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As you already know, Governor Kasich introduced his state operating budget for FY 2018-19 last month and it is currently receiving hearings in the Ohio House of Representatives (House Bill 49). The legislature and advocates alike have been analyzing the text as the House Finance Committee and the various subcommittees invited testimony from state agencies. Groundwork continues to review the Governor’s proposals to identify the bill’s level of commitment to the early care and education of our youngest Ohioans. The budget detailed "red book" for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has yet to be made available and the "red book" for the Ohio Department of Education was just released this week. Below are our preliminary findings: The Ohio Department of Education maintains flat funding for early childhood education programs for low-income children in FY 2018 and FY 2019. The funding, totaling $75.3 million each fiscal year, funds up to 18,465 preschool slots with the state funding allocation of $4,000 per child. Of the total preschool slots funded, up to 17,215 (93.2%) are supported by GRF line item 200408, Early Childhood Education, in ODE's budget and 1,250 (6.8%) are supported by casino operator settlement fund moneys appropriated in Fund 5KT0 line item 600696, Early Childhood Education, in the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) budget. FY 2017 marked the first year that casino operator settlement fund moneys have been used to fund early childhood education grants. The executive budget permits ODE to use a portion of GRF line item 200408 to establish a new pilot program that would allocate preschool slots to low-income parents rather than to providers. If established, ODE expects to operate the pilot program in two to three areas around the state. The award amount is expected to be $4,000 per child, the same as the existing early childhood education grant program. While ODE currently does not have an estimate of the amount of funding to be allocated for the pilot program, the number of existing, filled preschool slots may not need to be reduced to accommodate it. The pilot program is a response to some preschool slots going unfilled due partly to the time needed to adjust to a programmatic change made in H.B. 64. Beginning in FY 2017, H.B. 64 limited program eligibility to four-year-old children only instead of both three and four-year-olds. In an effort to increase utilization, ODE worked with providers having unfilled slots and reallocated about 1,000 open slots in December to providers that, through an ODE canvass, expressed interest in and capacity for additional slots. As of January 2017, early childhood education programs had filled 81%, or about 14,956, of the total slots funded for FY 2017. The executive budget continues to require the development of joint processes between the ODJFS-administered Publicly Funded Child Care Program, and ODE's Early Childhood Education Program in the areas of program eligibility determinations, applications, attendance tracking, and alignment of copays. ODE's Superintendent Paulo DeMaria, did offer testimony before the house on February 7th which highlighted the Department's maintenance of early childhood education investments in addition to outlining plans to better align services with ODJFS to make Ohio's cross-agency system work more efficiently. ODJFS has not yet had the same opportunity to testify, although we expect testimony from the Department next week. Despite not having further detail, it is Groundwork's understanding that ODJFS has also flat funded its early care and education investments at $143,436,793 in both FY18 and FY19 as reflected in GRF line item 600535. As part of Ohio’s Race to the Top− Early Learning Challenge Grant, 100% of licensed childcare providers in Ohio serving children who receive Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) subsidies must be Star Rated in the Step Up to Quality five-star quality rating and improvement system by 2020. As of 2015, only 35% of licensed childcare centers, 26% of Type A, and 3% of Type B home providers are Star Rated*. Ohio statute, R.C. 5104.29(G)(1)(a-e) also mandates that 100% of licensed providers (excluding Type B) that serve PFCC children should be high-quality (3 to 5 Stars) by 2025. In order to reach this goal, the following thresholds must be met: By June 30, 2017, 25% By June 30, 2019, 40% By June 30, 2021, 60% By June 30, 2023, 80% By June 30, 2025, 100% As of 2015, only 15% of licensed childcare centers and 5% of Type A home providers are high-quality (Percentages include providers that only serve school-age children). Given that funding across the board has remained flat, Groundwork is concerned that progress towards these goals is not being adequately achieved. Many questions remain as Groundwork keeps a critical eye towards achieving and sustaining equal access to a quality early care and development system for our most vulnerable Ohio kids. #statebudget #earlychildhoodeducation #funding #Kasich

Groundwork Ohio is pleased to announce the appointment of Shannon Jones as its Executive Director. “Shannon joins Groundwork with an impressive background in policy and legislative advocacy,” said Robyn Lightcap, co-chair of Groundwork Ohio. “As a former member of the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives, she has extensive, bipartisan relationships and legislative know-how that will serve the organization well.” “I am very excited to be working on behalf of Ohio’s youngest children,” said Jones. “As a former legislator, I know that Ohio’s economic success is dependent on quality investments in early education. Groundwork’s Steering Committee is filled with highly-respected professionals committed to kids’ success. I’m looking forward to working with them to secure Ohio’s future.” Prior to joining Groundwork, Jones served as an Ohio State Representative and State Senator, where she was chosen by her colleagues for key leadership posts in both chambers. She is the only woman in her party, and the first in Ohio history, ever to achieve that distinction. Her public service includes leadership and management roles at the federal, state, and local levels. “Shannon’s passion for and knowledge of early childhood issues makes her well-suited to lead Groundwork as we refine our policy agenda and create a vision for Ohio’s youngest children,” added Stephanie Byrd, co-chair of Groundwork Ohio. “We are confident that she will take our advocacy to the next level.”. #staff #policy #executivedirector

