Original Source | The Oregonian
by Yuxing Zheng Thursday February 26, 2009

Jane Grimm wears a tiara during playtime at Maryam's Preschool in Lake Oswego. Parents are using fewer days or a cheaper school to afford preschool during a recession.

Some parents at a recent Lake Oswego preschool forum were looking for more than just the right preschool.

A number were looking for a paycheck, either for themselves or a spouse.

"I'm looking for a job," said Punith Aruna, a Lake Oswego resident attending the forum with her 4-year-old daughter, Smriti Maduri. "If I get it, I'll have Smriti in a Montessori school. I cannot do it now."

Aruna said she found tuition at a Montessori school she researched "very, very expensive." So she's exploring more traditional, community-based schools that usually charge less.

Aruna is not the only parent who has had to think outside the sandbox when faced with a potentially wallet-sapping choice. Parents have had to become creative to balance preschool enrollment with the financial realities of a recession. To cope, they report cutting other expenses, reducing the number of preschool days, asking for financial aid or enrolling their children in a community preschool rather than the pricier private or foreign language models.

Some preschools and early education groups report enrollment plummeting 20 percent or 25 percent from a year ago, forcing them to make adjustments such as slashing hours for their employees or expanding their appeal by starting programs for younger students.

Finding alternatives
Peggy Chamberlain of Lake Oswego might not send her sons to preschool at all. Married to a doctor, Chamberlain said she might continue as a stay-at-home mom to her 2- and 5-year-old boys if she doesn't find a high-quality preschool at an affordable price.

"It's going to have to be a really good school for me to put my kids into it, definitely in light of less financial means at this time," Chamberlain said, as she scouted the booths at the forum, held in Lake Oswego last month, where about three dozen early-education schools and groups recruited students. "We may not do it if it's not financially feasible."
One stay-at-home mom whose husband recently lost his job said she's considering returning to work to pay for preschool or enrolling her son only once a week.

Preschools are important in readying children to learn later, said Albert Wat, a senior associate with Pre-K Now, a campaign of the nonprofit Pew Center on the States. In terms of early literacy and math skills, children who skip preschool are going to be behind when they get to kindergarten, he said.

Children also miss out on developing social and emotional skills, such as how to interact with other students, follow teacher directions or focus on a task. Without a strong foundation, Wat said, students are more likely to be held back or placed in special education.

Portland mother Kate Kelley agrees preschool is a must-have worth the sacrifice of pinching pennies elsewhere.
"Preschool is not taking the cut with the economy," said Kelley, whose daughter Sophia is 2. "I want her having that social experience. We'll cut back in other areas as needed. To me, preschool is essential."
Larry Fein, a registered nurse, and his wife, Kristin, turned to the West Linn Community Preschool across the street from their home. As is the case at many cooperative preschools, parents must work in the classroom and otherwise help out in exchange for tuition that's lower than many other schools.

Kristin Fein volunteers as the school's representative to a state preschool organization and pays $108 a month tuition for 4-year-old Lucinda. She expects to enroll 3-year-old Christopher this fall for about $86 a month.
"We saw the cost and we thought, 'Well, that's reasonable, that's something we can handle,'" said Fein, who sought a preschool where she could be actively involved. "We looked at other preschool costs just to compare, and we found out this one was much more affordable."

When money is tight, the preschool works with parents, sometimes stretching the payment deadline through a 10-day grace period or longer, Fein said.

"Extras" taking the hit

Education groups that provide "extra" services, such as contract instructors for foreign language courses, report more parents dropping the extras to retain more traditional preschool class time and social experiences.

Portland Early Learning Project, whose instructors travel to preschools to teach Spanish and sign language, says enrollment in its classes has recently declined by 20 to 30 percent.

None of the project's five employees has been laid off, but they work fewer hours.

"It would be more businesslike for us to let one of our teachers go, but they're so good and it's so hard to find talented people working with young children," said Kara DeGiovanni, the company co-founder and an instructor. "They're willing to work fewer hours, and we're willing to absorb the loss."

Like parents, preschools in the Portland area have made an assortment of adjustments.

Touchstone School in Tigard will reach for a younger market, accepting 2 1/2- and 3-year-olds for the first time to make up for a roughly 20 percent enrollment drop in its classes for 4-year-olds.

Recession or no, staffing and other expenses often remain the same, said Cindy Galligan, principal of Touchstone. Some of Touchstone's teachers have been on staff for more than a dozen years.

"It's obviously a smaller bottom line," she said.

Across the board, preschools report more inquiries from parents about financial aid, scholarships and discounts, though not all have the budget flexibility to help.

At Maryam's Preschool in Lake Oswego, which serves a dozen students, owner Maryam Darabi knows of three parents who have recently lost their jobs.

"I had parents who lost their job, but I didn't charge them for a month until they found a new job," she said. "We have to help each other in this economy."

Yuxing Zheng: 503-294-5922; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

To learn more For information, including a checklist of what to look for in selecting a pre-kindergarten program, visit: preknow.org/families

Middle-class families don't qualify for state help

Many young families are squeezed by what's called the middle-class "pre-kindergarten pinch."
They earn too much to qualify for state-funded preschool programs, yet they struggle to pay on their own.
In Oregon, a family of four that makes more than $21,200 annually -- the federal poverty level -- does not qualify for state-funded preschool programs.

"Everything we're hearing from people and programs confirms the pre-K pinch," said David Mandell, research director for the Children's Institute, a nonprofit in Portland that advocates for early education. "Given what we've seen in Oregon, in terms of the real dramatic rise in unemployment, it's hard to imagine that's not translating into real difficulties for working families -- or families who were working -- with young children."

About 39 percent of middle-class Oregon families struggle to afford early education and care, according to a national study last fall by Pre-K Now, a campaign of the Pew Center on the States, a national nonprofit that studies state policy solutions.

Of the roughly 20 states studied, only Washington ranked worse, with 42 percent of middle-class families struggling to pay for early education.

However, Oregon's income-eligibility cutoff of $21,200 for state-funded preschool is one of the lowest in the nation.
In Pennsylvania, for example, a family of four can earn up to $63,600 annually and still qualify for state-funded preschool programs. Pennsylvania's income limit for eligibility is higher than any other state's, according to Pre-K Now.