2023 Public Perception of Early Childhood Education in Mississippi

MISSISSIPPI FIRST

2023

PUBLIC PERCEPTION

OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN MISSISSIPPI

Findings from a survey of the general public in Mississippi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Mississippi First worked with the Survey Research Laboratory (SRL) at Mississippi State University’s Social Science Research Center to collect survey data. SRL’s call center made the telephone calls for the survey according to our specifications and provided technical descriptions of their work and the sample, as well as the results of the telephone calls. Mississippi First completed all analysis, and SRL does not agree or disagree with any of this analysis or commentary.

This report was made possible by the generous support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The views expressed in this report are those of Mississippi First alone.

We especially thank Grace Breazeale who provided statistical support throughout the course of this project.

ABOUT

Driven to change the fact that Mississippi has historically been last, our founders set a bold vision: a Mississippi first in education nationally. Mississippi First champions transformative policy solutions ensuring educational excellence for every Mississippi child. We are a leading voice for state-funded pre-K, high-quality public charter schools, access to highly effective teachers, and rigorous state learning standards and materials.

STAFF

MICAYLA TATUM | Director of Early Childhood Policy

Author

RACHEL CANTER | Executive Director

Editor

GRACE BREAZEALE | K-12 Policy Associate

Editor

BROOKE WILLIAMS | Director of Communications

Designer

SONJA SEMION

Proofreader

Copyright © 2024 by Mississippi First.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Icons found in this design are images from Faticon.com.

contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TECHNICAL INFORMATION SURVEY RESULTS CONCLUSION APPENDIX ENDNOTES

04 06 10 18 19 26

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Overview of Survey

In 2023, Mississippi’s Early Learning Collaborative program celebrated its ten-year anniversary. The program has expanded from 11 to 37 communities as of November 2023 and now offers 6,200 four-year-olds access to high-quality pre-K. Given state-funded pre-K’s growth in programmatic strength and political stature, Mississippi First broadened its early education focus in 2022 to include the wider early childhood education space. As part of this expanded focus, we designed this poll to learn more about the general public’s support for early childhood education in Mississippi. Throughout this report, we use the term “early childhood education” as an umbrella term to refer to both pre-K (education for four-year-old children) and early learning (care and education for children ages zero to three).

To conduct the survey, we commissioned the Survey Research Lab at Mississippi State University (SRL), which assisted with finalizing and administering the survey questions via telephone in June and July 2023. The survey includes nine (9) demographic items as well as thirteen (13) survey items in order to ensure respondents were representative and to enable analysis based on demographic factors. Participants were selected using a random-digit dialing sampling method of both landline and cellular telephone numbers. Using these methods, SRL surveyed 617 Mississippi adults. More information about the technical aspects of the survey can be found in the Technical Information section of the full report.

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Key Findings Mississippians are statistically more likely to agree or strongly agree that pre-K is important, that it should be funded, and that they have access to affordable options. This may be because pre-K is seen as the “new” kindergarten, and there are increasingly more free or low-cost pre-K options for families. Although support for pre-K was stronger, Mississippians nonetheless demonstrated strong support for the importance of early learning.

About half of all Mississippians agreed or strongly agreed that pre-K and childcare (as it was asked in the question) were affordable. This suggests that Mississippians need access to more affordable options. Mississippi is expanding affordable pre-K options through the early learning collaboratives—Mississippi’s state-funded pre-K program—but Mississippi has no large-scale state-funded initiative to support affordable childcare options.

Overwhelmingly, Mississippians agree or strongly agree that pre-K (94.7%) and early learning (92.3%) are important for preparing children for their later education.

Mississippians also resoundingly agree that the state should fund pre-K (91.7%). Though statistically fewer Mississippians agree that the state should fund early learning, two-thirds of Mississippians (66.8%) also agree or strongly agree with this statement.

Over half of Mississippians agree or strongly agree that people have access to affordable pre-K (58.9%), but less than half agree or strongly agree that people have access to affordable early learning programs (49.1%).

