Delaware News

Lt. Gov. Hall-Long Joins Advocates, Lawmakers in Calling to Make Early Childhood Education More Affordable, Accessible

Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long | News | Office of the Lieutenant Governor | Date Posted: Tuesday, May 2, 2023


Lt. Governor Hall-Long joins advocates and lawmakers in calling to make early childhood education more affordable and accessible to families.

Panelists stress the need to help “the workforce behind Delaware’s workforce” 

DOVER, Del. – Today Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long joined lawmakers, early childhood education providers, parents and advocates to kickoff a panel discussion about the future of early childhood education in the First State. The Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children (DEAEYC) sponsored the advocacy day amid a national child care crisis that affects roughly 3 in 4 parents. 

“Ninety percent of brain development happens from birth to five, so we have 1,825 days to get this right for our kids,” said Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long, who co-chairs the Early Childhood Education Advisory Committee. “As a mom of a son with reading, writing and math disabilities, if I didn’t have my son in early education when he was young, he wouldn’t be the person he is today. This isn’t just a priority for our children, but a priority for Delaware’s workforce. That’s why Governor Carney and I are committed to making early childhood education affordable and accessible to every family in Delaware.” 

“In our town halls, we had businesses, parents, and providers, and they all said the same thing,” said Senator Kyle Evans Gay, referencing a series of town halls she’s hosted across the state around early childhood education. “We need to highlight the business community’s voice, who have been saying ‘this is good business for Delaware.’ If you need good roads to keep the economy strong, we also need child care to keep people working. There are more jobs than people to fill them, and part of that is because women are leaving the workforce because they have no other care option for their kids. This is an investment that affects all of us.” 

“For our state to position itself for success, we need to make Delaware a more attractive place for families and young children,” said Senator Sarah McBride. “From an economic justice perspective, there is no issue more central to women’s economic justice than this issue. We have been focused on a cradle through career support system that puts an emphasis on attracting more talent to our state. We worked last year to pass paid family and medical leave. The next pillar is ensuring that every Delaware family is able to access affordable childcare and early education.” 

According to a recent report from Rodel, one of the event’s co-sponsors, 81% of Delaware caregivers and parents said child care expenses hold back their family from improving their situation. The same report found that 71% of Delaware caregivers and parents looked at multiple providers to send their children to, and of those, 37% were waitlisted and 21% were flat-out rejected services. 

“The reason we’re seeing waitlists is because we can’t pay centers to pay people. This is a workforce issue,” said Madeleine Bayard, Chair of the Delaware Early Childhood Council, who moderated the panel. Dr. Dannae Sewell, ECIC Early Childhood Initiatives Officer at Delaware State University added her perspective as an advocate and early childhood educator, “You need the people to do the work. Through my experience teaching in the classroom and as a parent, I got into the field because I needed to take my son with me. I could not afford to work places that wouldn’t let me bring my kid. I’m serving children and families, but I cannot afford to bring my kid there.” 

In January, the Early Childhood Education Advisory Committee released its final report, which included four key recommendations: 

  • Promote collaboration and coordination through an aligned governance structure. 
  • Increase program access, particularly for marginalized communities. 
  • Prioritize meaningful investments in early childhood. 
  • Support and uplift the early childhood workforce. 

The State will be taking the following actions to support, enhance, and expand child care quality and access this year:  

  • Invest over $10 million to increase Purchase of Care rates to 100% of the 75th percentile of the 2021 market rate, to better support programs and children in need. 
  • Pursue a policy change to expand applicant eligibility for Purchase of Care to 200% of the poverty level, to reach more children. 
  • Double funding going to the Early Childhood Assistance Program (ECAP) to $12.2 million, to serve more 3- and 4-year-olds, and provide programs with more resources. 
  • Allocate funding for House Bill 33, to lower preschool special education student-teacher ratios. 

Additionally, Delaware won an $8 million federal Preschool Development Grant, which will help the state be innovative in strengthening its early childhood infrastructure. For more information on Delaware’s grant, please visit the Delaware Department of Education’s website. 

“Early education is the workforce behind the workforce. Without childcare, Delaware doesn’t work,” said Jamie Schneider, Executive Director of the Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children (DEAEYC) “Early childhood educators are resilient and determined to continue to provide care.” 

A full livestream of the event is available here.  

