Public News Service: Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Increased State Pre-k Funding
June 8, 2018 by Andrea Sears
As the legislature returns to hammer out a state budget, a new poll shows a sizable majority of voters are willing to pay more taxes to support publicly funded pre-K programs.
The statewide poll, commissioned by the Pre-K for PA campaign, found that three out of four voters in the Keystone State support increased state funding to expand access to high-quality pre-kindergarten. And Brock McCleary, president of Harper Polling, says when it comes to recognizing the necessity of skills and behaviors learned in pre-k, voters are almost unanimous.
“This is a rare case where you have a strong consensus that early childhood education really is critical to the kind of student you become and ultimately the kind of healthy and productive life we want all of our Pennsylvanians to strive for,” says McCleary.
Almost two-thirds of those polled say they would pay an extra $50 a year in taxes to fund high-quality pre-k.
McCleary notes that the results were fairly consistent in every part of the state, in every age group, and across party lines.
“Fifty-seven percent of Republicans favor increasing pre-k spending. Folks who are 65-years of age and older support an increase in funding for pre-k,” says McCleary.
Right now, more that 106,000 eligible Pennsylvania children do not have access to publicly funded pre-k.
McCleary says the poll results show that Pennsylvania voters recognize that ages of three to five are a time of incredible development for children.
“The capacity for learning and knowledge is extreme and it can be difficult for parents to fill that need and so pre-k is doing a good job of helping to provide that,” says McCleary.
The current proposal for the new state budget includes an additional $40 million for pre-k, enough to expand access to more than 4,400 new students.
Read the article here.
Philly.com: Pa. voters willing to pay more taxes for more pre-K, poll finds
June 7, 2018 by Thomas Fitzgerald
It’s safe to say that pollsters don’t often find a super-majority of voters willing to pay more in taxes.
Yet in a new poll to be released Thursday, 64 percent of Pennsylvania likely voters said they would support a tax increase to expand publicly funded preschool education, responding to a hypothetical hike of .01 percentage points in the personal income tax, which would cost an average taxpayer about $50.
The poll was paid for by the Pre-K for PA campaign, a coalition of state nonprofits advocating for early childhood education, and it was conducted by Harper Polling, a Republican firm based in Harrisburg.
“There is a strong consensus among Pennsylvania voters who think that early childhood education is important,” said Brock McCreary, president of Harper Polling.
Ninety-four percent of respondents said pre-K helped people live a healthy and productive life. By 75 percent to 18 percent, voters said they supported increased public funding for preschool for children aged 3 and 4. Every demographic group tested backed more spending, though Republicans (57 percent) and conservatives (61 percent) were slightly less supportive.
Read the full article
here.
75 Percent of Pennsylvania Voters Favor Increasing Pre-K Funding
Strong Consensus: 94% Say Early Childhood Education Important for PA
Harrisburg, PA (June 7, 2018) – As Pennsylvania state legislators return to Harrisburg to negotiate a final state budget, a new poll commissioned by the Pre-K for PA Campaign and conducted by Harrisburg-based Harper Polling shows 75 percent of likely voters support increasing funding to expand access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-kindergarten.The numbers have grown since a 2013 Pre-K for PA commissioned poll conducted by Lake Research Partners/Bellwether Research and Consulting had 63% of likely voters indicating that they favored increasing funding to ensure access to pre-k for all Pennsylvania kids.
“There is strong consensus among Pennsylvania voters [94 percent] that think early childhood education is important for the children of the commonwealth,” said Brock McCleary, President, Harper Polling. “Furthermore, a strong plurality of support for expanded funding is realized across all demographics, regions and registration.”
Nearly two-thirds of likely Pennsylvaniaoters polled by Harper from May 22-23lso said that they would support a tax increase to expand pre-k access. Sixty-four percent of Pennsylvanians said they would pay an extra $50 in taxes to fund pre-k, which would equal a .01 increase in PIT (personal income tax) for the average Pennsylvania taxpayer.This number has also grown since the 2013 poll, when only 56 percent of voters polled said they were willing to pay higher taxes to support pre-k investments.
