Pitching for Preschool, With Eye on Future

Kaine's Plan to Expand Access Bumps Against Fiscal Forecast, Frustration Over Funding Formula

Preschool student Sofia Flores, above, shows off a signed original. Below, Alyss Espinoza plays with thistle blocks at a Child and Family Network Center in Alexandria. There is a shortage of such centers in Arlington County and Alexandria. (Richard A. Lipski - Twp)

For Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), improving access to preschool is a signature issue. In 2005, he ran for the office on a platform that pledged to provide universal access to preschool for the state's 100,000 4-year-olds.

Fiscal realities, however, have collided with that $300 million-a-year plan, and Kaine is now pushing ahead with a scaled-back proposal that would enroll about 17,000 more children from low-income families, at a cost of about $125 million. The proposal has won plaudits from Northern Virginia officials, who say that research shows that a good preschool education boosts academic achievement later.

"It's such a common-sense investment in our future," said Alexandria City Council member Rob Krupicka (D), who has worked with the governor's preschool task force. "People are almost universally supportive of it."

Krupicka said that in the current fiscal environment, the governor's revised plan is more "practical."

The need for more preschool options is particularly acute in Alexandria and Arlington County, where the wait time can last longer than a year. At a City Council meeting in June, Mayor William D. Euille (D) said the issue was becoming a "critical" concern.

A state plan that encourages more preschool centers to open could help. At the June meeting, council member Timothy Lovain (D) suggested that the city consider changing zoning rules to make it easier for people to operate centers.

There is a shortage in Arlington, too, said Iris Constantino, director of the KinderCare program on Ivy Street in Clarendon. "They're mostly full," she said.

But even enthusiastic advocates of the governor's efforts say Kaine's plan may not benefit Alexandria and Arlington County as much as other parts of the state.

"It's good," said Carol Farrell, director of Alexandria's Office for Early Childhood Development. "But the issue is what it will look like. That's a question that has yet to be answered."

At issue is the way the state funds the Virginia Preschool Initiative program. Like other educational programs, the state grants money to local governments under a formula called the "composite index," which calculates how much each jurisdiction should receive based on the community's wealth. In other words, wealthy jurisdictions are expected to provide a larger share of education funding while poorer areas receive more state help.

Under the formula, Alexandria and Arlington County receive about $1,140 per child per year, although the cost of providing a high-quality preschool experience is estimated at $9,000 per year. In contrast, poorer areas of the state, such as the Tidewater region, are given as much as $5,400 per year per eligible child. Legislators from poorer areas like the arrangement.

"It's not in their best interests to change this formula," Farrell said.