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Lt. Gov. Hall-Long Joins Advocates, Lawmakers in Calling to Make Early Childhood Education More Affordable, Accessible

Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long | News | Office of the Lieutenant Governor | Date Posted: Tuesday, May 2, 2023


Lt. Governor Hall-Long joins advocates and lawmakers in calling to make early childhood education more affordable and accessible to families.

Panelists stress the need to help “the workforce behind Delaware’s workforce” 

DOVER, Del. – Today Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long joined lawmakers, early childhood education providers, parents and advocates to kickoff a panel discussion about the future of early childhood education in the First State. The Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children (DEAEYC) sponsored the advocacy day amid a national child care crisis that affects roughly 3 in 4 parents. 

“Ninety percent of brain development happens from birth to five, so we have 1,825 days to get this right for our kids,” said Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long, who co-chairs the Early Childhood Education Advisory Committee. “As a mom of a son with reading, writing and math disabilities, if I didn’t have my son in early education when he was young, he wouldn’t be the person he is today. This isn’t just a priority for our children, but a priority for Delaware’s workforce. That’s why Governor Carney and I are committed to making early childhood education affordable and accessible to every family in Delaware.” 

“In our town halls, we had businesses, parents, and providers, and they all said the same thing,” said Senator Kyle Evans Gay, referencing a series of town halls she’s hosted across the state around early childhood education. “We need to highlight the business community’s voice, who have been saying ‘this is good business for Delaware.’ If you need good roads to keep the economy strong, we also need child care to keep people working. There are more jobs than people to fill them, and part of that is because women are leaving the workforce because they have no other care option for their kids. This is an investment that affects all of us.” 

“For our state to position itself for success, we need to make Delaware a more attractive place for families and young children,” said Senator Sarah McBride. “From an economic justice perspective, there is no issue more central to women’s economic justice than this issue. We have been focused on a cradle through career support system that puts an emphasis on attracting more talent to our state. We worked last year to pass paid family and medical leave. The next pillar is ensuring that every Delaware family is able to access affordable childcare and early education.” 

According to a recent report from Rodel, one of the event’s co-sponsors, 81% of Delaware caregivers and parents said child care expenses hold back their family from improving their situation. The same report found that 71% of Delaware caregivers and parents looked at multiple providers to send their children to, and of those, 37% were waitlisted and 21% were flat-out rejected services. 

“The reason we’re seeing waitlists is because we can’t pay centers to pay people. This is a workforce issue,” said Madeleine Bayard, Chair of the Delaware Early Childhood Council, who moderated the panel. Dr. Dannae Sewell, ECIC Early Childhood Initiatives Officer at Delaware State University added her perspective as an advocate and early childhood educator, “You need the people to do the work. Through my experience teaching in the classroom and as a parent, I got into the field because I needed to take my son with me. I could not afford to work places that wouldn’t let me bring my kid. I’m serving children and families, but I cannot afford to bring my kid there.” 

In January, the Early Childhood Education Advisory Committee released its final report, which included four key recommendations: 

  • Promote collaboration and coordination through an aligned governance structure. 
  • Increase program access, particularly for marginalized communities. 
  • Prioritize meaningful investments in early childhood. 
  • Support and uplift the early childhood workforce. 

The State will be taking the following actions to support, enhance, and expand child care quality and access this year:  

  • Invest over $10 million to increase Purchase of Care rates to 100% of the 75th percentile of the 2021 market rate, to better support programs and children in need. 
  • Pursue a policy change to expand applicant eligibility for Purchase of Care to 200% of the poverty level, to reach more children. 
  • Double funding going to the Early Childhood Assistance Program (ECAP) to $12.2 million, to serve more 3- and 4-year-olds, and provide programs with more resources. 
  • Allocate funding for House Bill 33, to lower preschool special education student-teacher ratios. 

Additionally, Delaware won an $8 million federal Preschool Development Grant, which will help the state be innovative in strengthening its early childhood infrastructure. For more information on Delaware’s grant, please visit the Delaware Department of Education’s website. 

“Early education is the workforce behind the workforce. Without childcare, Delaware doesn’t work,” said Jamie Schneider, Executive Director of the Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children (DEAEYC) “Early childhood educators are resilient and determined to continue to provide care.” 

A full livestream of the event is available here.  

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.