I’ve have been an educator for more than 40 years, teaching, coaching, even driving a school bus. In my experience, there is nothing more effective in helping kids get ready to learn than a high-quality early childhood education. And that’s even more true for kids with special needs.

Our state faces a dire predicament. Preschools that serve kids with disabilities, including autism, are at risk of closing because Maine hasn’t provided appropriate funding.

At least 600 kids – and hundreds, if not thousands more on wait lists – could lose access to the educational and health care services that they need to get ready for school.

As the co-chair of the Joint Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs, I heard the voices of parents and educators as they testified before the committee about the impact early intervention has had for their families.

Children once withdrawn and disconnected have made significant breakthroughs that have allowed them to return to their community schools. Families, lost and afraid, have found the help they need to understand how best to help their children. And school districts see firsthand the results as kids come to school more prepared.

The National Institutes of Health has done the homework: “Research shows that early diagnosis of and interventions for autism are more likely to have major long-term positive effects on symptoms and later skills. … With early intervention, some children with autism make so much progress that they are no longer on the autism spectrum when they are older.”

Early intervention helps children learn the basic skills they will need for the rest of their lives, including physical skills, thinking skills, communication skills, social skills and emotional skills. Unfortunately, a problem with the way Maine reimburses special purpose community schools that serve these children doesn’t appropriately pay for the critical – and life-changing – educational services that they provide. For years, these schools have scraped by, motivated by the commitment they have to the children and families they serve.

It can’t continue.

That’s why I strongly support L.D. 1309, An Act to Clarify Requirements for Payment of Tuition for Children with Disabilities by the Department of Education’s Child Development Services System.

I know that’s a whole lot of words. Simply put, this bipartisan legislation would pay special purpose preschools for the federally required educational services they are already providing.

Our committee is working with the governor’s office, the Appropriations Committee and the Maine Department of Education to find a solution that will fix this problem. And I am hopeful that that good faith, hard work will translate into action that ensures that children receive the care, support and education they deserve.

We have an obligation to children with special needs. We cannot allow them to slip through the cracks or deny them an opportunity to grow and development into the best versions of themselves.

The Education Committee has this year talked through a host of different, pressing issues, debating what’s best for students, for teachers, for parents and for schools. On this question, there has been no debate among members. In fact, the bill passed with unanimous, bipartisan support from our committee.

Early intervention works. Children with special needs should have access to needed educational services. The law requires they have that access. And we must ensure that we create an environment where that supports the schools who help these children.

To not appropriately fund these programs would be a monumental failure.

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