Shift in Subsidized Day-Care System in Pa. Poses Challenges

By Deborah L. Cohen

Before Pennsylvania instituted a new system for allocating subsidized day-care slots a few years ago, the Lighthouse Family School in Philadelphia had been serving some 150 children, mostly from low-income Latino families.

Under the new system, though, enrollment at the Lighthouse dropped to 54, and five of its eight classrooms remained empty.

Yet, at the same time, there was a lengthy waiting list for day care throughout the city, and ample numbers of the parents on the list were requesting that their children be enrolled at the...