Report finds inequities in Maryland's early childhood education system
A new report released Wednesday finds a quality early childhood education system must first be an equitable one.
The report finds that quality child care remains out of reach for families across Maryland.
The Building Better Beginnings for Maryland's Children: Maryland's Prenatal-to-3 Equity Report looks at ways to expand high-quality services for expectant families and families with children from birth to age 3. It especially focused on those who are living at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
"That first five years of a child's life is your greatest opportunity to impact their futures, success and basically level the playing field when they enter school," said Laura Weeldreyer, executive director of the Maryland Family Network.
"The outcomes in terms of birth, education and service delivery are worse for children who are Black, Latina and from ethnic minorities, and we have a lot of work to do. There's no reason why where you live and your ZIP code should determine what services you have access to," said the study's key researcher, Dr. Cynthia Minkovitz, with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Services include education, prenatal care, home visiting, temporary assistance, food assistance, health services and child care.
Of children demonstrating kindergarten readiness in Maryland by race and ethnicity, in the 2019-2020 school year, 37% of African American children were ready, compared to 62% of white children.
"We need political will and public commitment. We need to see that these inequities are no longer acceptable, and we need to say whether it's recruiting a diverse workforce, investing in high-quality services, elevating our success and commenting publicly on our failures about what we're going to do differently about moving forward," Minkovitz said.
Montgomery County Delegate Jared Solomon, D-District 18, said the new data gives him ammunition for bills he hopes to propose in the next legislative session.
"Having a report like this that focuses our lens on equity, on the communities that have the greatest need, really makes us more effective in governing," Solomon said.