We enthusiastically announce the addition of four new members to our Steering Committee representing varying businesses and organizations that seek to improve the lives of our community’s children. MaryBeth Bush is a professional family childcare provider in Warren. In 1997 she founded Mary’s Little Lambs Childcare & Preschool, a growing and successful 3-Star, high-quality family childcare provider. In 2012 MaryBeth became the first family childcare provider to be nationally accredited through the National Association for Family Child Care. She is also a founding executive board member and the current treasurer and secretary for the HAPPY Homes Ohio Association, Ohio’s family childcare networking organization. Rhonda Childs recently became the Director of Early Childhood for Upper Arlington Schools where she also serves as the Director of Burbank Early Childhood School. She has over 10 years of experience working with pre-K and kindergarten students in the classroom, working extensively with diverse populations of students including different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds as well as students with special needs. Rhonda previously served as a Department Coordinator at Columbus City Schools in the Department of Early Childhood Education. Laura DiCola is the Early Childhood Education Strategy Leader for the Summit Education Initiative (SEI), a nonprofit organization located in Akron that works “cradle to career” to enhance the educational experiences of individuals and their families. After spending more than 20 years finding creative solutions to complex business problems as an attorney in the private sector, she left law to pursue her passion for education and community-based work. Laura’s work at SEI focuses on the early childhood strategy, including early care, kindergarten readiness and third grade reading. Katie Kelly serves as the Director of PRE4CLE, a plan to ensure all 3- and 4-year-old children in Cleveland have access to a high-quality preschool. She previously worked for Groundwork Ohio from its inception in 2004 until 2014. During that time Katie served as Campaign Director and Executive Director of the organization for a combined seven years. Under her leadership, Groundwork became a leading advocate for high-quality early care and education in Ohio. Katie also served concurrently for seven years as a Public Policy Fellow at The Center for Community Solutions.

Gov. Kasich has agreed to postpone his administration's planned policy shift to no longer allow early care and education programs in Ohio to combine state and federal funding by one year following complaints that services would be lost or diminished for Ohio's poorest children Learn more about the delay>> #Kasich #funding #earlycare #policy

Beginning September 6, Governor John Kasich’s administration plans to forbid Ohio’s early learning and childcare programs from layering state funding and federal dollars to purchase and provide comprehensive enrichment services for low-income children and families. Despite the administration’s claims, these funds are not paying for the same services at the same time but are used to increase the quality of the schools and centers serving the youngest – and most disadvantaged - Ohio children. That’s why federal Head Start encourages layering funds and why it’s been done in Ohio for over a decade. Kasich’s decision to prohibit layering will make it hard for Ohio to get future federal grants to expand access and improve the quality of early learning and childcare programs. Thousands of children in Ohio will be hurt by this policy shift. The funds are currently used to increase school quality for children living in poverty, allowing programs to be better than what state funding alone can provide. For example, federal funds are often layered with state funding to provide health and nutritional services, curriculum supports, teacher education, and smaller class sizes. Some programs also use the funds to hire and retain degreed teachers by providing more competitive wages – Ohio has early childhood wages so low that professionals must rely on public assistance. As a result of this policy shift, many programs that have previously partnered with Head Start will be forced to scale back or eliminate services that benefit not only economically disadvantaged children, but all children in the program who win when programs can leverage every state and federal dollar available to increase quality. The shift is so outrageous that the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Akron Beacon Journal, the Toledo Blade, the regional president of PNC Bank, and scores of other Ohio leaders have spoken out against the self-destructive move. The state argues that state funds shifted from Head Start to other programs will increase enrollment. But increasing class sizes will not benefit our children. The lowering of educational qualifications and reductions in professionals’ already dismal wages will not help children who desperately need early support and intervention to be prepared for kindergarten, third grade reading, and a successful academic career. Limiting the ability to make the best use of all available funds will not help communities, like Cleveland and Dayton, that are investing substantial local resources into early learning to meet goals and achieve the outcomes that high-quality early learning provides. This policy shift is a mistake that will hurt Ohio kids, reduce federal resources coming into Ohio, and allow our future workforce to fall further behind. Our children need our help. You can make a difference by contacting your state legislators and Governor Kasich to voice your concerns. Find your state legislator’s contact information here and call Governor John Kasich’s office at (614) 466-3555. Your kids – our kids – will thank you. #families #highqualitychildcare #preschool

The Ohio Department of Job & Family Services plans to enforce a policy shift that would no longer allow early learning and childcare programs to layer state funding and federal dollars to purchase and provide comprehensive enrichment services for low-income children and families starting September 3. Learn more about this policy shift>>

