A new week of preschool began at St. Paul's Childhood Center last Tuesday with 4- and 5-year-olds forming hearts with their hands, turning to classmates and issuing an enthusiastic, "Good morning!"
For a smiling Jimmy Oscar Baca Tallen, 4, the connections, as well as his presence at the center, were made possible by an early learning scholarship — assistance that Gov. Mark Dayton now wants to make available to low-income families statewide.
The governor's budget proposal boosts the scholarship program, now in its first year, from $3 million to $25 million during each of the next two years, giving more than 10,000 children access to high-rated child care and preschool programs, compared with 460 children receiving the $4,000 scholarships this year.
The proposal still must make its way through a legislative process that is expected to find Education Minnesota, the state's teachers union, making a play for some of the money to be designated to expanding school-district-based preschool options.
But the early learning movement has taken hold, and few cities in Minnesota have been better positioned for it than St. Paul. The city was home to a pilot scholarship program funded by the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation, and was one of the first communities to embrace a Parent Aware rating system that assesses the quality of preschool providers. Today, scholarships can be used only at three- and four-star-rated facilities.
Barbara Yates, executive director of Think Small, the scholarship administrator for St. Paul, Minneapolis, Willmar and Duluth, said that when the state scholarships became available in late October, her organization saw no need to advertise, just to activate old networks. Within two weeks, she said, Think Small had enough applications for the 99 scholarships available in St. Paul. Within five weeks, it had three applications for every scholarship, she said.
U.S. also offers scholarships
Amanda Tallen and Oscar Baca Carrillo, whose son Jimmy attends St. Paul's Childhood Center, at 900 Summit Av., qualified for the state scholarship. But as Frogtown area residents, they were instead able to accept a larger federal early learning scholarship now being offered within the city's Promise Neighborhood.
Jimmy, as a result, attends for free a daylong program that could've cost his parents $285 per week. Amanda Tallen said that she considered five preschool programs before settling on St. Paul's Childhood Center. She was drawn to its strong leadership, friendly and receptive teachers, and to a curriculum that includes "handwriting without tears," a program she said is especially helpful to Jimmy, who has been receiving therapy to build his fine motor skills.