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Middle class families break the bank for pre-K
Contributed by Akilah Johnson, SunSentinel.com
Is there a Florida Prepaid for pre-K?
Parents can send their 4-year-olds to three hours of free pre-K per day during the school year, but they still have to shell out big bucks so their kids can spend the rest of the day learning their ABCs and 123s.
So they can probably relate to a new study by Pre-K Now, which found that early childhood education is breaking the piggy banks of middle-class families across the country. The study looks at states where, unlike Florida, families must meet income thresholds to qualify for free pre-K. Earn too much, and you have to pay.
And pay they do.
In those states, preschool costs eat up about about 30 percent of a family's budget, beating out food, rent, car payments and healthcare, the study says. The study defined middle class as a family of four living on $51,523 to $103,046 a year.
Monthly expenses for Maryland's middle-class families look like this: $1,324 for rent, $995 on food, $1,559 on early education. That's a bit on the high-end of the scale. The low-end would be Louisiana, where rent cost $758 (which is wishful thinking down here), while childcare is about $809.
Another startling fact listed in the study: In every state, for families earning $60,000 year, a year of childcare costs more than a year's tuition at Harvard or Yale.
Pre-K Now is a national non-profit organization funded in part by the Pew Charitable Trust. The report, which was released Wednesday, is available here.
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work...
Joy Oglesby has an infant daughter and a sister 13 years her junior, whom she babies to the now-adult...
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Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters...
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Anne Vasquez is the Online Editor in charge of overseeing SunSentinel.com. She is the mother of a 5-year-old boy and a newborn daughter.
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces...
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 13, and Lily, 6, and is married...
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator, and father of two boys and a girl all under the age of seven.
Comments
My only disagreement, I think the comparison to a year at Yale/Harvard is a little high considering Yale tuition for 08/09 is $35,300.
My 4yo daughter is in an NAEYC Accredited Kindercare full time. Even during the summer when we don't get VPK-voucher rates ($175/week), and you add in the cost of the bells and whistles: 1-on-1 phonics class 3 times a week ($100/m) and gymnastics ($40/m), you're talking $840 a month=$10,080 a year. I know there are more expense schools, but I can't imagine them being $2,900 a month (I would like to know what bells and whistles come with that!) I think you would have to earning a lot more than $60,000 to be able to shell out that.
But I do agree, my child care payment is approximately equal to my mortgage payment. I could have found cheaper child care, but I pay more for the accreditation, and the knowledge that my daughter is getting the best care and education I can give her.
Posted by: Erin | November 14, 2008 3:48 PM
We thought that was an odd statistic, too. Turns out the study is referring to various programs available for lower-income families that bring down the cost of a Harvard education. The report justifies the comparison.
Posted by: Rafael Olmeda | November 17, 2008 9:07 AM
In Florida, where I own and operate a preschool, voluntary pre-k has become quite expensive for schools. This year, the state lowered the amount they pay the schools for each child. With costs going up, as well as salaries, schools have had to become creative to keep their income. Oneway was to charge inflated amounts for their wraparound services.
Accredited schools are paid the same for the 3 hours of paid VPK as those schools who are not accredited. Likeise, one school may have a teacher with a CDA while another has teachers with Bachelor and Master's degrees.
Early Childhood is not just "Day Care" anymore. It's not Pre-school either. It is "Early Childhood Education." Costs should be comensurate with private elementary schools in the area. Most Early Learning Centers provide children with an excellent early education. You get what you pay for.
Posted by: Layne Polakoff | November 18, 2008 3:46 PM