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Technical information SURVEY ITEMS SURVEY METHODOLOGY Mississippi First created this survey to assess the general public’s support for early childhood education.* The first part of the survey asked all respondents four questions about their opinions on the importance of pre-K, their support for funding pre-K, their opinions on the accessibility of quality pre-K programs, and the affordability of pre-K. Three of these survey items mirrored those in Mississippi First’s 2017 report Mississippi Voices: Public Perception of Pre-K-12 Education in Mississippi to evaluate how responses from the general public compared to our previous statewide sample of representative adults.

In the second part of the survey, respondents were asked four additional questions about their support for early learning, their opinions on the importance of early learning, and their opinions on the accessibility and affordability of early learning. Finally, nine demographic items were added to the survey for every respondent in order to ensure respondents were representative and to enable analysis based on demographic factors.

The survey instrument can be found in Appendix A.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY The Survey Research Lab (SRL) at Mississippi State University, on behalf of Mississippi First, administered the telephone-based survey to adult respondents (age 18 or older) residing in Mississippi.

In total, 44,000 telephone numbers were contacted from mid-June 2023 through the end of July 2023. In order to have a representative sample of all adult Mississippians, SRL used a dual-frame random-digit-dialing methodology to target both landline and cellular telephone devices. Each telephone number was called in random order at least eight times before it was retired. The survey secured 617 interviews before concluding.

Figure 1. Call Log Final Disposition Code

Total

Action

Completed Survey Refused to participate Immediate hang-up

617 1,118 797

Number Retired Number Retired Returned to queue

Indefinite callback No answer Busy signal Answering machine/voicemail Unsafe location for call (cellphone user) Communication or language problem Unable to participate due to health problem Respondent out of town for duration of study Respondent out of target area Respondent out of age range (cellphone user)

511 5,003 157 17,891 9 192 18 6 133 128

Returned to queue Returned to queue Returned to queue Returned to queue Returned to queue Number Retired Number Retired Number Retired Number Retired Number Retired

* We use the term early childhood education to refer to all learning and care for young children who are not kindergarten age. Pre-K and early learning both fall under our definition of early childhood education. Pre-K refers to four-year-old children attending school the year before kindergarten. Early learning refers to children ages zero to three.

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Final Disposition Code

Total

Action

No child in school Business phone Disconnected number or fax machine Disconnected number (filtered out by sample provider) Total Telephone Numbers

28 303 6,654 10,435

Number Retired Number Retired Number Retired Number Retired 44,000

7

A NOTE ONMETHODOLOGY STATISTICS SURVEY For any survey, researchers attempt to minimize bias by ensuring every person in the sample has an equal chance of being selected for the survey by achieving an adequate response rate and sample size, and by evaluating whether respondents are representative of the target population in terms of relevant observable characteristics, such as race or ethnicity, gender, income, etc.

SRL achieved a cooperation rate (response rate) of 35.6% (Completers/ (Completers + Refusals)). For the full dataset, the margin of error for dichotomous responses is ±3.9% at a 95% confidence interval.

The survey data was weighted to ensure unbiased estimates and accurate representation of the entire universe of adult Mississippians. SRL developed weights that accounted for the increased chance of selecting respondents with both landline and cellular telephones and households with one adult. Those weights were then adjusted to the demographics of adult Mississippians. To do this SRL used a procedure that relied on a constrained logistic regression to predict the likelihood of response based on several demographic characteristics. Population benchmarks to develop the universe of Mississippians are from the March 2022 supplement of the US Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.

SRL also completed a final review of its weighting procedures to ensure that extreme values were trimmed to improve the stability of the survey estimates. After the final review, SRL had two weight sets that were aggregates of the total number of Mississippians and the respondents in this survey. Additional information about the technical aspects of the survey are available on request. Below we have included demographic information about participants along a number of metrics.

We determined statistically significant differences between opinions on pre-K and early learning as well as between responses from different years when data was available. All differences were tested for statistical significance at a 95% confidence level. Numbers that are statistically different are noted throughout the report. Statistical significance indicates there is a true difference between groups that is unlikely to be due to chance.

