Building Great Futures tells Senate Education Committee access rose but homelessness and inequities also increased
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Summary
Building Great Futures told the Senate Education Committee that Vermont has sharply expanded child-care subsidy enrollment and pre-K access but is seeing a 273% rise in homelessness among children under 9; the group urged maintaining access for 3-year-olds and careful funding decisions as education transformation proceeds.
Dr. Morgan Crossman, executive director of Building Great Futures, told the Vermont Senate Education Committee that the state has made sizable gains in early-childhood access but faces worsening housing instability and persistent inequities that could undermine school readiness.
"We have a 58% increase in the total number of children who are enrolled in child care financial assist," Crossman said during the committee briefing, and she reported an 82% increase in infant and toddler enrollment. She said Act 76 has expanded eligibility and that nearly 12,000 children and almost 10,000 families are now eligible for child-care cost coverage (CCI). Crossman added that the state has provided about $12.7 million in capacity and infrastructure payments to more than 800 programs and that a preschool development grant will bring an additional $12.7 million into Vermont.
The presentation balanced those programmatic gains with troubling trends in family stability. "We are seeing a 273% increase in the rate of homeless children under the age of 9," Crossman told the committee, citing McKinney-Vento data showing 626 more students under age 9 eligible for homeless-support services since 2018. She said those children face barriers to showing up ready to learn and that the council will work with agencies to investigate contributing factors.
Committee members pressed on possible causes. One member asked whether the rise was tied to the state's hotel-motel program; Crossman responded that multiple factors — including disaster-related housing scarcity — can drive spikes and that she would consult agency teams rather than attribute the increase to a single program.
Crossman described outcomes for children in early-care settings as a bright spot: Vermont ranks second nationally for access among 3- and 4-year-olds in its universal pre-K program, she said, reporting enrollment rates of about 61% for 3-year-olds and 78% for 4-year-olds. She cited assessment metrics — including TS Gold literacy measures and kindergarten-readiness data she summarized as strong in the 0–5 space — while noting third-grade academic proficiency remains low and inequities persist across subpopulations and regions.
On policy, Crossman recommended prioritizing maintenance of access for 3-year-olds while pursuing expansion for 4-year-olds within a mixed-delivery model that values both school-based and community-based providers. "If you're going to prioritize anything in the early childhood education space, 1, maintain access to pre-K for 3 year olds while you are thinking about expansion for 4 year olds and to do that within a mixed delivery model," she said. She also urged the committee to await detailed cost modeling before altering how pre-K is reflected in the foundation formula; Emily Byrne of the Joint Fiscal Office is scheduled to present related fiscal analysis to committees next week, Crossman said.
Crossman emphasized data transparency and tools for legislators: the council consolidated previously published reports into a public data portal that allows district- and county-level views and said the committee received an Act 76 monitoring report detailing implementation metrics. She offered to return with deeper regional analysis, particularly on rural disparities and the role of local programs.
The committee did not take formal action at the briefing. Crossman concluded by offering to provide demonstrations of the data portal and to come back with more granular analyses and updates on the preschool development grant and Act 76 monitoring.
