It helps kids, fights crime, and strengthens the military, so let’s have more of it: Editorial
by the PennLive/ Patriot-News editorial board, September 21, 2014
“Nearly everybody in this country thinks government should do what it can to reduce crime.
“Nearly everybody thinks our country should have a strong military whose ranks are well-trained and professional.
“And absolutely everybody believes all children should be able to get a good education.
“If government could do one thing that would help advance all three of those goals, it should be a no-brainer.
“And that explains why there is such widespread support for making more children have access to a high-quality pre-kindergarten education — especially disadvantaged children.”
Read the full editorial at:
http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2014/09/pennsylvania_should_embrace_un.html
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by Joseph Sabino Mistick, TribLive.com
“In Pennsylvania, high-quality pre-K exists but there is simply not enough of it. Families of means can afford to send their 3- and 4-year-olds to private programs. And many of our poorest families have access to publicly funded pre-K.
“Still, nearly 250,000 children across the commonwealth — most from the middle plus those kids still unserved at the bottom — will start school behind the others because they have no access to pre-K. Not just another program that we simply cannot afford, universal pre-K is something that we cannot afford to ignore.”
Read more: http://triblive.com/opinion/josephmistick/6892769-74/pre-early-education#ixzz3FQNo3rfj
72% of young Pennsylvanians are ineligible for military service. Mission:Readiness and Pre-K for PA released a new report, highlighting retired PA generals who call for better access to high-quality pre-k and tout the military’s universal access early learning system as a model.
Contact: Steve Doster
Cell: 717-343-6403, steve@missionreadiness.org
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Pentagon Data: 72% of Young Pennsylvanians Ineligible for Military Service
Retired PA generals release report calling for better access to high-quality pre-K; tout military’s universal access early learning system as model for state;
and launch northeast regional Pre-K for PA Campaign with local supporters.
WILKES-BARRE, PA (September 30, 2014)—Three retired Pennsylvania generals visited King’s College Early Learning Center today to release a new report calling for better access to high-quality pre- kindergarten for the sake of future national security. The new report documented how high-quality pre- kindergarten can help children succeed in school, stay physically fit, and avoid criminal involvement, opening the doors to college, careers and the military for those who choose to serve.
The retired generals – Dennis L. Benchoff, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army (Ret.), Daniel J. O’Neill, Major General, U.S. Army (Ret.) and Joseph F. Perugino, Major General, U.S. Army (Retired) — were joined by local business, civic and education leaders.
General O’Neill, a former Wayne County school superintendent, cited new Pentagon data that 72 percent of young Pennsylvanians are unable to serve in the military for three primary reasons: they are too poorly educated, they are physically unfit, or they have a criminal record. He emphasized research included in the report that quality pre-kindergarten experiences enable children to build the pre-math, pre-literacy and social skills that are vital to academic success when they begin school, making it less likely they will fall behind or eventually drop out.
“This high level of ineligibility among our youth is unacceptable as our current military involves complex technology and systems unimagined in past generations,” said General Perugino. “We need young men and women who can think critically, work well in teams, and make decisions under pressure. Increasing access to high-quality pre-K programs will result in more kids being prepared for college, the workforce and the military down the road.”
According to data cited in the report, more than 200,000 three- and four-year-olds lack access to high- quality pre-kindergarten in Pennsylvania, and more than 12,000 three- and four-year-olds lack access in northeast PA counties alone.
General Benchoff noted that the Department of Defense understands the importance of early education and has prioritized the development of exemplary pre-kindergarten programs – like those found at Tobyhanna Army Depot over the past 30 years. “High-quality pre-K programs are a centerpiece of the military’s Child Development System that is available to all active-duty military families,” said General Benchoff. “This system is recognized by experts as a model for the nation in terms of access and quality.
Pennsylvania’s policymakers should take the military’s lead and ensure access to high-quality pre-K for all of our children.”
Other major findings from the Mission: Readiness report entitled, The Military Gets It: High-quality pre- kindergarten is crucial for youth readiness and a centerpiece of the military’s child development system, include:
- One in five students nationwide and 16 percent in Pennsylvania do not graduate from high school on time.
- Of those who do graduate and try to join the military, more than 1 in 5 nationwide and 22 percent in Pennsylvania cannot score highly enough on the military’s entrance exam to be able to serve.The report highlights studies of high-quality early education programs that show impressive education and crime prevention outcomes:
The Military Gets It
To: Pre-K For PA
From: Lake Research Partners, Bellwether Research & Consulting
Re: Poll Findings from late August survey
Date: September 19, 2014
Likely 2014 voters strongly support access to pre-K programs for every 3 and 4 year old in Pennsylvania. A 68 percent majority favor every 3 and 4 year old in Pennsylvania having access to voluntary, high quality pre-K programs, including 55 percent who strongly favor compared to 13 percent who oppose and 19 percent who are unsure.
Support for providing access to pre-K programs for every 3 and 4 year old exists across party lines as 81 percent of self-identified Democrats, 74 percent of self-identified independents, and 51 percent of self-identified Republicans favor increasing funding.
Strong support exists for increasing funding to ensure all Pennsylvania children have access to voluntary, high quality pre-K programs. Sixty-four (64) percent of voters favor increasing funding, including 48 percent who strongly favor, while 21 percent oppose and 15 percent are unsure.
Education remains a core value for Pennsylvania voters. Voters identify increasing jobs and the economy as a top priority for elected officials to address (78 percent say it is a top priority), followed by improving K-12 education (60 percent say it is a top priority). When considered separately from K-12 education, forty-two (42) percent say improving pre-K is a top priority.
Seniors strongly support pre-K education. Sixty (60) percent of voters over 65 favor ensuring every 3 and 4 year old in Pennsylvania has access to voluntary, high quality pre-K programs, including 51 percent who strongly favor. A 55 percent majority favor increasing state funding, including 38 who strongly favor, while just 26 percent oppose.
Voters are more likely to say Pennsylvania spends too little on pre-K education programs. A 40 percent plurality of voters says Pennsylvania spends too little, compared to just 9 percent who say Pennsylvania spends too much. Twenty-seven (27) percent say Pennsylvania spends about the right amount, and 24 percent are not sure.
Nearly half of voters favor increasing state funding even if it increases their taxes. 48 percent of voters favor increasing funding even if it increases their taxes, while 39 percent oppose and 14 percent are not sure.
Voters who are undecided on the race for Governor strongly support pre-K programs. Pre-K education is a higher priority for undecided voters (46 percent say top priority) than for voters overall (42 percent say top priority). Among those who are undecided:
- 59 percent favor ensuring access to pre-K programs for all 3 and 4 year olds.
- 55 percent favor increasing funding for pre-K programs for all 3 and 4 year olds.
- A 44 percent plurality favor increasing funding even if it would increase their taxes.
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Lake Research Partners and Bellwether Research and Consulting designed and administered this survey that was conducted by telephone using professional interviewers between August 13 – 17, 2014. The survey reached a total of 400 Pennsylvania 2014 General Election Registered Likely Voters with oversamples of 100 Registered Likely Voters ages 50-64, 100 Registered Likely Voters over age 65, and 132 Registered Likely Voters in Pittsburgh, Northeast, Northwest, and the Philadelphia suburbs. Telephone numbers for the survey were drawn using a voter file sample. The data was weighted slightly by gender, education, race, party registration, and region to reflect the attributes of the actual population. The oversamples were weighted into the base. The margin of error for the total sample is +/-3.7%.
Download this memo as a PDF.
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