Table 1. Age and Gender Age

Men Universe

Women Respondents

Universe

Respondents

18-24

101,031

9.4%

25

9.9%

111,012

9.6%

28

7.7%

25-34

221,881

20.7%

35

13.8%

212,847

18.4%

52

14.3%

35-44

179,340

16.7%

54

21.3%

184,707

15.9%

73

20.1%

45-54

145,959

13.6%

50

19.8%

176,587

15.2%

70

19.2%

55-64

212,540

19.8%

35

13.8%

198,734

17.1%

63

17.3%

65+

212,914

19.8%

54

21.3%

275,868

23.8%

78

21.4%

Total

1,073,665

100.0%

253

100.0%

1,159,755

100.0%

364

100.0%

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Table 2. Race Universe

Respondents

White

60.4%

61.9%

Black

37.1%

34.0%

Other

2.4%

4.1%

Total

100.0%

100.0%

Universe

Respondents

Hispanic

2.3%

2.9%

Non-Hispanic

97.7%

97.1%

Total

100.0%

100.0%

Universe

Respondents

Less than $10K

6.6%

4.4%

$10K to under $15K

5.5%

4.2%

$15K to under $20K

4.0%

4.1%

$20K to under $25K

4.6%

5.3%

$25K to under $35K

9.5%

7.9%

$35K to under $50K

14.0%

12.8%

$50K to under $75K

16.6%

16.5%

$75K to under $100K

12.8%

13.3%

$100K to under $150K

14.8%

15.6%

$150K to under $200K

6.6%

7.6%

$200K or more

5.0%

8.3%

Total

100.0%

100.0%

Table 3. Ethnicity

Table 4. Income

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Table 5. Political Ideology Respondents Conservative

37.8%

Liberal

9.7%

Independent

24.1%

Other

9.9%

Not Sure

12.7%

Refused

5.7%

Total

100.0%

ANALYSIS SURVEY METHODOLOGY There were 617 participants in our survey. The tables above present each group’s reported demographic information. These groups are representative of the population of Mississippi. The March 2022 supplement of the US Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey was used to develop the universe of Mississippians, but the survey does not collect information on political ideologies or affiliations. As a result, SRL could not report a universe for Mississippians along political affiliation, but the weighting methodology does account for representativeness of the general population in regards to political affiliation.

Though ethnicity was a demographic collected in the survey, we do not report ethnic differences during our analysis because there was only one statistically significant finding between ethnic groups. Hispanic Mississippians also represent a very small segment of the overall population, so we concentrated our analysis on race.

When comparing income, we placed income earners into two groups, low income and high income. Low-income earners earned up to $50,000 a year. The high-income group earned $50,000 or more per year. We chose to split respondents into a group of those earning less than $50,000 and a group of those earning $50,000 or more because many families of four and five begin to lose income supports around that income level based on the federal poverty guidelines. There are exceptions where we grouped the income levels differently. They are noted in the report.

SURVEY RESULTS PRE-K The first part of the survey contained four items to assess the general public’s support for pre-K, their opinions on the quality of pre-K programs, and the affordability of pre-K. Below, we present the statements and responses to each question as well as analysis.

Before ranking statements, respondents were read the following: “I am going to read you a list of statements. In these statements, ‘pre-K’ refers to education in the year before a child starts kindergarten. Please tell me how much you agree with each statement. Do you strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, or strongly disagree?”

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Statement One PRE-K IS IMPORTANT FOR PREPARING CHILDREN FOR THEIR K-12TH GRADE EDUCATION. Respondents

2017 Statewide Sample

Strongly agree

50.4%

75.1%

Agree

44.3%

13.7%

Neither agree nor disagree

2.4%

3.0%

Disagree

2.7%

2.9%

Strongly disagree

0.2%

5.3% Response Rate: 99.7%

Analysis 94.7% of Mississippians agreed or strongly agreed that “Pre-K is important for preparing their children for their K-12 education.” Compared to our 2017 statewide sample of adults in which nearly 90% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “Pre-K is important for preparing children for their continuing education,” 2023 respondents were statistically more likely to indicate their support for pre-K.* This indicates that statewide support for pre-K has increased. One reason may be that, since 2017, the early learning collaboratives have more than doubled, increasing awareness among Mississippians about the success and importance of these programs. The corresponding national attention may have also increased awareness of the importance of pre-K. The high level of agreement on the importance of pre-K was consistent across racial, political, and income differences. Though both major racial groups showed strong support, Black Mississippians (97.2%) were slightly more likely to agree that pre-K was important for their later K-12 education compared to White Mississippians (93.6%), but this difference was not statistically significant. Mississippians of varying political ideologies also were very likely to agree that pre-K is important. Liberal Mississippians were slightly more likely to agree or strongly agree with the importance of pre-K compared to conservative Mississippians (99.0% v. 93.8%), but this difference was not statistically significant. There were no statistically significant differences between respondents of different income levels.

