Pre-K program facing budget woes

Financial deficits the last two years, coupled with projections for higher enrollment, are raising budget red flags for Florida's Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) Program.

Established in 2005, VPK is offered free to Florida 4-year-olds, whose parents can choose either a school-year or summer program for their children.

Overall, the state's early learning program, including VPK, faces a $146.9 million budget shortfall for the 2010-11 fiscal year, according to the Florida Children's Services Council.

Early Learning Coalitions covering various regions of the state oversee the VPK program and disperse the funding to the preschools and child learning centers offering VPK within their jurisdiction.

Early Learning Coalition of Orange County CEO Karen Willis said, "we anticipate that in Orange County we will be out of money by May. That means I have no way of paying providers for May and June services."

She will be able to take the money from next year's budget to cover the shortfall, Willis noted. But that impedes cash flow. The providers will get paid, but it's just a matter of when.

"If nothing happens, and I have to pull money from next year, all it is doing is perpetuating the problem," she said.

The director of the Early Learning Coalition of Florida's Heartland, which includes Highlands County, was unavailable for comment on Monday.

But Heartland Coalition Board Member Joyce McClellend said lower enrollment in some counties and tougher attendance requirements has negatively impacted the funding to some providers.

Florida Children's Services Council CEO Vivian Alarcon said, "We are working to ask the Legislature to at least maintain the current levels of funding."

Due to enrollment growth without additional funding, the Legislature has two options with VPK - cut the per capita funding for each child or increase the number of children in the classroom from 10 to 12 or 13, she said. It's hoped that additional funding would avert either of those two options.

Florida's per capita spending is already among the lowest in the country.

Last year, Florida's VPK spending ranked 34th out of 36 states, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.

The institute, based at Rutgers University, N.J., also notes that states have different VPK quality standards.

Children in Georgia or Alabama will have access to a program that meets eight or 10 of the institute's quality benchmarks, respectively, whereas programs in Florida are required to meet only four of the benchmarks, according to the institute.

The state constitution requires that all 4-year-olds who enroll in VPK must be served.

Without the necessary funding, the base student allocation would have to be reduced (26.8 percent) from $2,575 to $1,890 per child, the Florida Children's Services Council noted.