The numbers are in. Our recently published 2014 Early Care and Education Progress Report data tables show that Connecticut’s overall spending on early care and education went down in Fiscal Year 14 by 1.8% from the previous year.

The numbers are in. Our recently published 2014 Early Care and Education Progress Report data tables show that Connecticut’s overall spending on early care and education went down in Fiscal Year 14 by 1.8% from the previous year.

This decrease in spending on early childhood came at the same time as Governor Malloy's commitment to invest in the earliest years. So what happened?

Amount Spent on Early Care and Education (Total) (in millions, adjusted to 2014 dollars)¹

First, it is important to understand that we are comparing inflation-adjusted spending.  In pre-adjusted dollars, it appears that Connecticut spent more on early childhood in FY 14 ($227.8 million) than in FY 13 ($226.94). However, to measure real change in spending, only inflation-adjusted numbers tell the full story.

Second, there was a slight but real decline in spending on Care4Kids, Connecticut's child care subsidy program, from $98.9 million in FY 13 to $96.5 million in FY 14.

Looking ahead, though, to the next three years, we see Connecticut’s commitment to early childhood truly reflected in its budget. The FY 15 appropriation²  for early childhood (accounting for rescissions, and adjusting to FY 14 dollars) was $274.0 million.  This was an increase of $46.2 million from the previous year, and over $10 million more than our previous high point of spending in FY 02. These additional dollars went towards expanding School Readiness, increasing reimbursement rates for Care4Kids (for the first time in 13 years), and ensuring Care4Kids could serve all eligible families. The total also includes the dollars from the Federal Preschool Development Grant Connecticut, awarded in December 2014, which is also funding preschool expansion. 

The Governor’s budget proposal for FY 16 and FY 17 shows a continued strong commitment to early care and education (ECE). His proposal would increase spending in FY 16 by 4.0% and by 6.3% in FY 17³,  mainly due to the implementation of Smart Start, another preschool expansion plan which was passed in 2014. The