The 2017 statewide poll asked respondents to rate the statement, “Pre-K is important for preparing children for their continuing education.” The language in the 2023 poll was slightly different (“Pre-K is important for preparing children for their K-12th grade education.”), but the content of the questions was similar enough for this comparison.

*

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Statement Two THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI SHOULD FUND PRE-K IN ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS THROUGHOUT THE STATE. Respondents

2017 Statewide Sample

Strongly agree

45.3%

67.9%

Agree

46.4%

15.0%

Neither agree nor disagree

2.9%

6.6%

Disagree

4.1%

3.6%

Strongly disagree

1.3%

6.9% Response Rate: 98.1%

ANALYSIS Nearly all respondents (91.7%) agreed or strongly agreed that “The State of Mississippi should fund pre-K in all school districts throughout the state.”* Compared to our 2017 statewide sample of adults in which 82.9% of Mississippians agreed or strongly agreed with the same statement, 2023 respondents were statistically more likely to support funding pre-K. Again, since 2017, the early learning collaborative program has more than doubled, and its success may be encouraging Mississippians to see the importance of funding pre-K. Though we found high levels of support for funding pre-K across racial, political, and income distinctions, there were some statistical differences.

Black Mississippians were statistically more likely to support funding pre-K compared to White Mississippians (98.9% v. 86.9%), though both groups showed strong support. Mississippians of varying political ideologies were also very likely to agree that pre-K should be funded, though liberal Mississippians were statistically more likely to support funding pre-K compared to conservative Mississippians (100.0% v. 87.1%). Lowerincome Mississippians, those making less than $50,000, were statistically more likely to support funding pre-K compared to higher-income Mississippians, those making more than $50,000 (96.7% v. 88.6%), but both groups showed strong support.

*

We use “school districts” in this question because we were not sure how familiar Mississippians would be with the term “early learning collaborative,” and we wanted to assess whether the public supports pre-K programs in all communities in the state.

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Statement Three FAMILIES IN MY COMMUNITY HAVE ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY CARE FOR 4- OR 5-YEAR-OLDS WHO HAVE NOT STARTED KINDERGARTEN YET. Respondents

2017 Statewide Sample

Strongly agree

9.9%

34.3%

Agree

44.9%

23.6%

Neither agree nor disagree

8.7%

16.0%

Disagree

28.8%

13.2%

Strongly disagree

7.6%

12.9% Response Rate: 86.5%

ANALYSIS Slightly more than half (54.8%) of Mississippians agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that “Families in my community have access to high-quality care for 4- or 5- year-olds who have not started kindergarten yet.” This number is unchanged from a statistical standpoint from 2017.

This may be an effect of lingering changes to the pre-K landscape that are the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mississippians may have lost access to pre-K since childcare centers, Head Start, and public schools closed, went virtual, or increased their costs during and after the pandemic.

This finding may also suggest that Mississippians are more aware of what “high-quality” pre-K looks like after exposure to media about the early learning collaboratives. Though the program has expanded, collaboratives are still only present in 37 communities in the state.

Although Black Mississippians were slightly less satisfied with the quality of pre-K offerings in the state compared to White Mississippians (54.1% v.

55.3%), this difference was not statistically significant. However, conservative Mississippians were statistically more likely to agree or strongly agree that they had access to high-quality pre-K compared to liberal Mississippians by a more than 20-percentage point margin (66.2% v. 40.6%). There were no statistically significant differences between respondents of different income levels.

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Statement Four FAMILIES IN MY COMMUNITY HAVE ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE PRE-K OPTIONS.

Respondents Strongly agree

10.1%

Agree

48.8%

Neither agree nor disagree

9.1%

Disagree

25.8%

Strongly disagree

6.2% Response Rate: 84.8%

ANALYSIS Over half (58.9%) of Mississippians agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “Families in my community have access to affordable pre-K options.” Nearly one in three (32.0%) Mississippians disagreed or strongly disagreed that they have access to affordable pre-K options. This question was not included in our 2017 survey, so we cannot compare this information over time to know if perceptions of affordability have increased or decreased. One solution Mississippi should consider to increase access to affordable pre-K is expanding the early learning collaborative program, which provides no- or low-cost high-quality pre-K options.

