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August 23, 2004 The Honorable Toni JenningsPL 05, The Capitol 400 South Monroe St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001 Re: Recommendations for VUPK Dear Lieutenant Governor Jennings: The Bishops appreciated the dialogue last March with you and the Governor during which VUPK was discussed. There was clear agreement to work closely with your office and a promise on our part to keep you apprised of our advocacy in this area. Though trying for all concerned, we learned a lot from the VUPK experience last session, and we are looking forward to working with you and your team to help frame legislation that will educationally well serve four-year-old children. We appreciated your leadership as Chair of the VUPK Advisory Council, especially your receptivity to input from the private-sector representatives, Sr. Roberta Bailey, OSB, and Barbara Hodges. Your openness to public testimony from faith-based program representatives, gives us confidence that a fruitful public-private partnership can be achieved. As you have expressed, this partnership will be essential because of the state’s reliance on private sector-early childhood programs to implement Florida’s VUPK program. Since May, our Catholic School Superintendents and other educational leaders have met extensively on what we believe to be essential elements of VUPK. Listed below are core issues for us that strike a delicate balance of providing academic quality without excessively entangling the state with religious providers. We offer these after careful processing by educational experts in the Catholic school community: Essential Elements · Accreditation: Each early childhood program – be it a nonpublic school, licensed faith based provider or provider exempt from F.S. 402.316, should be accredited by a national accrediting association (i.e. the National Council for Private School Accreditation, the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation, or an accrediting association which holds a current Gold Seal Quality Care designation). Accountability of Catholic early childhood programs is defined through the standardization of accreditation. Moreover, accreditation can and will serve as a baseline of quality to ensure that private and other faith-based programs are minimally meeting the needs of students. · No Entanglement: The religious missions of faith-based providers must be protected and as such, the state would be precluded from excessively entangling itself upon the mission and curricula of the providers. Religious themes are standard fare in the curricula for many private-early childhood programs. Precluding the usage of religious language in teaching instruction, songs, nursery rhymes, choral reading, class productions and other activities would be very problematic for Catholic and other faith-based programs. · Full-Day Program: In the ideal, VUPK should be a standard length early childhood day. We believe most voters expected no less. At-risk children, especially those from single parent families, may not be able to participate in VUPK if the program is funded at less than a full day. Legislation could require special arrangements or extended programs to be offered. These families need and deserve special accommodations. · Transportation for the Most Needy: Transportation costs, especially for impoverished children whose parents do not have the wherewithal to provide transportation to and from pre-school. · Portfolio by Observation: Similar to the concept based on “Ages and Stages” in which teachers would be required to document an academic baseline of students upon entering VUPK, and provide periodic updates throughout the year on progress in learning letters, words, shapes, and colors in preparation of phonemic awareness. · No Co-mingling of Federal Monies: Refrain from co-mingling federal dollars (Head Start) with VUPK-related appropriations. Federal Head Start monies are appropriated to serve impoverished children, and these funds should be protected for this purpose. VUPK is available to all, making it a very expensive program to implement. Existing programs to serve the poor must not be diminished in order to fund VUPK. · Requirement for a Literacy Based Curricula: VUPK was adopted as a constitutional amendment to help prepare children read in their early elementary school years. · Wrap-around Services for Special Needs Children: Ensure that children developmentally delayed or diagnosed with a disability receive the wrap-around services they need within the program of their parents’ choice. Continuity is the cornerstone of academic achievement. It is essential that students receive the services in the least restrictive environment, which should be the classroom they attend daily. We acknowledge that some of these recommendations will be fiscally challenging, especially length of day and transportation, but we offer them in the spirit that they are in the best interest of the children to be served. We also recognize there are other important elements of the program, but we have attempted to limit our recommendations to areas with which we have some competence and experience. Larry Keough will be speaking for the Conference on this legislation, and he will be meeting soon with Lucy Hadi and others within the EOG and FDOE. He is also sharing these recommendations with other stakeholders. We look forward to working with you and others on a program that will serve the best interest of Florida’s young children. Sincerely yours, D. Michael McCarron Executive Director DMMc:mt cc: Lucy Hadi Patricia Levesque Larry Keough |