Express-Times Letter to Editor: Delayed State Budget Hurting Pre-k Programs
Back-to-school season is always exciting for a pre-K educator like me. I get to meet a new group of young learners who I know will benefit from the lifelong opportunity high-quality pre-K provides.
This year, however, my excitement is tinged with sadness because I know some 3- and 4-year-olds will be missing out on pre-K because of the lack of state funding and the absence of a state budget. As the governor and lawmakers continue to negotiate a budget that was due on July 1, young children are missing out on a pre-K opportunity they can never repeat.
In other words, an avoidable delay caused by grownups is having a lasting negative impact on our kids. Right now, only about one in six of Pennsylvania’s 3- and 4-year-olds has access to high-quality pre-K, despite its proven benefits in preparing kids for success in kindergarten.
Even if Gov. Wolf gets the $120 million he wants, access would increase to just one in four kids. It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s going to take several years of similar increases to make high-quality pre-K available to every family that wants it for their child.
It’s time for Wolf and lawmakers to enact a state budget that significantly increases pre-K access. I’ve seen the difference high-quality pre-K can have on a child’s learning and life, and I don’t want to see any more kids miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity.
Paula Espinal
Allentown
Read the letter to the editor here.
I can not believe that the governor and lawmakers are allowing this to happen to our children. Wasn’t it governor wolfe during his campaign saying how important high quality early education is to a child and he was going to make sure that if he was in office it would be his top priority??? What happened ? Pass the budget for our children. Take away from the needless waste of monies and give to our children, they are our future!