Among all of the pre-K questions, we found that Mississippians were most likely to be split on their opinions about affordability based on their demographic group. Black Mississippians were statistically more likely to agree or strongly agree that pre-K was affordable compared to White Mississippians (69.9% v. 52.4%). However, conservative Mississippians were statistically more likely to agree that pre-K was affordable compared to liberal Mississippians (63.6% v. 35.9%). Interestingly, 54.2% of Black liberals agreed or strongly agreed that pre-K was affordable, while only 18.6% of White liberals agreed or strongly agreed. There were no statistically significant differences between respondents of different income levels.

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EARLY LEARNING In the second part of the survey, respondents were asked four additional questions about their support for early learning, their opinions on the importance of early learning, and their opinions on the access and affordability of early learning. Below, we present the statements and responses to each question as well as analysis.

Before ranking statements, respondents were read the following: “I am going to read you another list of statements. In these statements, ‘early learning’ refers to learning in the first three years of a child’s life, from birth through age three. Please tell me how much you agree with each statement. Do you strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, or strongly disagree?”

Statement Five THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI SHOULD FUND EARLY LEARNING FOR CHILDREN 3 YEARS OLD AND YOUNGER .

RESPONDENTS Strongly agree

25.3%

Agree

41.5%

Neither agree nor disagree

9.1%

Disagree

21.5%

Strongly disagree

2.6% Response Rate: 98.7%

ANALYSIS Just under two-thirds of Mississippians (66.8%) agreed or strongly agreed that “The State of Mississippi should fund early learning for children 3 years old and younger.” This may suggest that Mississippians are less comfortable with, or less familiar with, the idea of funding a child’s earliest years. Mississippians may also be likely to view early learning and care as the sole responsibility of the family.

We found varying levels of agreement across demographic groups. Black Mississippians were statistically much more likely to agree or strongly agree that Mississippi should fund early learning compared to White Mississippians (93.4% v. 50.9%). We also found a stark difference between conservative and liberal Mississippians. Liberal Mississippians were statistically much more likely to agree or strongly agree that Mississippi should fund early learning compared to conservative Mississippians (89.1% v. 46.4%). Compared to higher-income Mississippians, lower-income Mississippians were statistically much more likely to support funding early learning (59.2% v. 77.9%). Lower-income Mississippians are far more likely to be recipients of income-based programs, such as Early Head Start and the Child Care Payment Program, which provides childcare vouchers to lower-income families. As a result, lower-income Mississippians may be more likely to have experienced the benefits of funding early learning.

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Statement Six EARLY LEARNING HELPS CHILDREN PREPARE FOR PRE-K-12TH GRADE EDUCATION. RESPONDENTS Strongly agree

38.1%

Agree

54.2%

Neither agree nor disagree

2.4%

Disagree

4.6%

Strongly disagree

0.7% Response Rate: 99.0%

ANALYSIS Nearly all respondents (92.3%) agreed or strongly agreed that “Early learning helps children prepare for pre-K-12th grade education.” Slightly more Mississippians (94.7%) agreed or strongly agreed that pre-K was important for a child’s K-12 education. The difference in respondents’ agreement with these two statements is slight, only 2.4 percentage points, but it is statistically significant, which indicates that Mississippians still see pre-K as slightly more important than early learning.

As with pre-K, we found high levels of agreement that early learning is important for preparing children for their later education across racial, political, and income distinctions, though some differences did exist. Black Mississippians were statistically more likely to agree or strongly agree that early learning prepared children compared to White Mississippians (98.3% v. 88.9%). Liberal Mississippians were more likely to agree or strongly agree that early learning helps prepare children for their later education compared to conservative Mississippians (96.5% v. 89.9%), though this was not statistically significant. There were no statistically significant differences between respondents of different income levels.

