On October 13, 2006, Loyola University Chicago School of Law sponsored a national conference entitled "The Law and Policy of Universal Preschool," featuring a presentation by Starting At 3’s Project Director Ellen Boylan, Esq., on expanding state preschool programs through judicial, legislative, and ballot initiative processes.

The conference opened with a brief video welcome from Rob Reiner, actor/director and patron of California’s universal preschool initiative, who applauded the convocation and the panelists for their past good works, and encouraged them to continue the enthusiastic pursuit of their mission.

David Lawrence, President of the Early Childhood Initiative Foundation, presented the keynote address, recalling the circumstances that led to his retirement from newspaper publishing to become a staunch advocate of the universal pre-k movement in Florida and around the world.

A trio of eminent economists and educators summarized the latest research on the educational, social, and economic benefits of high quality preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds. Professor Barbara Bowman of Chicago’s Erikson Institute traced the history of research on early childhood education, culminating with a summary of the many benefits of pre-k. She also highlighted areas where a greater research focus is needed. Dr. Steve Barnett, Director of NIEER, the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers, focused on the research that demonstrates the enormous economic benefits of quality early childhood education for all. Three longitudinal studies of intensive high quality preschool programs for disadvantaged children have demonstrated economic returns through adulthood ranging from about $4 to $17 for each dollar spent on the programs.

Dr. Barnett also explained why universal preschool programs are more advantageous than programs which merely target at-risk children. Research shows that middle income children don’t have access to high quality programs because they are not eligible for Head Start and other programs targeted to the poorest children, but they cannot afford the high quality programs attended by upper middle class children. Research also shows that the school readiness gap between middle income children and high income children is just as big as the gap between the poorest children and the middle income children. Finally, Dennis Winters, Vice-President of Wisconsin’s NorthStar Economics, Inc., described how his consulting group developed economic cost/benefit projections for a universal 4-year-old preschool program in Milwaukee, as well as for the statewide program for Wisconsin. The resulting figures could then be used strategically to "sell" the programs to the public, the business community, and the state legislature.

The morning’s presentations culminated with Ellen Boylan, Esq., of Starting At 3 introducing the conference attendees to the roles that legislation, litigation, and ballot initiatives are playing in enhancing access to high quality state preschool programs. Beginning with Florida, Ms. Boylan explained how Florida voters, by amending the state constitution in 2002, imposed a clear duty upon the legislature to provide, for all 4-year-olds, "an early childhood development and education program which shall be voluntary, high quality, free, and delivered according to professionally accepted standards." The legislature, however, as Ms. Boylan explained, created a preschool program that does not meet every requirement of this constitutional duty.

After reviewing the comprehensive prekindergarten legislation implemented in Oklahoma and Georgia, Ms. Boylan gave a historical overview of school funding litigation, emphasizing the cases where courts have ordered the creation or expansion of early childhood programs as part of the remedy. At the forefront of these decisions is Abbott v. Burke in New Jersey, where the state supreme court ordered the state to implement an intensive full-day, full-year high quality preschool program for all 3- and 4-year-olds in the state’s 31 most disadvantaged school districts. Attendees were also provided with summaries of pending school finance cases in eleven states that include a claim for increased state funding for preschool education.

Luncheon speaker Sara Watson, Senior Officer for State Policy Initiatives at The Pew Charitable Trusts, introduced the audience to Pew’s initiative aimed at "Advancing Quality Pre-K for All" in all states. This initiative supplies funding and technical support to an infrastructure of organizations that utilize research, education, communication, and advocacy to "engage key constituencies" and promote awareness and acceptance of universal pre-k.

The afternoon sessions were devoted to analysis of preschool initiatives in three states where the political process has led to the enhancement of access to state-funded preschool. The Georgia experience was introduced by Marsha Moore, Commissioner of Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. Ms. Moore provided an overview of implementation issues for Georgia’s pre-k program, including funding, assessment and evaluation, and governance structures, and explained the political and programmatic factors leading to the continued success of the program. Maryann O’Sullivan of Preschool California supplied insight into the intense but unsuccessful struggle to pass Proposition 82—a universal preschool ballot initiative in California—during the June 2006 election. In the wake of Prop. 82, however, Governor Schwarzenegger did pass a measure to add $50 million for preschool facilities and $50 million to increase preschool access.

Illinois’s "Preschool for All" initiative was discussed by three of the state’s leading preschool proponents: Elliot Regenstein, an attorney who co-chairs the Illinois Early Learning Council, Jerome Stermer, Chair of Voices for Illinois Children, and Margie Wallen, Early Learning Project Manager for The Ounce of Prevention Fund. Their presentation and discussion shed light on the tricky process of working with the legislature to ensure that Governor Blagojevich’s plan to make voluntary preschool available to all 3-and 4-year-olds would become a reality.

For more information about Starting At 3’s presentation at the Loyola Conference, contact Ellen Boylan at (973) 624-1815, ext. 18, or by e-mail at eboylan@edlawcenter.org.