ADVOCACY UPDATE: The Ohio Department of Job & Family Services has announced that they will soon release notification that the policy clarification regarding the layering of federal and state revenue for early childhood education and child care has been delayed until September 3, 2016. An updated “Tips for Compliance” document will also be released to further clarify changes regarding “local funding.” Groundwork Ohio welcomes the state’s decision to delay the implementation of this new policy change and encourages policy makers to utilize the time to fully examine the impact such a decision would have on Ohio’s early childhood system. Unfortunately, this delay is not a policy victory, but it does provide parents, early childhood education professionals, advocates, and community leaders with additional time to recommend that Governor John Kasich’s administration identify Ohio as a “layering state” to allow collaborative funding practices between federal, state, and local revenue sources to provide high-quality early learning and child care programming for low-income children and families. Groundwork will actively be working with partners across the state to help identify solutions to ensure that there is no reduction of funding or services for low-income children and families. To share your concerns with Governor Kasich we encourage you to contact the following staff members by phone and email. We encourage you to use this information to contact your state legislators and request that they also voice their concerns with Governor Kasich regarding this critical change in state policy. Wayne Struble Director of Policy/Interim Chief of Staff Riffe Center, 30th Floor 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43215-6117 Email: wayne.struble@governor.ohio.gov Office: (614) 644-3918 Angel Rhodes Assistant Policy Director—Early Childhood Education Riffe Center, 30th Floor 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43215-6117 Email: angel.rhodes@governor.ohio.gov Office: 614-644-0881 >> Policy Brief >> Talking Points

ADVOCACY ALERT: The Ohio Department of Job & Family Services (ODJFS) has recently notified child care and early learning programs that they will no longer be able to layer state funding and federal dollars to purchase and provide comprehensive enrichment services for low-income children and families after June 26, 2016. For more information on this critical topic Groundwork Ohio has published a Policy Brief and Talking Points document to help stakeholders communicate their concerns around this significant policy shift. We encourage parents, stakeholders, and early learning advocates to please utilize this information to request that Governor Kasich (1) allow funds to continue to be layered to provide the highest quality services possible for our most vulnerable children, or (2) at a minimum, delay this policy change until state officials have had more opportunity to examine the impact of this policy change and identify solutions to ensure that it does not result in a reduction of funding or services for low-income children and families. UPDATE: ODJFS has announced that they will soon release notification that the policy clarification regarding the layering of federal and state revenue for early childhood education and child care has been delayed until September 3, 2016. To share your concerns with Governor John Kasich we encourage you to contact the following staff members by phone and email. We encourage you to use this information to contact your state legislators and request that they also voice their concerns with Governor Kasich regarding this critical change in state policy. Wayne Struble Director of Policy/Interim Chief of Staff Riffe Center, 30th Floor 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43215-6117 Email: wayne.struble@governor.ohio.gov Office: (614) 644-3918 Angel Rhodes Assistant Policy Director—Early Childhood Education Riffe Center, 30th Floor 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43215-6117 Email: angel.rhodes@governor.ohio.gov Office: 614-644-0881 >> Policy Brief >> Talking Points

Ohio’s preschool teachers are the fourth lowest paid in the country, according to a new report from the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services on the low wages of early care and education teachers and the pay gap between them and elementary school teachers. The median annual wages for a preschool teacher in Ohio is $23,690, less than half of the annual wages earned by Kindergarten teachers in the state. Download the report>>

George Voinovich was a great champion for early learning and development. As a two-term Governor of Ohio, he made a commitment to expand Head Start to reach as many eligible young children as possible. During his two terms as Governor, from 1991 to 1998, Ohio Head Start funding increased tenfold from $18 million in 1990 to $180 million in 1998. By the end of Governor Voinovich’s second term, 90% of eligible Ohio children were enrolled in Head Start, at a time when the national average was 40%. His support for early childhood programs continued in the United States Senate, where he served the State of Ohio from 1999 to 2011. Senator Voinovich helped introduce loan forgiveness legislation for Head Start teachers and coauthored the 2002 Early Care and Education Act. With his passing this weekend at age 79, our thoughts and prayers are with the Voinovich family in their time of loss. May he rest in peace.

In February Sen. Casey (D-PA) and Reps. Crowley (D-NY) and Frankel (D-FL) introduced the Child C.A.R.E. Act, landmark legislation that would provide access to affordable, high-quality child care to all infants and toddlers in low-income families by 2025. The Act would provide mandatory funding to expand access to high quality infant-toddler care, increase provider payment rates to support the costs of high-quality child care, increase the compensation of infant-toddler child care providers, and otherwise strengthen the infant-toddler workforce. Learn more about the bill >>

President Obama's proposed budget for fiscal year 2017 provides a greater investment in child care and early learning programs, including increased funding for high-quality affordable child care, Head Start, the IDEA program for children with disabilities, home visiting programs, preschool development grants, and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. Read More from the White House >>