Rep. Sonney discusses the importance of investing in early education
May 06, 2021
A panel came together with a local Representative Thursday to discuss the importance of investing in early education.
Representative Curt Sonney met with multiple members of the Erie Community virtually Thursday, including Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri and Michelle Harkins the Executive Director of Early Connections.
All saying it is vital to invest in children early to give them a better future.
Read the full article here.
ERIE, PA (May 6, 2021) – Pre-K Counts provider Early Connections welcomed PA State Representative Curt Sonney and local leaders today for a virtual tour and conversation on the challenges of providing pre-k during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local leaders spoke to Rep. Sonney about the continued need to serve the almost 2,500 eligible children across Erie County who still lack access to this once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity.
“Investing in education has always been a top priority,” Rep. Sonney said. “It is really, more than anything, just helping these young children with the social and emotional aspects of being in school and learning how to be accepting of others and learning how to listen to the teacher and there’s no doubt that’s critical.”
Michelle Harkens, Executive Director of Early Connections, offered a glimpse into life at an early learning center during COVID – describing both visually and verbally how providers have been supporting our children, families, and businesses during this unique year. Joining her in the discussion were Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri, Nick Scott, Jr., Vice-President of Scott Enterprises and a Commissioner on Pennsylvania’s Early Learning Investment Commission, Kim Early, Director of Advocacy and Public Policy for Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children (PennAEYC), Bruce Clash, State Director of Fight Crime: Invest In Kids, and Tracy Weaver, Outreach Coordinator, PennAEYC.
“We have our rock stars, our staff, and so many of our childcare staff throughout our community that are dedicated to serving the children and their families,” Harkens said. “There has been funding, but that really isn’t sustainable when we look at the cost of what is needed now because of the pandemic to keep our staff and our children safe.”
Speakers made it clear that despite the challenges associated with COVID, pre-k is working and is supported by the Erie community. Both Nick Scott, Jr. and District Attorney Jack Daneri participated in the tour and discussion. From two very different perspectives, they both agreed that high quality pre-k promotes not just the hard skills like math, reading, writing and science—but the increasingly important soft skills—communication, collaboration, and critical thinking.
“I think all success starts with a good foundation, and obviously, the start of these kids’ lives is so important,” Scott, Jr. said. “Generally, people who can make great decisions, and have a great future help our company, but they need a good start, so I think early education is a key to the future of our business.”
Enthusiasm for early education was echoed by Mr. Daneri. “I think we all realize the importance of investing in the youth,” District Attorney Daneri said. “I don’t think anything could be more important than that latching on to and investing in their future, as soon as possible. If that means increase in funding, then absolutely that is money well spent.”
A new study by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill confirmed that the Commonwealth’s investment in pre-k is paying dividends for the children fortunate enough to access pre-k through Pennsylvania’s Pre-K Counts program. In language and math skills, the study showed that these kids outperformed their kindergarten peers who did not enjoy access – an advantage that equated to four to five months of learning gains, which is a substantial difference in development at that age.
Governor Wolf’s proposed 2021-22 PA budget includes a $25 million increase for Pre-K Counts and $5 million increase for the Head Start State Supplemental Assistance Program, which continues the tradition of expanding access to high quality pre-k. This new funding will allow 3,271 additional children to enroll in these high-quality early learning programs.
Pre-K for PA is an issue campaign supported by individuals and organizations across Pennsylvania who believe that investing in our children is the right choice and an urgent necessity. Our vision is that every 3- and 4-year-old in Pennsylvania will have access to high-quality pre-k. For more information www.prekforpa.org.
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First Lady Frances Wolf Celebrates Early Childhood Education During Virtual Visit with Pre-K Classrooms
HARRISBURG (March 31, 2021) – Today, First Lady Frances Wolf joined the Pre-K for PA campaign in praising the perseverance of educators and students during a virtual visit with pre-k providers across the commonwealth.
Mrs. Wolf spoke with pre-k teachers, administrators, and advocates about the benefits of high- quality early-learning programs, how teachers adapted their teaching during the pandemic, how the families of pre-k students are managing, and what education advocates hope to see following the pandemic.
“Early childhood educators have worked tirelessly to support our youngest learners amidst the very challenging circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Tom and I express our deepest gratitude for their dedication to the well-being of our children, their families, and Pennsylvania as a whole,” said First Lady Wolf. “For this, we owe it to them to ensure they have the resources they need to help mold our children into the leaders of tomorrow.”
“We’re so pleased to be able to keep this tradition alive during the pandemic,” said Jen DeBell, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children, a Pre- K for PA principal partner. “Our celebration may look very different this year, but everything looks different, including our pre-k classrooms. These programs have gone to great expense and great lengths to keep the children safe.”
Understanding that children who participate in high-quality pre-k programs perform better in school, are more likely to graduate, and earn more throughout their lives compared to peers without access to early learning programs, the governor’s 2021-22 budget proposes a $25 million increase in Pre-K Counts funding and $5 million increase in funding for the Head Start Supplemental Program. This new funding will allow 3,271 additional children to enroll in the state’s high-quality early learning programs.
Each spring, Governor and First Lady Wolf, in partnership with Pre-K for PA, invite classrooms to the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence to participate in an Easter egg hunt and celebrate the importance of high-quality, accessible early learning programs.
This year, to ensure the safety of all participants and include more preschoolers, Pre-K for PA sent the egg hunt to classrooms across the state and encouraged teachers to share photos and videos on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with the hashtag #iamprek. The hunt culminated in a virtual classroom visit with the
First Lady, giving her an opportunity to see and hear first-hand about the pandemic experiences of preschool teachers, students, administrators, and advocates. The full virtual visit can be found at https://pacast.com/m?p=18632.
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First Lady Frances Wolf Celebrates Early Childhood Education During Virtual Visit with Pre-K Classrooms
First Lady Frances Wolf joined the Pre-K for PA campaign in praising the perseverance of educators and students during a virtual visit with pre-k classrooms across the commonwealth.
Mrs. Wolf spoke with pre-k teachers, administrators, and advocates about the benefits of high-quality early-learning programs, how teachers adapted their teaching during the pandemic, how the families of pre-k students are managing, and what education advocates hope to see following the pandemic.
“Early childhood educators have worked tirelessly to support our youngest learners amidst the very challenging circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Tom and I express our deepest gratitude for their dedication to the well-being of our children, their families, and Pennsylvania as a whole,” said First Lady Wolf. “For this, we owe it to them to ensure they have the resources they need to help mold our children into the leaders of tomorrow.”
From the beginning, the Wolf Administration has prioritized increasing Pennsylvania’s educational opportunities. In the past six years, Governor Wolf has secured an additional $1.4 billion in funding for pre-k through college.
Read the full article here.
Pa.’s free pre-K program provides a meaningful math and language boost, says new study
By: Miles Bryan | December 18, 2020
A new evaluation of Pennsylvania’s state-funded pre-K program finds it consistently gives kids a meaningful boost in some core skills — but has seemingly no effect on others.
Launched in 2007, the state-backed Pre-K Counts initiative provides free pre-Kindergarten instruction to Pennsylvania’s low-income families.
To evaluate the program, researchers with the University of North Carolina tracked the progress of nearly 600 kindergarteners from across the state during the 2018-19 school year. About two-thirds of those kids had spent at least a year in a Pre-K Counts program, while the rest had received no formal early childhood education.
A key finding is that the kids who had been in pre-K had a serious head start on vocabulary and math skills.
Read the full article here.
