Jamie O’Leary (December 20, 2019) This year, we started Tuned In – our Friday morning round-up of policy-related news and analysis. It’s been a labor of love that my colleague Caitlin and I really enjoy providing to you all. In lieu of our regular edition today, here’s a reflection on nine of the best (policy-related) things that happened in 2019, in no particular order:
1) A strong bipartisan focus on children.
Ohio’s new governor, Mike DeWine, made good on his campaign promises to focus on children (as did many other governors). One of his first acts in office was to create the Office of Children’s Initiatives. In outlining his priorities early on, he said that “The money that we invest in our children is the best money that we can spend, because that will pay dividends for decades and decades and decades,” thus reiterating the clarion call of so many advocates and researchers who recognize the smart return on investment from starting early.
The two-year state budget that passed in July was child-centric. It expanded the state’s home visiting program as well as lead safety efforts; dramatically increased support for children’s services; established a new $10 million “Imagination Library” program for the state; invested in infrastructure to help child care providers get rated in the Step Up to Quality system; and allocated $675 million in new funding for schools to spent on “wraparound supports” across the biennium.
Outside of the governor’s office, state lawmakers worked in bipartisan fashion to reinvigorate the work of the Legislative Children’s Caucus and put forth a number of bills related to children and families. I don’t want this to sound Pollyanna, of course. There have been some incredibly controversial bills this year, as well as an impasse on items that seem common-sense (think: health education standards, or gun reform – which to any of us sending kids to school every day is perhaps the #1 children’s issue worrying us). But there has also been more bipartisanship than in years past, and a larger focus on younger children – both of which are wins in my book.
2) Spotlight on school funding.
Rhetoric is easy; figuring out how to fund something is hard. In 2019, Ohio flat funded its state early childhood education grant (which supports preschool for eligible four-year olds). The original version of the Cupp-Patterson plan to overhaul K-12 school funding hinted at the need for more preschool funding, noting that every four-year-old living in poverty should have the opportunity to attend at least a year of high-quality preschool. That proposal was tabled and lawmakers continue to debate the formula, with Speaker Larry Householder even suggesting that it could turn up on the ballot in 2020.
This item makes the list, not because anything has really shifted on school funding per se, but because it’s earned the attention it deserves. Ohio policy makers have put in tremendous work to examine the state’s formula for funding schools, which is notoriously complex, and to use an equity lens while they’re at it. It remains to be seen just what may pass (and how), but this year has really set the stage for meaningful funding reform.
3) State income tax deduction for teachers.
Sometimes a bill will come along that makes you think, “Huh. Why weren’t we doing that already?” This is that. SB 26 provided a state-income tax deduction worth up to $250 for teachers buying classroom supplies, to layer on top of the federal income tax deduction they can claim. An extraordinary number of lawmakers co-sponsored the bill (98!) alongside the primary sponsor, Sen. Kunze. Fun fact: The sales tax exemption on feminine hygiene products was rolled into this bill, thereby ending Ohio’s “pink tax.” Not-so-fun fact: The original bill ending the pink tax also tried to exempt diapers from the sales tax; that part did not make it in. (SB 26 exempted prescribed, adult diapers, but not those for babies and toddlers.)
4) Renewed attention to the quality of reading instruction.
If someone were to say that’s so 2019, you might assume they’re talking about our national obsession with Baby Yoda or jokes about Area 51. Trending for me is the sheer volume of articles published about reading. Seriously – there have been SO MANY. (Admittedly, I’m a biased sample of one: I’ve got two children in the early stages of reading, and I taught kindergarten years ago, so the word trend here is used loosely.) Much of this coverage has been downright frightening:
- “We have a national reading crisis”
- “Why doesn’t every teacher know the research on reading instruction?”
- “Will the science of reading catch on in teacher prep?”
- “The most popular reading programs aren’t backed by science”
- “Reading scores indict education”
It’s not all bad news. Spotlighting the problem is the first step toward fixing it. This is an instance where researchers, in particular, offer a key piece of the puzzle toward fixing America’s lagging reading scores. Some school districts are rethinking their literacy programs, as are entire states.
5) Greater attention to what happens in early grades (in particular, kindergarten through grades two or three).
With the increased emphasis on reading has come a greater focus on the early grades, as well as the need to create a stronger spectrum of learning from early childhood into elementary school. A child’s ability to read for understanding by the end of third grade is largely predictive of later school and life success, but learning doesn‘t magically start at kindergarten entry, nor do third-grade interventions work as well as when there has been a lack of quality learning in the years preceding it.
Indeed, an increasing volume of research shows that whether or not the effects of preschool “fade out” over time may depend, at least in part, on the quality of learning in the early elementary years.
6) Some really creative reading programs.
On the topic of reading, innovative programs collectively earned a slot of their own.
Efforts that take place in laundromats or barber shops, with dogs or whatever-other animals, in mobile preschool vans and even prisons, are at their core about engaging children and families where they are. Too often, solutions are designed based on what decision makers think will work best. These programs should remind us to think outside of the box more often and to ask ourselves whether policy solutions are in touch with people’s day-to-day realities. (On a related note, I get to work alongside researchers who study the effectiveness of various reading initiatives, and have learned a lot this year on that front.)
7) Elizabeth Brown’s playground office hours.
Speaking of day–to–day realities facing families, Columbus City Council member Elizabeth Brown deserves credit for her “meet me at the playground” office hours series, hosted at parks around the city. It’s a clever way to meet with constituents while taking into account families’ schedules and possible child care struggles (which she herself knows well). It’s refreshing when elected leaders acknowledge how much the average family is juggling (see also: Rhode Island mayor brings his toddler to work).
8) National attention to the costs of child care.
Our country’s child care crunch/crisis/choose-your-catastrophic-synonym has been front and center this past year. Affordable, high-quality care is out of reach for so many people, and this growing problem spans nearly all income brackets, races, neighborhoods, and family types. (Of course, it is most critically felt by families living in poverty.)
- “Child care will be a hot political issue for the next decade or more”
- Time’s “The child care crisis”
- “Why child care is so expensive”
- “Child care officially costs more than college – and your mortgage”
- “Feeling the squeeze, American parents struggle to afford child care and student loan debt”
The issue is rooted not just in how to fund early care and education, but about political and cultural attitudes regarding whose responsibility the first five years should be, whether subsidized care should be targeted or universal, and whether the expense yields a big enough long-term payoff. If I could implore you to do one thing, it would be to stop taking any of these facts as a given, or to assume that moral high ground (“kids deserve more funding!”) is enough to create change. I wish it were that simple. The reality is that policy makers have a tough job in deciding what to pay for and how to balance budgets (at least at the state level) and advocates need to frame the issue in ways that they can hear.
9) Presidential candidates talking about child care (and family-supportive policies in general).
I’m not going to speculate on the chicken/egg nature of this one (i.e., has child care risen in prominence because politicians are talking about it, or are they talking about it because it’s a hot button issue already?) but it’s a win to have so many presidential candidates making it a platform pillar. Again, rhetoric is easier than figuring out the policy levers to make big ideas work (and pay for them), but I’m excited to see more on this front in 2020.