Decline in Preschool Access Continues in Virginia, Despite Legislative Efforts

Virginia has provided thousands of children access to preschool over a year’s time, but the commonwealth continues to trail other states, which are expanding services and providing more kids a chance at early learning.

According to the National Institute for Early Education Research’s State of Preschool Yearbook, Virginia has dropped by three spots to 26th in the country in offering preschool access for 3-year-olds but maintained its 30th place ranking for preschool access for 4-year-olds.

Last year, nearly 10,000 parents in the commonwealth were seeking early childhood care and education services, primarily in the southern and central regions. However, Virginia has made strides enrolling an additional 824 students to its Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) and Mixed Delivery programs.

VPI is offered for free for four-year-old children and Mixed Delivery offers funding to private, community-based preschools to serve children at risk of entering school without the necessary skills.

Angela Mancipe, a parent of two from Chesterfield County, said finding a preschool spot for her oldest child during the pandemic was a challenge for her and her husband, considering the waitlist amid nationwide health concerns. While her son was able to land a spot six months later, Mancipe’s life changed after losing her job and becoming pregnant with her daughter, who was also able to be enrolled in a preschool program.

Mancipe recently accepted a part-time assistant teacher position at her daughter’s preschool to help bring in some income, which is housed within a church daycare. She’s fearful of losing her daughter’s spot, saying that when they were first searching for a preschool for her, some of their calls went unanswered. Like many families, the cost of their children’s care and early education is also a persistent challenge.

“It’s insane how much it costs to have your child in daycare,” Mancipe said. “We are very fortunate when it comes to being able to even live off of one income, but to pay double your mortgage to have your children in a safe and well cared for facility with good providers where they’ll get quality care and education, it shouldn’t be double your mortgage.”

The state of early childhood education in Virginia

The National Institute for Early Education Research said in a statement that state initiatives “propelled” early childhood education in the United States to “historic highs” during the 2023-2024 school year, as preschools recovered from the impacts of the pandemic.

“Yet, progress has been highly uneven from state to state. While many states advanced by enrolling more children in quality preschool, others lagged, funding no preschool or only low-quality programs,” researchers stated. “As federal cutbacks in education and elsewhere are being implemented, it is notable that federal COVID-19 recovery funding played a crucial role in sustaining and advancing preschool, and other federal funds underpin state programs and decrease inequality among the states in access to quality preschool education.”

According to the report, the institute determined the commonwealth’s Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) program met five of the 10 quality standard benchmarks, and Mixed Delivery programs, which offer services for infants to preschoolers, met four out of 10.

Virginia met the benchmarks for both programs by conducting a process to observe student and teacher behaviors in the classroom, meeting the staff-to-child ratio of 1:10 for 3- and 4-year-olds, and following a “comprehensive, aligned, supported and culturally sensitive” set of development standards.

The programs fell short of the requirements, including: that the lead teacher must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and specialized training in Pre-K; the assistant teacher must have a minimum of a Child Development Associate (CDA) degree; and the teachers must receive at least 15 hours per year of in-service professional development and training, individualized annual professional development plans and coaching.

Allison Gilbreath, senior director of policy and programs at Voices for Virginia’s Children, said in a statement to the Mercury that the report indicating the decline in preschool access is concerning, given that Virginia’s two preschool programs enrolled nearly 25,000 children last year.

“Investments in four-year-old classrooms are important — but they’re only one piece of the puzzle,” Gilbreath said. “To truly support families and providers, we need a coordinated early childhood system that strengthens access and sustainability across all age groups. A holistic approach is essential to meet the needs of children from birth to five.”

With the uncertainty regarding the national climate lawmakers and advocates are concerned that federal government funding cuts could jeopardize other early childhood care and education initiatives.

“I am very concerned that progress made at the state level could be affected by cuts at the federal level,” said Del. David Bulova, D-Fairfax. “Early childhood care and education sets the foundation for years of learning and becoming a productive member of society. It is an investment worth protecting and expanding.”

