Minutes - 20090602 - Laserfiche WebLink

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"Good evening. I am Sue Russell, President of Child Care Services Association and also President of the Board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. I am here tonight to speak in favor of the County's investment in voluntary, universally available pre-kindergarten as described in the proposal sent to you by the Orange County Child Care Coalition. We know that this is a very difficult time to consider new investments, with our local, state, and national economies suffering and with budget deficits at all levels. But now is the time to carefully consider such a proposal for a future investment. Investing in high quality early childhood education has a significant return in immediate savings in costs for remedial and special education and in long-term savings resulting from better educational and social outcomes. We know that parents want, would use and support the investment in such a program. In a recent survey of parents of 3 and 4 year olds, 99% believe that pre-kindergarten programs should be universally available in Orange County, 95% would enroll their children, and 95% support the use of Orange County tax dollars to fund this pre-kindergarten program. We believe that our proposal provides an economical way to achieve this end, by using classrooms in existing child care settings that meet the very highest standards to serve as the County's pre-kindergarten sites. This saves dollars in school construction costs for pre- kindergarten spaces. Research from the More at Four evaluation study has found the children perform equally well in classrooms in child care programs as those in public schools. The key To prepare for a time when the economy improves and the County can prioritize pre- kindergarten as a strategic, long-term, educational investment, we are requesting that the Orange County Commission create an Early Learning Task Force to (1) study the proposal presented by the Orange County Child Care Coalition to expand pre-kindergarten classrooms in Orange County using certified classrooms in the private sector and (2) develop a report to the Orange County Commission no later than December 1, 2009. I have a copy of the proposed charge for the committee for your information. We are hopeful that new federal resources may come available in the next few years to help in the development of pre-kindergarten services. Acting now puts Orange County on track with an innovative, cost-efficient and high quality program worthy of federal funding. Thank you." A motion was made by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to approve referring this issue (pre-kindergarten) to staff for follow-up. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Kenny Ray has worked with Orange County for 21 years. His concern is about longevity pay, which the Board of County Commissioners has been considering eliminating. He said many of these employees could have left, but they have stayed because of the longevity pay, which is a great benefit for Orange County employees. He said that in the last seven years —three of those years there have been no cost of living adjustment and four of those years there have been no in-range increases. This year there will be no cost of living adjustment, 401(k) compensation, or in-range increases. He said that all employees will be affected this year and if anything is done, he hopes that it will be done equally across the board. Joe Robbins read a prepared statement: TO: Commissioners of Orange County FROM: Joe Robbins, D. S. S. Board Chair