13-05-2025
Report suggests new coordinating entity for East Baton Rouge early childhood education
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A new report on East Baton Rouge Parish's early childhood education system makes recommendations and identifies existing challenges for families.
The Early Childhood Education (ECE) Task Force Report was created after eight months of meetings, data-led strategy, partners' input, and national best practices to maximize public funding. The task force was formed in 2024 after findings from a data project showed that only half of children from low-income families are ready for kindergarten.
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Parish leaders are recommended to establish a coordinating entity to focus and streamline building and executing community-wide, systems-level coordination with schools, early childhood education centers, family childcare providers, Head Start, Early Head Start, higher education agencies, government partners, and nonprofits.
The system currently has four major organizations playing a part: EBR Schools, the City of Baton Rouge/Mayor's Office, YWCA, and Volunteers for America. Funding is received via a 'patchwork' of federal, state, and local money.
'We support the report's recommendations to establish a coordinated system that will expand access, enhance quality, and maximize funding for the children of our community. This report marks an important step forward— we are excited to continue leading this effort to build a stronger, more unified foundation for every child's success,' East Baton Rouge Parish School System Superintendent LaMont Cole said.
The report states the parish 'has made significant progress' with early childhood education since EBR Schools took on coordination a decade ago. The task force believes its top recommendation to create a coordinating entity would aid the parish in accomplishing broader goals for early childhood education.
The report identified funding as the biggest barrier to early care and education access for East Baton Rouge, much like other communities nationwide.
The task force found that too many children are going into kindergarten unprepared, adding that there is a disconnect between Pre-K assessments and kindergarten readiness.
Another finding suggested that families struggle to find information about early childhood education seats and how to apply. Focus groups identified high education costs and accessibility challenges that impacted their search.
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Mayor-President Sid Edwards and Cole have asked the Baton Rouge Area Foundation (BRAF) to gather a working group to analyze the next steps to create the coordinating entity. It's expected to take six to eight months to develop a plan.
'There is no greater investment we can make in the future of our community than investing as early as possible in our children and their families,' Edwards said. 'Communities across the country have developed similar models, and we have the chance to learn from their successes. I fully support the creation of a dedicated coordinating entity that can get all the right players to the table to improve education outcomes in Baton Rouge.'
The working group will host a community meeting series with families and providers. BRAF said meeting dates are expected to be announced in the summer.
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Report suggests new coordinating entity for East Baton Rouge early childhood education
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