Georgia lawmakers want to bolster the state’s prekindergarten program, which is increasingly seen as both foundational for education and as an economic driver that frees parents to go to work.
After years of flat funding from the state that’s made it difficult to hire and keep teachers, the Republican House leadership wants to funnel more money to public and private providers.
House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, and Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, R-Milton, who led a study committee on the matter, called Tuesday for about $100 million more from the Georgia Lottery, which has record high collections and reserves.
Burns and Jones are heading in a similar direction as Gov. Brian Kemp, who has already moved to implement their top recommendation. The governor included an additional $11 million in his budget to reduce class sizes to 20 kids per teacher, back to the ratio in place over a decade ago.
The current 22 students per teacher is larger than the average kindergarten class and was set during cutbacks in 2011-12 following the Great Recession.
The current amended pre-K budget is $460 million, but Kemp’s budget proposal, which includes some pay raises, would expand that to $490 million in fiscal year 2025 starting in July.
Jones said she consulted with Kemp’s staff about the House proposal. Georgia pays for 84,000 pre-K slots, but just over 73,000 are taken. She said that’s due to a supply shortage caused by rising costs for everything, including staff.
“An assistant teacher today earns $20,000. She or he could make more working full time at Target,” Jones said. She and Burns want to bump that to $25,700, the same base amount that a K-12 paraprofessional earns.
There are just over 3,800 Georgia pre-K classrooms, about 51% in public schools and the rest in private child care facilities. The lottery pays $5,284 for each slot.
A study committee helmed by Jones also recommended increasing the startup stipend for materials and furnishings, which has remained at $8,000 for three decades.
The committee also recommended helping with private and public pre-K construction costs.
Pre-K is increasingly considered a necessary step before the traditional start of public school, in kindergarten. Kindergarten is not mandatory in Georgia — though Senate Bill 241 seeks to change that — yet lawmakers who pushed through a sweeping mandate on literacy instruction last year spoke often about the importance of early learning.
Donna Davidson, president and CEO of Easter Seals of North Georgia, a pre-K provider, described staffing challenges despite offering health care, vacation pay and 18% pay raises. They’ve worked with college campuses to recruit staff.
“We are doing everything we can and even an organization like ours is unable to recruit: We have about 50% of our positions that are staffed by substitutes with no credentials,” Davidson said, during October testimony to Jones’ committee.
“It has a huge impact on health and safety for children and really impacts the education of our children long term,” she added.
The state is moving to bolster early education just as the federal government exits that role.
Preschools nationwide benefited from vast sums of federal dollars distributed during the pandemic. That money has run out, leading to a crisis that industry leaders call a fiscal “cliff.” Georgia’s child care centers are nearing the end of a $1.3 billion stream of federal subsidies, a loss that advocates have warned could result in mass closures.
“One silver lining of the pandemic is that it showed how important it is to pay a living wage to child-serving professions in order to ensure the stability and well-being of our kids,” said Polly McKinney, advocacy director of Voices for Georgia’s Children.
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