State VPK program

As an early childhood educator with over 20 years experience, I was thrilled when the state announced the Florida VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) program. Studies show that children who receive quality early childhood education fare better educationally later in life and have lower incarceration rates as adults.

Now, 17 years in, I am highly disappointed how this program has been funded. Before VPK, my classroom was full of 4-year-olds whose parents saw the value in a full-time program. Now that the state has decided that 540 instructional hours is all these students need, this is all most want to pay for. This averages out to 3 hours a day, much less than is needed to prepare a child for their testing upon entering kindergarten after two months off, in their first 30 days of school.

Students entering kindergarten in 2018 were tested on standards that were never reflected upon the VPK standards schools are supposed to reach. This led to a failure rate of 43 percent of the schools in the state. At this time the reimbursement rate for students is $4.51 an hour. Teenagers will not come to your house to eat your food and rifle through your belongings for less than $10 to “babysit.” How are we supposed to hire and maintain a staff of educated and dedicated individuals when we have schools full of 4-year-olds bringing in $2,437 a year?

It is time for the state to address a program that they can not properly afford. Tahera Bhojani Apopka