's Universal Pre-K (UPK) funding went from $0 to approximately $414 million.  

But, what exactly is UPK?  The primary objective of UPK is school readiness.  Parents, educators and communities alike all acknowledge the need for quality pre-school programs.  

Community leaders have also taken heed to published statistical reports that demonstrate empirical evidence that 4- year-olds in high quality pre-school programs show the benefits of it in later years.  They are less likely to need special education classes and less likely to drop out of school.  In addition, they are more likely to graduate from high school and more likely to be responsible, tax-paying citizens.

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Taxpayers also benefit, since those who have received pre-school education are more likely to avoid the welfare system and the criminal justice system, therefore saving them money.

UPK is a movement to provide sufficient pre-schooling to all 4-year- olds regardless of economic need.  It is a state funded program as opposed to a federally funded program like Head Start.  

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Proponents of UPK cite that Targeted pre-school programs (e.g. Head Start) are historically of inferior quality and receive lower funding.  UPK would also have federally mandated standards to which it would be held accountable.

All this sounds good, but what about the countless local businesses all around the country that may be affected, privately owned pre-schools such as Abigail Bottoms  in Holbrook. 

Cindy Russell, the owner of the school said, "Right now the program's not universal.  In Sachem they have a grant to provide UPK to about 220 children [per year]." 

Once those 220 allotments are filled parents put in for the lottery.  They do not look at fiscal need; it is totally decided by chance.

The school district is mandated to give 10% of all UPK money to community based organizations.  Sachem has chosen to support SCOPE Education Services, a not-for-profit, private organization.  It is run by ex-superintendants and based out of Smithtown. 

"So now once they fill up all the spots SCOPE is putting out a request to people that now that they didn't get into the lottery you can pay tuition to attend our program, the entire point of UPK is it is supposed to be free," Russell said.

Abigail Bottoms has been in business close to 30 years.  Russell has begun advocating for other pre-schools to lobby against UPK.  

"Three years ago before UPK I was booming now I have to close a school...Half of my business is 4-year-olds—I'm losing half my business," she said.

Russell has a website goawayupk.com.  It is the fruit of her extensive researching of the topic for the last six years.  

At least one privately owned pre-school says they haven't been hurt by UPK.  Christine Trifiletti, director of Learning Seeds of Holbrook said, "Our enrollment has been exactly the same, actually we had two new students [recently]—no one has dropped."

Rhonda Figueroa, principal of Kids' Place Day School in Ronkonkoma said, "We're a UPK provider; I don't think anyone's been adversely affected."

She added, "If you were a parent and you were sending [your child] to Pre-K, and it was a state approved program with regards to curriculum and instructional programming, with certified teachers, you'd be a happy camper."

Pete Schroff, owner of Grace Lane Pre-School in Coram said, "We've been in business for 33 years.  My Pre-K enrollment has dropped drastically." 

It is his belief that, "The atmosphere and surroundings that are necessary for a child of 4 is better served in a private pre-school atmosphere, because the classrooms are designed for 4-year-olds."

Schroff feels that a lot of parents don't realize the UPK program is part of the educational portion of their property taxes.  

"If a parent has one child they can take advantage of UPK for one year, but for the rest of their lives while they're living in an area that has UPK they are paying through their taxes...I think a lot of parents— when they hear it's free— they think oh, this is great!"

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