See a summary of opinion research conducted on behalf of Pre-K for PA, which shows Pennsylvanians strongly support increasing funding to ensure all children have access to voluntary, high-quality pre-k programs.
To: Pre-K for PA
From: Lake Research Partners, Bellwether Research & Consulting
Re: Poll Findings
Date: January 21, 2014
Education is a core issue for Pennsylvania voters. Forty-one (41) percent of voters identify education and schools as one of the most important issues for elected officials to focus on, second only to jobs and the economy (49 percent).
Pennsylvanians strongly support increasing funding to ensure all children have access to voluntary, high quality Pre-K programs. A 63 percent majority of voters support increasing funding, including 51 percent who strongly support, while 23 percent oppose and 14 percent say they are not sure.
Support remains strong even if such funding increased voters’ taxes. A 58 percent majority say they favor increasing funding for Pre-K programs even if it increased their taxes, while 27 percent oppose and 15 percent are not sure.
Across party lines, voters support expanding access to high-quality pre-K programs. Two-thirds of voters (67 percent) support expanding access including majorities of Democrats (83 percent), Republicans (56 percent), and independents (61 percent).
Voters say they are more likely to vote for candidates for elected office if they favored increasing funding for pre-K programs, and less likely to vote for those who opposed increasing funding. Forty-three (43) percent of voters say they are more likely to vote for a candidate who favored increasing funding for pre-K programs, while just 20 percent say they are less likely. Thirty-seven (37) percent say they are less likely to vote for a candidate who opposed increasing funding for pre-K programs, and just 20 percent say they are more likely.
Support for increasing funding for pre-K programs rests in two strongly held values. First, voters say it is very important to ensure that all children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn. They understand the connection between pre-K programs and being prepared for the K-12 system. Secondly, voters recognize the positive outcomes that pre-K programs generate in the form of higher graduation rates, increased employment rates and higher earnings later in adulthood.
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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 November 18 – 21, 2013. The survey reached a total of 601 likely voters in the state of Pennsylvania. Telephone numbers for the survey were drawn using a voter file sample. The data were weighted slightly by age and party registration to reflect the attributes of the actual population. The margin of error for the total sample is +/-4.0%.
By Adrienne Lu, Staff Writer
Preschool students play at Seattle’s Refugee and Immigrant Family Center. Seattle is among a number of cities and states across the country working on expanding publicly funded preschool. (AP)
From Seattle to New York, elected officials are calling for more children to attend publicly funded preschool.
President Barack Obama, lawmakers and local officials from both sides of the aisle agree on the benefits of prekindergarten — the catch is how to pay for it. That is especially true of the “high-quality” programs critical to achieving the long-term benefits touted by advocates, such as lower school dropout rates, reduced costs to the criminal justice system and higher wages.
Although definitions of “high quality” differ, such programs typically feature well-qualified teachers, developmentally appropriate instruction and positive relationships between teachers and children.
Some critics argue the benefits of preschool are overstated or fade over time, or that the programs are too expensive to justify the expense. But many lawmakers find the research showing that investing in early childhood education can yield large dividends compelling.
– See more at: http://www-origin.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/elected-officials-embrace-preschool-but-funding-is-the-catch-85899541374#sthash.m4jwFj2M.dpuf
BY CAROL PHILLIPS and SUSAN ECKERT Special to the Sunday News
There is no better investment opportunity than early childhood learning. While Lancaster County has a strong public school system, too many of our youngest children aren’t prepared for success in school, and consequently won’t be prepared for success in life. The problem is most troubling for young children in low-income families, where a slow start often translates into poor academic performance and lack of motivation throughout their entire school experience.
Consider the facts. Did you know?
• Nearly two-thirds of American children living in poverty have no books in their homes.
• A child from a high-income family will experience 30 million more words within the first four years of life than a child from a low-income family.
• Children who do not read at their grade-level by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school.
These facts are really important to know because a child’s brain is 90 percent developed before age 5.
So often, Lancaster County’s fiscal health and prosperity have masked the bleak situation that a number of our young children experience during their first five years of life. Currently, there are some 35,500 children from birth to age five living among us. Sixty-two percent of them live in economically at-risk families. Thirty percent are born to mothers with less than a high school education; 5.7% percent are born to single mothers under the age of 20. These facts point to the reality that 26% of our children currently are entering kindergarten assessed as being unprepared to succeed in school.
Fortunately, a team of community leaders in its second annual review of “prosperity indicators” for Lancaster County has identified school readiness as the primary indicator on which our efforts should be focused. Thirty-five indicators are being monitored annually by the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry in partnership with the Lancaster County, the Lancaster County Community Foundation, and the United Way of Lancaster County. Of these, preparing our kids for school success has been selected by a local collaboration of funders as the indicator that demonstrates the greatest promise for assuring the future prosperity of our county, in part because it is a driver of so many of the other indicators.
Additionally, a spring campaign will be unveiled by the United Way to focus our community on the issue of school readiness. While we have many good early care and education programs and providers, we need to broaden our efforts to include all of our children, particularly our most vulnerable, because they are at the greatest risk of failure and school dropout. Evidence indicates that our at-risk children who receive quality early education are able to catch up to their peers in cognitive and social skill development. They are prepared to succeed in school and to become productive fellow citizens in our community.
Investing in school readiness isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s the smart thing to do. Every dollar spent to improve early education saves at least $7 in special education costs, public assistance support, corrections expenses and lost taxes. That’s the return on investment Lancaster County taxpayers are looking for. And even more important, investing in early childhood learning will improve opportunities for disadvantaged students, and help prepare them for happy, productive lives.
Carol Phillips is vice chair of the Hourglass Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank based in Lancaster County. Susan Eckert, principal of the Eckert Group, is a member of the Hourglass board of directors.
By Letters to the Editor on March 06, 2014
Donald Gilliland’s recent PennLive article (“Rising prison costs spell trouble for Corbett’s signature reform”) details the multiple factors that led to a small state prison population increase last year, instead of the projected decrease. As a law enforcement official, I am tough on crime and believe that prison is necessary to help ensure public safety; however, the considerable challenges cited in the article should remind us of why it is so critical to keep people from ever becoming criminals in the first place.
Compelling long-term scientific research and common sense clearly indicate that investing in high-quality pre-kindergarten programs is a key strategy to help ensure that at-risk children get a good start in life thereby cutting the cycle of crime and incarceration.
Nearly 50 percent of Pennsylvania’s prison population failed to receive a high school diploma. High school dropouts are three and a half times more likely than graduates to be arrested and eight times more likely to be incarcerated.
Long-term studies are clear that pre-kindergarten programs are one of the most effective investments to boost graduation rates. The Chicago Child-Parent Center pre-K program and the High Scope Perry Preschool program increased graduation rates by 29 and 44 percent respectively compared to similar children who were not enrolled.
As a member of the statewide law enforcement leader organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, I commend Gov. Corbett for proposing a $10 million increase in the state Pre-K Counts program in next year’s state budget. To help put Pennsylvania on a path to having less state prison inmates, we need to build on this proposal to ensure access to high-quality pre-k for the tens of thousands of 3- and 4-year-olds across the state who are left out every year.
STEPHEN L. MARGESON, Chief, Carlisle Police Department, Carlisle
