Massachusetts Preschools

According to the 2006 annual report on the State of Preschool in the US published by the National Institute of Early Education Research the Romney Administration cut funding for preschool programs by one third from 2001-2005 and the state failed to meet 4 of the 10 benchmarks.

The Massachusetts benchmarks missed where;

• degreed teachers (minimum of a BA - but Massachusetts exempts private preschools)
• teacher specialized training (again minimal training for private preschools)
• assistant teach degree (CDA or equivalent but private schools are exempt)
• meals (at least one/day but Massachusetts allows it to vary depending on length of stay)

But to our credit Massachusetts, in spite of budget cuts did meet these benchmarks:

• early learning standards
• teacher in-service (Massachusetts requires 20 hours of all teachers)
• maximum class size (20 students)
• Staff-to-child ratio (one teach to ten students or better)
• Screening/referral and support services
• Site monitoring

The take home message on this report? Public preschool programs are grossly underfunded - we all know this. The troubling issue is that the state does not hold many private preschools to the same standard that public preschools must hold. This creates a “buyer beware” environment where disreputable daycare operators market themselves as preschools and can do so because the state essentially leaves them unregulated.

Indeed - be aware and challenge any preschool you consider to be assured that it is indeed a preschool and not just a babysitter. Preschool is too important to your child in the long run and too expensive for you in the short run to be taken advantage of by disreputable operators. In the meantime - demand that your state legislator insist that the Department of Early Childhood Education close this loophole.

This link will take you to the Massachusetts page of the NIEER report.

Tags: massachusetts preschools, preschool ma, preschool quality