Illinois Mom Fights To Keep Her 4-Year-Old Daughter's Preschool Open

Monica Rodriguez loves taking her 4-year-old daughter Mikayla to the preschool at Riverdahl Elementary School in Rockford, Illinois.

"My daughter's teacher is the best teacher I've ever known," Rodriguez told Change.org. "She just loves it there."

But a few weeks ago, when she arrived at school to pick up her daughter, an unpleasant rumor was circulating among the parents: at the end of the year, the preschool program would close.

Rodriguez said the teachers both confirmed it - they had both gotten emails saying the program would be terminated at the end of the year.

Rodriguez isn't satisfied with that. She created a petition on Change.org to save the preschool. She wants the Riverdahl program to stay open for Mikayla and all the other neighborhood kids who need good early childhood education. Many working and single parents, she said, need programs like the one at Riverdahl and can't afford to send their child somewhere else.

"The early childhood program is all the kids have," says Rodriguez. "Not all kids are lucky enough to the the chance any other place."

At first, Rodriguez blamed the school district. But then she was told by school officials that the state was the problem. Like many states, Illinois is suffering from budget shortfalls and doesn't have the help of federal stimulus money. Although no cuts have been finalized, the early childhood block grant may be reduced, meaning districts get fewer funds and have to limit preschool offerings to their community.

Officials at the Rockford School district didn't respond to requests for comment on the matter, but other Rockford preschools seem to be facing similar budget problems.

Community activists like Monica Rodriguez are backed up by state advocates for early childhood education who are also fighting to keep funds available, like Diana Rauner, president of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a Chicago-based social service agency that runs early education programs and researches the value of quality early education.

“We have scores of children who enter kindergarten with the decks stacked against them,” says Rauner. “We’re going to lose the opportunity [to change that]. When you educate people about the importance of early education and then you take it away, you are creating mistrust among the very people you want to have trust in institutions, in schools. And that’s really awful.”

In the nearby Harlem school district, superintendent Julie Morris says they cut their Rising Stars preschool program last year when the state wasn't paying their bills on time. Will the program return?

“We certainly aren’t closing the door on early education programs, but we need to look at the security of the funding from the state before we go forward,” Morris said.

While early childhood programs may seem like an "extra" that state's can afford to cut, research has shown that every dollar invested in early education saves states money in the future. For every dollar a state puts into quality preschool programs, they get 1.80 to $17.07 in return to society, according to a study by the Rand corporation. Early childhood education can lead to outcomes like higher graduation rates, lower rates of crime and juvenile deliquency, and lower welfare use.

Monica Rodriguez has taken a stand in her community - and, thanks to Change.org and some media coverage of her campaign, she's making progress. She sees the value of early education in her daughter's life and in the lives of children in her community. Will you stand with her on this important cause? Sign her petition - Keep Early Childhood Programs Open!

Photo credit: abbynormy