Last week, County Council President Hans Riemer introduced a bill calling for the establishment of a program that would lead to universal pre-kindergarten in Montgomery County. This bill provides child care subsidies and early childhood education, and Riemer proposed this as the first step to the early education and affordable quality care for all, especially for children from low-income families.
If passed, the bill would create a “Ready to Learn Initiative” under the county’s Department of Health and Human Services. This program would give child care subsidies for families earning less than 200 percent under the federal poverty level. Currently, eligibility would apply to families of four earning less than $49,200 per year or families of six earning less than $65,920 per year.
“The idea is you want to be able to create access for every child in the community to quality affordable care,” Riemer said during a weekly press briefing. “However, there’s only enough resources to go around, so we need to focus on kids who don’t get quality care.”
Riemer hopes to focus on 4-year-olds. “When kids are coming into kindergarten ready to learn, that’s going to pay off for every family in the community because the classroom as a whole will work better when more kids are on a level playing field,” Riemer said.
The cost of this implementation or the number of children that would be affected is currently unknown. Riemer estimates that implementation would require a few of fund appropriation. Any licensed child care provider would be able to receive subsidies based on the provider’s “Maryland EXCELS” ranking, which depicts ranks and reviews.
The county has been working on other programs to help low-income families and young children. Through the county’s Working Parents Assistance Program and the Maryland Child Care Subsidy Program, families with two working parents can receive child care subsidies. However, a 2016 county study revealed that about 400 children under age 12 received county subsidies and 1,375 received state subsidies while over 18,000 children were eligible.
With the help of councilmember Tom Hucker, Riemer explored a possible soda tax to raise funds for early childhood education programs last year but garnered little support.
This month, councilmember Nancy Navarro asked the Health and Human Services Director Uma Ahluwalia to create a comprehensive strategy for child care providers and county schools to increase early childhood education. “I feel like we do have resources and assets, but we have to sign on to a specific strategy,” Navarro said.
Navarro acknowledges that the work progressed slower than what the council would like and is looking for a department update. Riemer is currently scheduling a full council discussion to receive reception on the future steps of his bill.
Article by MoCo Student staff writer Alice Zhu of Richard Montgomery High School