Saving the Future

On the other hand, the Minnesota Legislature hasn’t exactly been supportive. Though the state kicked in $6 million to fund three different early-development pilot programs (which MELF will evaluate), the Legislature cut funding for early-learning programs during the 2007 session. “Until [legislators] feel significantly pressured that unless they do the right thing for early-childhood education they could lose an election, I’m not sure that we’re going to get as far as we need to,” Dunkley says. (He also notes that the majority of state and federal education spending is spent on kids age five and older.)

“Since 2003, the state has taken about half of the money out of Childcare Assistance dollars to give families access to good care,” says Dunkley, who adds that “when they cut that, they cut income eligibility, and they froze rates paid to providers.” As a result, New Horizon Academy had to close a 25-year-old facility in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis in 2005. New Horizon centers in Crystal and Richfield were also shut down. Dunkley says this is “all because we can’t afford to provide services based on state reimbursement rates.” MELF’s program could help close the funding gap.

Perhaps not surprisingly, not everyone is enthusiastic about the program.

The average annual price for full-time infant care in Minnesota is $12,168; full-time preschool care costs $9,204 each year. The state has the third-highest price for preschool care and the fifth highest price for infant care.

Market Driven

Rolnick notes that the MELF program follows a market-driven model, where parents will feel empowered to vote with their feet, forcing child-care providers to become more competitive. And that’s where some of the opposition to the program lies. Rolnick notes that some are opposed to the model because they don’t think providers should be trying to turn a profit, fearing that this might shortchange the kids. “I don’t understand that,” he says. “I want [the early–child care providers] to be profitable. I want them to make a lot of money so they’ll invest in new and innovative ideas.”

Other opponents insist that the program isn’t scalable. “Our critics say, for example, ‘Well, you don’t have enough teachers, you don’t have enough buildings, and you don’t have enough programs,’” Rolnick says. He replies that the market will respond with a supply of quality child care as demand grows. Rolnick points to New Horizon Academy’s plans to open a new facility in Frogtown specifically because it knows that money will be available for at-risk kids there. He also says that a Montessori school already located in Frogtown plans to participate in the pilot program. “Some charter schools are talking about doing it because they’ve heard there’s going to be 1,000 to 1,200 families with scholarships,” he says.

“So what we thought would happen is going to happen: When there’s all these consumers out there with money, the market will find a way to get this done and get it done well.”

Margaret Boyer, founder and executive director of the St. Paul–based Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals and another supporter of the MELF scholarship program, believes that while it’s a big step in the right direction, fundamental changes to the Childcare Assistance Fund are also needed.