Bulova carried a successful budget amendment to address the early childhood care and education program waitlist in January. Although the amendment did not eliminate the waitlist for the programs entirely, Bulova said it did make significant progress by reducing the Child Care Subsidy Program (CCSP) waitlist by 5,437 since the start of the year.

The waitlist currently stands at 3,278.

Mancipe said she and other parents appreciate the legislature’s work but would like to see it go further. One area she recommended lawmakers continue to address is creating a stable, adequate funding for childcare to support families and providers due to the high costs and staffing shortages.

“We are very thankful for their commitment for what they are doing and the efforts they are making,” Mancipe said. “I think we still have a long way to go.”

Next steps

During this year’s two-month legislative session, the General Assembly and Gov. Glenn Youngkin approved proposals directing the state to develop a plan for mental health screenings and services for children under the age of 5, clarifying how publicly funded early childhood programs are excluded from specific oversight requirements and expanding the Early Childhood Care and Education Commission by one member, bringing the total to 32.

The commission is tasked with providing recommendations for and tracking progress on financing Virginia’s comprehensive birth-to-five early childhood care and education system, or VQB5, to improve children’s school readiness and expand access to parents and support providers.

Lawmakers attempted to launch a $25 million Employee Child Care Assistance Pilot Program to expand access to childcare. However the amendment to the biennium budget measure was vetoed by Youngkin earlier this month.

Youngkin said while the commonwealth has made “historical investments” in early learning and child care this biennium, the effort is best considered “in a bill and at a smaller scale to determine program effectiveness and scalability.”

Another failed measure would have strengthened incentives for childcare providers to remain open during “nontraditional” working hours to better serve healthcare professionals, hospitality workers, first responders, military families, and others with unique needs, said Del. Phil Hernandez, D-Norfolk, who carried the bill.

“There was strong interest in this bill, but it did not advance due to the fiscal impact. We’ll return to this issue in the future,” Hernandez said in a statement to the Mercury.

Other proposals that failed to pass during the short session earlier this year would have increased funding for kindergarten readiness programs, expanded child care to certain qualifying childcare providers at no charge, and improved retention and recruitment of childcare educators, designating them as a priority group for the CCSP.

Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, D-Alexandria, who carried the retention bill, said as a mother of a 2-year-old, she understands the challenge of finding affordable, quality childcare.

“I want all Virginia families to be able to access affordable, quality early childhood education and care from birth. While we are not there yet, we have also made a lot of progress,” Bennett Parker said in a statement.

She said one area the NIEER report does not cover is the additional 1,000 subsidy slots lawmakers added over two years in the biennium budget.

Preserving Head Start equals ‘investing in our future’

One program that concerns advocates and lawmakers is Head Start. This program aims to provide all-inclusive education, health, and nutrition services to children whose families fall below the federal poverty line, which is currently around $30,000 for a family of four.

However, on Wednesday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. testified that President Donald Trump’s budget would not eliminate the program. Yet some regional offices have been closed, and funding has been frozen.

“Protecting and expanding Head Start is a foundational investment,” said Dawn Ault, executive director of the Virginia Head Start Association. “Any reduction or disruption would create childcare deserts where working parents would face impossible choices: leaving the workforce, relying on unreliable care, or falling into deeper financial hardship.”

Head Start was also one of the programs recommended to be eliminated by the authors of Project 2025, a conservative plan for how the country should operate if a Republican won the recent presidential election. In 2021, the authors wrote that the program negatively affected children and that the federal government should discontinue it.

However, Ault said an investment in Head Start benefits families and taxpayers. According to the Virginia Head Start Association, Virginia offers 52 Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

“For every $1 invested in Head Start, we see up to $9 in long-term returns,” Ault said. “That’s not frivolous spending — it’s smart, conservative investing in our future.”

by Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury

Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.