An ambitious plan to introduce legislation in 2008 calling for universal preschool for the state's 4-year-olds is still on track, according to Rep. Roy Takumi, one of the Legislature's leading education reformers.

"There's an overriding state interest to have quality and sustainable early education," said Takumi. "But when we do it we want it to be for real, and to be sustainable. ... You can't just dream this stuff up in a week."

A detailed outline of exactly what universal preschool would look like in Hawai'i, and whether it would need to be phased in, is still a year away. But by December the Early Education Task Force expects to have a five-year plan for a comprehensive system plus a plan for how to pay for it.

Early on, the plan calls for voluntary participation, starting first with just 4-year-olds, and including subsidies for low-income and gap group families.

However, a new interim report by the task force to the 2007 Legislature lays out problems the state faces in moving forward, including the cost of expansion — estimated at $65 million to $75 million the first year — lack of adequate teachers, and the complexities of integrating the varied landscape of learning and care that already exists.

The task force calls on legislators this year to jump-start the process toward universal preschool by "ramping up" the size and quality of the state's early education workforce.

"If services to 4-year-olds are to expand in the future," said the report, "recruitment and preparation of the workforce must begin now."

Kids unprepared?

Currently, about 60 percent of Hawai'i's 4-year-olds attend preschool before entering kindergarten, and about 50 percent of low-income children receive financial aid to attend preschool. But state Department of Education officials say at least half of the children entering kindergarten aren't ready to learn, and could begin falling behind immediately.

With that in mind, the task force has gathered data on the broad spectrum of programs available in Hawai'i. It's clear this variety will continue to play a role in Hawai'i's smorgasbord of offerings, although there is also a major push to increase program quality across the board.

"We don't want an academic boot camp," said Bob Peters, co-chair of the task force and headmaster of Hanahau'oli School. "We're looking at a comprehensive system that's developmentally appropriate while at the same time being sensitive to the breadth and variety of needs in our community."

It's been estimated that after a decade the budget for universal preschool could grow to around $160 million annually. But the plan has always included a partnership of financing — blending federal, state and private funding.

Though the task force said its work was hampered last year when money wasn't released to pay expenses until a couple of weeks ago, the governor is nonetheless committed to this project, according to her senior policy adviser, Linda Smith. As a result, there will be new money from Gov. Linda Lingle this year to continue her previous initiative to broaden the current system, said Smith.

$5.5 MILLION MORE

Two years ago Lingle devoted $5.5 million to expanding access to preschool for 670 more low-income children as well as upgrading teacher training at 135 schools and standards at 56 more schools, and she plans to add another $5.5 million this year, said Smith.

"We will be continuing that effort this year plus working with the task force to see what else we can do in terms of additional incentives," said Smith.

Among the steps needed immediately, the task force report said, are measures to begin doubling the current workforce of about 1,000 teachers. (See above box.) Takumi has already said he'll support initiatives legislatively.

"What we realized is we could design a beautiful system but if we don't have qualified people, then it's not going to work," said task force co-chair Kathy Murphy, executive director of the Hawai'i Association for the Education of Young Children, a nonprofit advocacy group.

"We have dealt with the shortage in our workforce for a long time and it's typically because of the pay."

Even with a bachelor's degree, preschool teachers earn about half of what regular education teachers earn, an issue that the task force will wrestle with this year, said Murphy, including debating whether preschool teachers need their own union.

THINKING OF FAMILIES

One of the other tough issues is financing. The expectation is to ensure that families with the most need — at or below poverty and in the gap group — will be subsidized first.

But there is also widespread recognition that the plan must speak to all children and all families.

"What we would like is for parents to know there are these options and find what's right for them and their child," said Murphy. "But now, a lot of families don't know and most of the programs are privately run, so they can't afford them.

"So that's one goal — to come up with something that works for the family that makes $100 too much but still can't pay for preschool."

One of the strengths of the task force has been its ability to bring together the spectrum of offerings already available to families for the care and education of children up to age 5. That includes everything from family education programs to kith and kin child care, parent participation preschools, licensed family and group childcare homes to center-based programs and programs like the federally funded Head Start and Early Head Start.

"We're bringing the communities together that we feel will meet Hawai'i's needs," said Liz Chun, executive director of the Good Beginnings Alliance and a member of the task force. "But rather than calling it universal, it would be a 4-year-old program that is voluntary. We're working with all the different ways early education is delivered."

Honoring programs in the state now has been important to the working group, but fitting them into a mosaic of early childhood education presents challenges, said Murphy. There's no agreement, for instance, on what quality early childhood education comprises, including how many hours a week are optimum.

Along with offering parents a variety of programs for their children in a final plan, the task force also hopes to include parent training.

"We know from the research the importance of parent support," said Peters, "but parents don't always understand how to do that. So we're seeing that piece as a critical part — to take parents along on this journey."

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.