Sly James’ pre-K plan would help kids — and their moms too

Tell me if this sounds familiar to you: When it was time to enroll my daughter in an early learning program, I was ready. I was getting an early start. I was ready to do my research. I was going to make calls, do site visits, read reviews — the whole nine yards.

Then reality set in.

At the most popular pre-K centers, there were wait lists — long ones. High-quality pre-kindergarten providers do an incredible job, but their numbers are limited. And when we finally found pre-K programs we liked, the price tag was shocking.

Very quickly I realized that we’re not doing everything we need to do for Kansas City parents to make sure that every child has access to affordable, high-quality pre-K and all the benefits that come with it.

Here are the facts:

▪  High-quality, full-day, year-round pre-K instruction in Kansas City costs about $12,000 a year, while the average annual household income is $47,000.

▪  Only about 34 percent of Kansas City kids attend a high-quality pre-K program.

▪  40 percent of ZIP codes in Kansas City have a shortage of high-quality pre-K programs available.

▪  Even if you can afford $12,000 a year to send your kid to high quality pre-K, it may not be available in your neighborhood.

And who do you think ends up handling most of the child care duties when families can’t afford to send their children to an early learning program? Here’s a hint: It’s typically the parent whose income is lower. Thanks to the pay gap, that’s usually moms.

That’s why I’m excited to be working beside Mayor Sly James to create more access to pre-K programs, and to make them more affordable for families. Making pre-K a reality is absolutely about giving our children the best start possible.

Kindergarten starts for most children after they turn 5 years old, yet 90 percent of a child’s brain development occurs before age 5. We need high-quality early learning programs for all of Kansas City’s 4-year olds so that we are stimulating their development at a critical time.

Studies show that kids with high-quality early learning experiences are less likely to be involved in juvenile crime. Their motor skills, self control and conflict resolution skills are more advanced than their peers who don’t have the same pre-K experience.

Early learning programs are also cheaper than the millions of dollars taxpayers spend on prisons that are filling up with high school dropouts, many of whom could have avoided that fate with the help that early learning programs could have provided.

But this is also about empowering women. The more we can help families send their 4-year-olds to quality pre-K, the more mothers will have the ability to determine and pursue their own professional paths. Knowing they can afford to enroll their children in a quality pre-K program during the day can help women, especially women of color, increase their economic independence by enabling them to participate more actively and intentionally in the workforce.

The mayor’s plan uses this sliding scale that will help families afford quality pre-K programs by providing tuition discounts based on household size and income:

As you can see, this plan is designed to make sure those families currently shut out of the pre-K landscape have access to an affordable program. Visit http://kcmayor.org/pre-k for more details.

While 2018 may have been called “The Year of the Woman,” if we don’t address the challenges facing Kansas City families looking to send their kids to high-quality pre-K, we’re leaving women behind.

On April 2, we have an opportunity to change that. It is my hope that voters in Kansas City will choose to support our kids, our families and, most importantly, the future of our community.