December 31, 2024, marks the end of my tenure as a Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation Trustee. It has been an honor to serve these past 12 years and to work with family trustees so committed to the Foundation’s mission and dedicated to supporting quality, equity, access and opportunity for all of Hawaii’s children and families, with a clear goal of improving the quality of their lives. A summary of grants during the 2024 year once again highlights the Foundation’s values and priorities toward achieving those outcomes across our State.
Access to quality experiences for children guided many of the trustee grant decisions. Whether supporting small capital requests or addressing health, safety and/or programmatic needs, preschools were supported to meet accreditation standards that demand quality. Similarly, funding to enhance teacher and staff qualifications was offered in support of credentialing and degree achievement. The Foundation continued underwriting scholarships at both the University of Hawaii and Chaminade University for early childhood undergraduate and graduate students. Additional licensing and credentialing grants were awarded this year to bolster educational assistant workforce capacity building, much needed in both the private and public preschool sectors.
Attracting and recruiting faculty for our preschools remains a critical need which tuition scholarships help to support as noted, but they are only part of the answer. Once again partnering with UH, the Foundation granted funding to the ECE3 project, directed by new Trustee Dr. Terry Lock, for the creation of a second Task Force cohort seeking to address vital issues around compensation, benefits and work conditions that affect the early childhood workforce. In addition, it has also funded a planning grant at Chaminade University to develop a teacher education program for two-year-olds, recognizing that early education training is critical for all providers who service young children in the birth to age 8 continuum if quality is to be assured, especially if we are to satisfy the unmet needs in the infant/toddler sector.
For those already in the field, the Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation supported professional development opportunities in 2024 that enhance both the knowledge and delivery of quality early learning through its workshops in Social Emotional Learning at Chaminade University and STEM at Hanahau`oli’s Professional Development Center. Funding for the HAIS Schools of the Future Conference offered an early learning strand for teachers that featured a “playground” with presenters addressing AI as well as place-based learning and developmentally appropriate practices. Recognizing the need to also support professional opportunities for our preschool directors, the second early childhood director’s dinner was sponsored by the Foundation featuring Dr. Marica Cox Mitchell from the Bainum Foundation in Washington, DC and Dr. Terry Lock of the UH College of Education focusing on the unique features of the private, independent school sector for Hawaii’s families and providing a forum to bring directors together to share their collective voices.
Opportunities for equitable access continue to motivate the Foundation’s support of advocacy – both locally and nationally – on behalf of family well-being and quality early learning experiences for children. These efforts are manifested in both actual funding and the engagement of the Executive Director, Alfred Castle, in our community and nationally through his service as a member of the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative. His counsel and guidance are sought by providers, parents and practitioners as well as policy makers. Tuition assistance for families continues to remain a priority, and this year a re-allocation of funds was made to focus on supporting Maui Catholic preschool needs.
2024 was the final year of a pilot program focusing on Infant and Toddler support, emphasizing the Foundation’s commitment to the development of the “whole child.” This holistic approach has become a focus in recent years, noting the Foundation’s appreciation of the complexity of child development and the many factors that impact a child’s success in school. Family support continues to be necessary if children are to be able to realize the benefits education offers. To that end, we have this year supported Catholic Charities efforts to address family emergency needs, the Food Bank’s food insecurity programs and the Hawaii Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund plans. And as part of this holistic approach, the Foundation recognizes the abiding importance of the arts in child development with grantees including Hawaii Theater for Youth, Maui Arts & Cultural Center and plans to partner with the Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education in the upcoming year.
As I take my leave from the Foundation Board of Trustees and look to the future, the optimism that has accompanied the growing success of expanded opportunities for quality preschool experiences and the increasing sense of urgency in our community about the importance of investing in children and families is tempered by the realities of our changing landscape and needs that can’t be overlooked.
The expansion of public pre-K opportunities for 3- and 4 year- olds, mandated by Acts 46 & 210 and the Lt. Governor’s “Ready Keiki” initiative, offer hope for increased access and equity of opportunity. Yet, we must remain mindful that we not sacrifice either quality or choice in implementing those plans. The private sector options need to be considered and sustained to meet the needs of families in our communities and also to offer services the public sector cannot provide, such as early and afterschool care and value options that support cultural preferences. Increased POD funding and revised qualifications have expanded financial support for families; but, the existence of the funds alone does not necessarily address the private sector needs nor does it guarantee support for a gap group of needy, young families who do not qualify. The POD impact needs to be monitored to determine its effectiveness in supporting the private options. In the end continued public and private partnerships, including engagement of the business community, are needed to explore and support ways to ensure that choice and diversity of opportunity are preserved. Bottom-line is it may take creative thinking and piloted efforts to address a current financial model that challenges parent capacity to afford private preschool and the financial burden assumed by staff members who care for and educate our children.
Expansion is also testing workforce capacity to staff new classrooms with qualified teachers and to develop a sufficient pipeline to continue the growth anticipated. Directly related to this capacity is the challenge, especially felt in the private sector, to be able to recruit and retain qualified teachers and educational assistants who can afford to enter the profession and remain in it. This requires recognizing that early childhood providers are more than caretakers, although that is an important part of their responsibility, but professionals who need to be recognized, valued and rewarded for the knowledge and skills they bring to their early childhood classrooms.
With the leadership change at the Federal level, we have no clear path nor plans related to early childhood, although there are hints of some potential promising tax credits. What we do know is that Project 2025 includes elimination of the Department of Education as well as Head Start, a critical early childhood program that reaches some of our most at-risk children especially in rural communities. While the incoming President has distanced himself from Project 2025, there is much conversation about reducing federal funding and cutting personnel. What this means for early childhood needs to be monitored in light of the impact federal funding has had in recent years and strong advocacy needs to be at the ready.
Finally, we have been supportive of Kindergarten Entry Assessment data collection, but wish to alert the community to consider carefully what the data demonstrates, especially distinguishing between causation and correlation as we evaluate the effectiveness of early education. KEA data results publicized from the past two years has focused on deficiencies and lack of K readiness. While important information to help guide teachers to meet the needs of children, this focus has the danger of leading to conclusions about the ineffectiveness of preschool experience (and, preschools themselves) without considering the myriad of factors that affect student readiness and learning (trauma, food insecurity, poverty, dysfunctional families, families in survival mode). It’s important that we collect and use data effectively to make schools ready for children and utilized to inform policy to address the barriers/challenges to being school ready within a holistic framework, all designed to promote school success through quality early learning experiences that meet children where they are. Part of realizing this goal is also recognizing that the years from birth to age 8 are a continuum of early learning experiences, requiring developmental approaches that align with early childhood practices.
My deepest appreciation to Al Castle for his leadership and direction of the Foundation and guidance of the trustees, keeping us focused on what is most important. I also wish to recognize the strong partnerships he has created throughout the community with the Kamehameha Schools, Hawaii Community Foundation, University of Hawaii and Chaminade University, Keiki Funders as well as national family foundations and philanthropic organizations. These relationships have helped to move the early childhood agenda forward and I am humbled to have been a small part of that endeavor. I look forward to continuing to support the work of the Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation which is so critical to the well-being of all in our State. Aloha.
Robert G. Peters, EdD
December, 18, 2024