BATON ROUGE (AP) — Despite landing a $32 million federal grant this month, child care advocates say they are stumped on how Louisiana will pay for sweeping changes in its early childhood education system.
Jonathan Pearce, president of the Child Care Association of Louisiana, tells The Advocate’s Will Sentell money is the biggest issue, and right now, there is no money.
The worries focus on a 2012 law pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal.
It is supposed to replace a preschool setup that critics contend is plagued by inequities in funding and quality and is confusing to parents.
But the measure became law without any appropriation attached. Backers have spent months asking how the state can provide better-qualified teachers, serve more children and offer better oversight without additional dollars.