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Statement Seven EARLY LEARNING FOR CHILDREN HELPS PARENTS GO TO WORK OR SCHOOL. RESPONDENTS Strongly agree

31.5%

Agree

56.3%

Neither agree nor disagree

4.5%

Disagree

7.0%

Strongly disagree

0.6% Response Rate: 96.9%

ANALYSIS A strong majority (87.8%) of Mississippians agreed or strongly agreed that “Early learning for children helps parents go to work or school.” This may indicate that many Mississippians, or the people they know, are reliant upon early learning to help them work or pursue educational opportunities.

Without early learning options, many families, particularly mothers, will drop out of the workforce, which is one reason the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that mothers with children under age 6 were less likely to participate in the workforce than mothers with older children.1 As with other questions, we found high levels of agreement across racial, political, and income differences that early learning helps parents.

Although both groups showed agreement, Black Mississippians were statistically more likely to agree or strongly agree that early learning helps parents compared to White Mississippians (95.4% v. 83.4%). Liberal Mississippians were also statistically more likely to agree or strongly agree that early learning helps parents compared to conservative Mississippians (96.2% v. 81.4%). There were no statistically significant differences between respondents of different income levels.

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Statement Eight FAMILIES IN MY COMMUNITY HAVE ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE OPTIONS.

RESPONDENTS Strongly agree

7.7%

Agree

41.4%

Neither agree nor disagree

11.5%

Disagree

31.5%

Strongly disagree

7.8% Response Rate: 88.0%

ANALYSIS Only 49.1% of Mississippians agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “Families in my community have access to affordable childcare options.”

Compared to responses about pre-K, Mississippians were statistically less likely to agree or strongly agree that families in their communities had access to affordable childcare (58.9% v. 49.1%). This is in line with numerous studies across the country that suggest that childcare is unaffordable for families,2 partially because families are at their most economically vulnerable when their children are young.3 If Mississippians are not able to afford childcare, it will impact their ability to work or attend school.

We found much more diversity of thought on this statement among Mississippians across race and political ideologies. Black Mississippians appeared to be more likely to agree or strongly agree that they had access to affordable childcare compared to White Mississippians (54.9% v.

45.2%), though this was not statistically significant. Liberal and conservative Mississippians had opposite views on childcare affordability. Over half of liberal Mississippians disagreed or strongly disagreed that they had access to affordable childcare, while a similar share of conservative Mississippians agreed or strongly agreed that they did have access to affordable childcare (51.3% v. 60.7%), a difference that was statistically significant. Compared to Mississippians in all other income groups, those making less than $10,000 a year were statistically more likely to agree or strongly agree that they had access to affordable childcare (74.2% v. 44.7%). Families making less than $10,000 a year likely qualify for childcare vouchers offered through the federal Child Care & Development Block Grant. These vouchers subsidize the cost of care for these families.

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PRE-K AND EARLY LEARNING COMPARISON

Overwhelmingly, Mississippians agree or strongly agree that pre-K and early learning are important for preparing their children for later education (94.7% and 92.3%, respectively), yet when it comes to funding, there is a discrepancy between Mississippians’ thoughts about the importance of these early years and the need for state funding. Despite high levels of support for the importance of pre-K and early learning, more Mississippians supported funding pre-K compared to early learning (91.7% v. 66.8%).

The difference between Mississippians’ support for funding pre-K compared to early learning is particularly interesting when considering their lower levels of agreement with the statement, “Families in my community have access to affordable childcare options.” Mississippians were statistically less likely to agree or strongly agree that they had access to affordable early learning options, such as childcare, when compared to pre-K (49.1% v. 58.9%). The discrepancy between Mississippian’s views on affordability and funding suggests that they may be less comfortable with, or less familiar with the idea of, funding a child’s earliest years. This may be because Mississippians understand pre-K as the “new” kindergarten, which directly aligns with formal education,4 and therefore envision a stronger role for government. In contrast, Mississippians may view early learning and care as solely the responsibility of the family.

Conclusion Our survey results suggest that Mississippians strongly believe in the importance of pre-K and early learning, regardless of their race, political affiliation, or income. Mississippians also overwhelmingly support funding pre-K. This makes a strong case for the state to continue its investment in the early learning collaboratives, especially since only half of Mississippians agree or strongly agree that they have access to affordable pre-K. The story of early learning and care is more complicated. While even fewer Mississippians agree or strongly agree that they have access to affordable early learning options, they are also less likely to agree or strongly agree that the state should fund early learning. This is true even though the overwhelming majority of Mississippians believe in the importance of early learning. This is not completely unexpected. In a historical sense, the understanding of the importance of early education, and the accompanying need to fund the sector, is a relatively new phenomenon.

