Press Release: Kentuckians Strongly Support Expanding Families’ Access to Quality Early Care and Education

August 13, 2019FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFor more information, contact:Brigitte Blom Ramsey, Executive Director(office) 859-233-9849(cell) 859-322-8999Lexington, KY – Kentuckians strongly favor increased state funding to give more low-income, working families access to quality early care and education for their children, according to results from the second annual Education Poll of Kentucky released by the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.The Mason-Dixon Poll, conducted June 14 -26, 2019, found 74 percent of respondents saying they would strongly or somewhat support such increased funding – and 51 percent said they would support increasing taxes for that purpose.“These poll results make it clear that Kentuckians recognize the value and importance of quality early care and education for our children,” said Brigitte Blom Ramsey, executive director of the Prichard Committee.“Giving our citizens the strongest possible start will establish a foundation for their success in school and life. This is a critical message for our elected leaders as they make decisions about the state budget and what programs to identify for prioritize for funding.”Most Kentuckians (54 percent) strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement: “We need to make sure that funding for early childhood development and education programs are available to all children, regardless of financial situation.”Eighty-three percent believe that the availability of quality, affordable child care for working parents is a very or somewhat important issue for their community; 80 percent hold the same view of the importance of pre-kindergarten education.The poll results also found that 76 percent of voters who need child care and preschool have difficulty finding quality programs, with cost being a primary obstacle.“Communities must come together to innovate and build better solutions to ensure Kentucky’s youngest learners get the supports they need to succeed,” Ramsey said. “In the case of early childhood education, community partnerships are critical to increasing the supply of early childhood options and the quality of those programs.”The full poll is available online here.About the Poll:The poll was conducted for the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy, Inc., of Jacksonville, Fla., from June 14 through June 26, 2019. A total of 1,000 registered Kentucky voters were interviewed statewide by telephone. Those interviewed were randomly selected from a phone-matched Kentucky voter registration list that included both landline and cell phone numbers.The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than ±3.2 percentage points.###The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence is an independent, nonpartisan, citizen-led organization working to improve education in Kentucky – early childhood through postsecondary.