Early Child hood Education and A More Educated Work Force
Early childhood education has a big economic effect in Georgia, said state officials, scholars and advocates in Athens on Friday.
But the state should find ways to boost the industry lest Georgia fall behind in its quest to produce a more educated workforce, some said in the morning briefing in the University of Georgia’s Seney-Stovall Chapel.
The industry’s economic impact is about $4.7 billion in Georgia, said Georgia State University economic analyst Sally Wallace - a $2.5 billion direct impact, $910 million indirect and $1.3 billion “induced,” she said. Direct is money that goes directly into child care, such as salaries for teachers, while indirect includes such things as transportation and janitorial services associated with early child care. “Induced” means things like the economic effect when employees buy household goods with money they’ve earned in child care, which supports other businesses.
The industry employs 67,000 people and helps create other jobs for 17,000 more; provides care for 337,000 children, which helps nearly 552,000 parents; and generates hundreds of millions in tax revenue for state and federal governments, she said.
“Early childhood education is a viable economic engine in our state,” said Amy Jacobs, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Early Care and learning since 2014.
Some child care is based in public schools, but most are not, said Kristie Lewis, deputy commissioner of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.
Its value extends far beyond immediate benefits such as allowing parents to work at jobs while knowing their children are in safe care, she said - better educational outcomes follow, and even reduced costs for health care and for remedial education as students move on.
Meanwhile, Georgia is facing big educational challenges, said Dana Rickman, policy and research director for the nonprofit Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education.
Some of its educational statistics are respectable; some 34 percent of Georgia fourth-graders scored at the proficient level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2013, right at the national average but below the 37 percent mark that separates the top 20 states from others.
“There’s nothing in our schools that makes them worse than other schools,” she said. Georgia’s problem - just a third of its students scoring proficient - is a national problem, she said.
In eighth grade math, 29 percent of Georgia students scored at proficient or better compared to the U.S. average of 34 percent, she said.
The numbers are troubling, Rickman said, because most of the new jobs the state will add over the coming years are going to require education beyond high school - such as jobs in the health care industry.
Meanwhile, the state’s demography is changing - Georgia’s Hispanic population grew by 49 percent from 2001 to 2010, while the Asian population increased 45 percent.
But what’s troubling is the dramatic 38 percent increase in children living in poverty during that time - up by 38 percent, she said.
“That’s almost unheard of,” Rickman said.
The industry took a big hit in the economic downturn that began in 2008. Enrollment dropped, and though enrollment is on the rise again as the economy recovers, many fewer child care centers or family care operations are open on weekends, according to a statewide survey of child care operations conducted by UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
Average salaries in the business are low - $12.30 an hour for lead teachers, $8.85 for assistant teachers, said Theresa Wright, director of the institute’s survey research and evaluation unit.
“This is something we need to pay attention to,” she said.
Another speaker asked those in the audience to tell others what they’d heard in Friday’s briefing, one of several similar meeting state officials scheduled around the state.
“We really need you to help spread the word - perhaps under the Gold Dome (the state capitol building in Atlanta) - that early education is important not just for the children and families of Georgia but for economic development,” said Hanah Goldberg, director of research for the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students.
Follow education reporter Lee Shearer at www.facebook.com/LeeShearerABH or twitter.com/LeeShearer
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