Head Start was founded in 1965 and the Child Care & Development Block Grant in 1990. As a result, it will take time for Mississippians, and Americans, to begin to view early learning and care with equal importance as pre-K and K-12.

endNotes “Employment Characteristics of Families - 2023.” Bureau of Labor Statistics. April 24, 2024. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf.

1 2

Ewall-Wice, Sarah. “Child care is already unaffordable for many families. Experts worry a spike could be ahead.” CBS News. Last modified January 31, 2023. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/child-care-unaffordable-experts-worry-spike-ahead.

Fraga, Lynette, Dionne Dobbins, and Michelle McCready. Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2015 Report. Arlington, VA: Child Care Aware of America, 2015. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED562501.pdf.

Landivar, Liana, Nikki Graf, and Giorleny Altamirano Rayo. Childcare Prices in Local Areas. Washington, DC: Women’s Bureau, US Department of Labor.

2023. https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WB/NDCP/WB_IssueBrief-NDCP-final.pdf.

3

Childcare is also expensive because of the business model of childcare, which must charge families more than they can afford because of the low child-to- teacher ratios that make it difficult to generate enough funds for businesses to gain and maintain financial solvency.

Jiang, Yang, Mercedes Ekono, and Curtis Skinner. Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Children under 6 Years, 2013. New York City, NY: National Center for Children in Poverty, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 2015. https://www.nccp.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/ text_1097.pdf.

Haider, Areeba. “The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty.” Center for American Progress. Last modified January 21, 2021. https://www.american progress.org/article/basic-facts-children-poverty/.

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Stipek, Deborah.“40 Years After ‘A Nation at Risk’: The Imperative for High-Quality Pre-K.” The 74 Million. Last modified December 19, 2023. https://www. the74million.org/article/40-years-after-a-nation-at-risk-the-imperative-for-high-quality-pre-k/.

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Appendix a Survey Items

GREEN TEXT: READ OUT LOUD BLACK TEXT: NOT READ RED TEXT: PROGRAMMING INSTRUCTIONS INTRODUCTION Hello, my name is ____. I am calling from the Social Science Research Center. We are collecting data for a research project about education for young children in Mississippi. Your participation in this brief survey is entirely voluntary. All your responses will be confidential. You may discontinue the interview at any time and skip any items you prefer not to answer. May I begin?

S01 In which county do you live?

1) Adams

21) Greene

41) Lee

2) Alcorn

22) Grenada

42) Leflore

3) Amite

23) Hancock

43) Lincoln

4) Attala

24) Harrison

44) Lowndes

5) Benton

25) Hinds

45) Madison

6) Bolivar

26) Holmes

46) Marion

7) Calhoun

27) Humphreys

47) Marshall

8) Carroll

28) Issaquena

48) Monroe

9) Chickasaw

29) Itawamba

49) Montgomery

10) Choctaw

30) Jackson

50) Neshoba

11) Claiborne

31) Jasper

51) Newton

12) Clarke

32) Jefferson

52) Noxubee

13) Clay

33) Jefferson Davis

53) Oktibbeha

14) Coahoma

34) Jones

54) Panola

15) Copiah

35) Kemper

55) Pearl River

16) Covington

36) Lafayette

56) Perry

17) DeSoto

37) Lamar

57) Pike

18) Forrest

38) Lauderdale

58) Pontotoc

19) Franklin

39) Lawrence

59) Prentiss

20) George

40) Leake

60) Quitman

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Mississippi First

61) Rankin

69) Tate

77) Wayne

62) Scott

70) Tippah

78) Webster

63) Sharkey

71) Tishomingo

79) Wilkinson

64) Simpson

72) Tunica

80) Winston

65) Smith

73) Union

81) Yalobusha

66) Stone

74) Walthall

82) Yazoo

67) Sunflower

75) Warren

83) Other [END SURVEY]

68) Tallahatchie

76) Washington

84) Refused [END SURVEY]

S02 Are you talking to me on a cellphone or a landline?

1) Cellphone 2) Landline [SKIP TO S4] 3) Refused [END SURVEY] S03 Are you currently in a safe place where you can talk to me?

