Presentation to the District 200 Board of Education January 24, 2013

Reminder About the Collaboration’s Beginnings Public/Private Partnership initiated in 2002 when all six of Oak Park's governmental agencies joined in discussions to initiate and promote the Collaboration for Early Childhood. Established in 2003 as a nonprofit organization, the Collaboration became a unique public/private partnership in which all of the governmental agencies contribute financially and participate through staff and/or board involvement. Partners include: –Village, D97, D200, Township, Park District, Library –Concordia, Triton –Children’s Clinic, Parenthesis, Oak-Leyden –Child care centers, preschools, home child care providers

Why Address Early Childhood % of brain development occurs by age 5 By age five, a child from a low-income home has had 25 million fewer words addressed to him or her than a child from a professional family 2/3 of the achievement gap is already evident when children walk through the door on their first day of kindergarten. There are lasting benefits for all students in K-12 classrooms from better educational productivity when all students are ready to succeed and eager to learn. The early childhood sector is deeply fragmented, of wide ranging quality and in Oak Park and River Forest it is segregated based on ability to pay.

High Quality Early Learning Programs Help High School Students Succeed Non-cognitive skills: curiosity, ability to defer gratification, grit, persistence, self-confidence, ability to work with others Cognitive skills: narrowing of learning disparities, higher motivation, higher achievement Positive peer effects benefit all students (Belfield 2010, Heckman 2010)

High Quality Early Learning Programs Help Reduce Costs in High School  Lower expenditures for special education  Lower expenditures on student discipline and behavior intervention (including those for substance use and abuse)  Lower expenditures for security  Lower expenditures for remediation and grade repetition

Early Experiences Make a Critical Difference These statements are based on the following long-term, rigorous studies: 2005 RAND Corporation monograph, Early Childhood Interventions: Proven Results, Future Promise High/Scope Perry Preschool Project: IQ, Achievement Test Scores; Special Education; Teen Pregnancy; Arrests; High School Graduation; Use of Social Services (as adults); Arrests, Arrests for Violent Crimes, Time in Prison/Jail; Employment, Earnings Income Carolina Abecedarian Project: IQ, Achievement Test Scores; Special Education, Grade Retention; Years of Completed Schooling, Ever Attended Four Year College; Skilled Employment Chicago Child-Parent Centers: Achievement Test Scores; Social Competence; Special Education, Grade Retention; High School Graduation, Highest Grade Completed; Child Abuse; Delinquency; Arrests, Arrests for Violent Crimes

A Snapshot of Oak Park and River Forest Children Birth Through Age 5 There are 5,400 children in Oak Park and River Forest under kindergarten age. 800 children are at-risk of school failure due to family income, special needs, or other factors. 70% of children under kindergarten age live in families with all parents working. There is a lack of services for infants, toddlers, and their families. 95 % of families use some form of non parental care; many families use a patchwork of care. Parents at all income levels report feelings of isolation and stress when seeking to locate early childhood services.

Vision: Children arrive at kindergarten safe, healthy, ready to succeed and eager to learn Every child has access to high quality early care and education All parents have the information and support they need in their role as a child’s first and most important teacher The most at-risk children and their families receive intensive services to ensure healthy development and school readiness

Early Experiences Make a Critical Difference Research on the efficacy of Parents as Teachers™ by Dr. Edward Zigler of Yale shows that a large percentage (82%) of children from low-income families who participated with high intensity in both Parents as Teachers and high quality preschool entered kindergarten ready to learn, as compared to only 64% of poor children who had no involvement in either service. A similar pattern emerged for more affluent children (93% vs. 81%) demonstrating the benefits of sustained early learning programs to all children.

Benchmarks for Success Child Outcomes: Every child arrives at kindergarten safe, healthy, ready to succeed and eager to learn Service Delivery Outcomes: Parents and children receive the early childhood care and education and parenting education and support services they need System Outcomes: Oak Park has a high quality, coordinated early childhood system

Current Funding Landscape Due to state fiscal woes and changes in grant making priorities of regional foundations that have provided funding in the past, Oak Park is unable to garner significant operating support from outside sources. Viable funding streams identified in 2009 to support the full implementation of the Collaboration’s strategic plan are no longer available.

Working Concept for Intergovernmental Cooperation District 97, District 200 and the Village of Oak Park enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement for the provision and funding of the comprehensive, integrated system of early childhood programs and services articulated in the Strategic Plan of The 3 jurisdictions would then execute a contract for services with the Collaboration to establish the comprehensive system.

Working Concepts for Sustainable Funding The working group examined different phase-in scenarios and identified a 3-year ramp up to full implementation as the preferable option. Total cost for the system comes in around $1.5 million. The cost supported by the jurisdictions will be less due to the commitment to continue to seek increasing private funding to help shore up the budget. The group currently recommends establishing funding amounts based on proportionate share of each of the three jurisdictions’ combined expense budget for 2012 primary operating funds (education funds for the school districts and general fund less pension obligations for the Village). The projected cost to District 200 for the first year of implementation is $216,208. The ratios for the proportionate share are as follows:.39 District 97,.34 District 200 and.27 Village. The working group was pleased with this outcome. At full implementation, in fiscal year 2016 the cost will be less than 1% of the education fund expenses for District 200’s fiscal year The group has also discussed making sure that the costs do not increase dramatically over time and is looking at a cap — one tied to the PTEL law (CPI or 5% whichever is lower) is the one currently under discussion.

The Village District 97 affirmed a Resolution of Intent to work with other governing jurisdictions to develop and put forward for adoption an Intergovernmental Agreement to establish a comprehensive, fully integrated early childhood system of high-quality programs and services that foster physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development as contemplated in the strategic plan of The Village has placed the first six months of the phase- in costs in its budget and District 97 has directed the Superintendent to identify strategies for including the funding in its FY 2014 budget. Status of Discussions

Oak Park’s Investment Gap

Source: Heckman 2008

“The real question is how to use available funds wisely. The best evidence supports the policy prescription: invest in the very young”. James Heckman, University of Chicago Professor of Economics, Nobel Prize winner, 2000.