State Rep. Barbara Freiberg, R-Baton Rouge, a member of the House Education Committee, and Dr. Libbie Sonnier, executive director of the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, spoke recently with the Public Affairs Research Council about the importance of prioritizing early childhood education in Louisiana.

The Louisiana Policy Institute for Children aims to reframe early childhood education as something that stimulates a healthy state economy. Sonnier said the state loses $1.3 billion annually due to childcare breakdowns, with businesses losing $762 million annually due to a lack of a reliable workforce.

Additionally, childcare is one of the highest expenses for families in Louisiana, she said.

A primary source of funding is the Child Care Assistance Program, which serves to support families by assisting parents and guardians that are currently employed, looking for work or going to school with childcare.

In the state, over 159,000 students are in need of early childhood education and care. We are at a critical point in our state that we need to make a decision,” said Freiberg. “Are we going to take the leap and service these children or are we going to continue to reap the negative benefits of not serving them?”

She is one of the many legislators that are frustrated that the funding for early childhood education in Louisiana is lacking. “It seems like the future of our state depends on our making more of a commitment, otherwise we’ll just repeat the cycle we’ve been in for years.”

Freiberg knows that providing efficient early childhood education is critically important. “Those early years are the architecture that builds the scaffolding that students need in their brains for the rest of their lives.”

Age groups that are included under early childhood education are early head start (prenatal to age 3)  and head start (3 and 4), as well as state programs for 4 year olds.

Before the recent Legislative session, only 18.2 percent – just under 29,000 – of in-need children in Louisiana were served through state funding, according to data provided by Sonnier.

Louisiana used $192 million in federal pandemic aid to temporarily cover 16,000 children.

“With record low unemployment, 16,000 families losing access because there is no more funding will impact our economy and it will impact our families to be able to take care of their children,” Sonnier explained.

In Gov. John Bel Edwards’ executive budget, he proposed approximately $52 million in state funds to offset a portion of the seats lost.

This allocation was axed by the House over concerns of overspending. In response, Edwards’ requested that the Senate reinsert that funding and increase it to $60 million.

The Louisiana Senate Finance Committee initially approved a fraction of funding for the child Care Assistance Program, $14 million.

Freiberg fought during the session to secure that $52 to $60 million in funding. Even that amount would not be enough, she said. According to Sonnier in a recent release, the state needed $200 million to secure 16,000 child care seats.

“We’ve got to learn that we’ve got to dedicate more than one percent of our total budget to early childhood education,” Freiberg said.

In the end, $44 million in funding was secured during the Louisiana 2023 Legislative Session, allowing 3,250 children  – 2.21 percent – to continue to be supported in their early childhood education, according to a release.