1) Yes 2) No [SCHEDULE A CALLBACK] 3) Refused [END SURVEY] S04 Are you at least 18 years old?

1) Yes 2) No [END SURVEY] 3) Refused [END SURVEY]

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I am going to read you a list of statements. In these statements, “pre-K” refers to education in the year before a child starts kindergarten. Please tell me how much you agree with each statement. Do you Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree?

Strongly Agree

Neither Agree

Agree nor Disagree

(2)

Disagree

(1)

(4)

Strongly Disagree (5)

(3)

DK

RF

(6)

(7)

Q01 Pre-K is important for preparing children for their K-12th grade education.

Q02 The State of Mississippi should fund pre-K in all school districts throughout the state.

Q03 Families in my community have access to high quality care for 4- or 5-year-olds who have not started kindergarten yet.

Q04 Families in my community have access to affordable pre-K options.

I am going to read you another list of statements. In these statements, “early learning” refers to learning in the first three years of a child’s life, from birth through age three. Please tell me how much you agree with each statement. Do you Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree?

Strongly

Agree

Neither

Agree

(2)

(1)

Strongly

DK

RF

Agree nor (4)

Disagree

(6)

(7)

Disagree

(5)

(3) Q05 The State of Mississippi should fund early learning for children 3 years old and younger.

Q06 Early learning helps children prepare for pre-K-12th grade education.

Q07 Early learning for children helps parents go to work or school.

Q08 Families in my community have access to affordable childcare options.

Disagree

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Q09 Do you have any children under the age of 18 that currently live in your household?

1) Yes 2) No 3) Not sure 4) Refused [SHOW Q10 IF Q09 = 1] Q10 How many children under 18 currently live in your household? _______ Enter: 88 for Not Sure 99 for Refused Q11 How would you describe your political leanings? Would you say conservative, liberal, or independent?

1) Conservative 2) Liberal 3) Independent 4) Other 5) Not sure 6) Refused [SHOW Q12 IF Q11 = 3] Q12 As an independent, do you lean more toward the Conservatives or Liberals?

1) Conservative 2) Liberal 3) Neither 4) Not sure 5) Refused

Mississippi First

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Q13 What party do you think you might vote for in the next election?

1) Republican 2) Democrat 3) Libertarian 4) Independent 5) Other 6) Not sure 7) Refused Lastly, we have a few background questions. Please remember that all your information is kept confidential.

D01 In what year were you born? _________ Enter: 8888 for Not Sure 9999 for Refused D02 Are you Hispanic or of Latin origin?

1) Yes 2) No 3) Not sure 4) Refused D03 What is your race?

1) White 2) Black/African American 3) American Indian or Alaskan Native 4) Asian 5) Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 6) Multi-racial 7) Other (please specify): ___________________ 8) Not sure 9) Refused

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D04 What was the last grade or year of school that you completed?

1) Less than high school 2) Completed high school or GED equivalent 3) Some college or vocational program 4) Completed Associate degree (2-year program) 5) Completed Bachelor’s degree (4-year-program) 6) Completed Master’s degree 7) Beyond Master’s degree 8) Not sure 9) Refused D05 Including yourself, how many adults 18 or older currently live in your household? _______ Enter: 88 for Not Sure 99 for Refused [SHOW D06 IF S02=1] D06 Do you have a landline telephone in your home?

1) Yes 2) No 3) Don’t know 4) Refused [SHOW D07 IF S02=2] D07 Do you have a cellphone?

1) Yes 2) No 3) Don’t know 4) Refused

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D08 I am going to read you a list of categories. Please stop me when I reach the category that best describes your annual household income from all sources before taxes.

1) Less than $10,000 2) $10,000 to under $15,000 3) $15,000 to under $20,000 4) $20,000 to under $25,000 5) $25,000 to under $35,000 6) $35,000 to under $50,000 7) $50,000 to under $75,000 8) $75,000 to under $100,000 9) $100,000 to under $150,000 10) $150,000 to under $200,000 11) $200,000 or more 12) Not Sure 13) Refused D09 What is your gender?

1) Man 2) Woman 3) Non-binary 4) Transgender 5) Other (please specify): ___________________ 6) Not sure 7) Refused

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