Florida has 31 early learning coalitions to oversee education for children through age 5, including voluntary pre-K. A newly released report raises the idea of changing the system to ensure that more money goes to kids and less into overhead.

The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability reviewed the coalitions' expenses and found that 9.5 percent of the $945-million spent locally on early education went into administration and program support costs. And that's just an average.

By coalition, the costs ranged from 5.26 percent for Hillsborough (the lowest) to 14.47 percent for Santa Rosa (the highest). Pinellas logged in at 13.07 percent, fourth from the top, while Pasco-Hernando's costs totaled  7.51 percent, or ninth of the 31.

The differences have to do with economies of scale, regional costs, market competition and more. Perhaps, OPPAGA suggests, a governance change might help bring the level of funding for overhead down. It offers four ideas:

• Option 1 – Maintain the current local-level governance.
• Option 2 – Eliminate coalitions and assign their responsibilities to other local entities.
• Option 3 – Eliminate coalition boards and assign their responsibilities to the Agency for Workforce Innovation.
• Option 4 – Change the number of Early Learning Coalitions.

Don't count on change, though. The Agency for Workforce Innovation responds to the report with this conclusion:

"Early learning coalitions operate as the state's local
delivery systems of early learning programs, meeting the needs of the
local community and providing comprehensive services for children and
families. The coalitions serve as a lifeline allowing families to
access much-needed services and guidance related to quality early
learning programs. The services offered to families, including Child
Care Resource and Referral, VPK, and School Readiness, are specifically
coordinated at the local level so that families in each community have
access to appropriate options for care without duplication, overlap,
frustration or waste."

 

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