“Pennsylvanians value pre-k education for its proven benefits to each child fortunate enough to attend a high-quality pre-k, and they’re willing to dig a little deeper into their own pockets to support expanded access for kids across the commonwealth,”said Joan Benso, President and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, a founding partner of Pre-K for PA. “Pennsylvania prospers when children succeed and pre-k is a key element in each child’s success.”
According to the new Harper poll results,every single voting demographic in the state favors expanded access to pre-k by at least a two-to-one margin. Seniors favor it by more than a three-to-one margin. Conservatives are for expanded access at a rate of two-to-one. More than 65 percent of likely voters in Southcentral PA, a conservative part of the state, are willing to pay $50 more per year to support state pre-k expansion.
“No child should be missing out when nearly all residents agree,” said Jodi Askins, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children (PennAEYC). “When it comes to the benefits of high-quality pre-k, 94 percent of Pennsylvanians agree that it is necessary for children to learn the appropriate behaviors and social skills to succeed in school. It’s time to fully fund pre-k.”
The additional $40 million in the 2018-19 budget proposal, if fully funded, will expand access to publicly funded pre-k to more than 4,400 new students. Currently more than 106,000 eligible children do not have access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-k due to limited state funding.
Since the inception of the Pre-K for PA Campaign, the commonwealth’s investment in publicly funded pre-k has increased by $100 million, but lags far behind many neighboring states. Today, Pennsylvania ranks 18th of the 30 states investing in high-quality, publicly funded pre-k. New Jersey is spending five times more per capita than PA and even West Virginia is leaps ahead of PA—it has had universal access for pre-k aged kids since 2012.
For more poll results, please visit www.prekforpa.com/poll.
Morning Call: Pennsylvania’s Taxing Politics of Early Childhood Education
June 7, 2018 by Steve Esack
Pennsylvania’s budget season is in full swing as the fiscal year winds down and the next one begins July 1. That means the Capitol is swarming with professional and grassroots lobbyists looking to cut, protect or enhance funding levels in a variety of programs.
On Thursday, supporters seeking an extra $40 million for preschool education had the mic for a news conference in the Rotunda. That’s the same funding increase sought by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf for the 201819 budget now under negotiation with the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Advocates who run Pre-K for PA campaign released a poll they paid to conduct showing three quarters of likely voters support more money for “high-quality, publicly-funded” preschool. That is a 12 percentage point increase (63 percent to 75 percent) since the poll was last conducted in 2013.
The higher support was across the board, regardless of political persuasion or gender, according to the poll conducted by Harper Polling of Harrisburg.
Sunbury Daily Item: Op-ed: Pre-k changes lives, saves millions of dollars
June 4, 2018 by Thomas McGinley
My father was chief of police in Centralia. Every day, when my brothers and I left the house, he would say, “What you do out there is a direct reflection on me.” We didn’t have a lot of financial stability, but we had guidance, and that was priceless.
We were lucky, especially because people who lacked similar guidance walk into state prisons every day. It was never my intent to establish a career in corrections, but after my first years as a corrections counselor, I realized I wanted to immerse myself in helping people achieve a positive course. I came to understand that the majority of inmates lacked the one thing I was blessed with — a nuclear family, and someone to teach the basics of leading a good life.
If you make bad decisions, you’re going to have a bad life. Good decisions, good life. It’s critical to capture people while they’re young to encourage good decision-making while focusing on sound, fundamental principles. A strong sense of self helps guide young men and women to make the positive choices that lead away from the roadblocks to success, like teen pregnancies, having multiple children outside of marriage, choosing negative associates, and failing to focus on educational opportunities.
It’s also imperative to learn the value of hard work while understanding that instant gratification is only temporary. Too often, I talk to inmates who don’t understand that their need for immediate reward of some sort is what landed them in their current predicament.
If we can instill positive values in children through early childhood education, that is a huge step forward. It’s a way to break the cycle that brings inmates here, because generations of problems tend to create generations of more problems. Pennsylvania incarcerates 47,000 inmates in state prisons, and we spend $43,000 a year on each one. That money is an investment in public safety and in turn works to return those individuals to our communities as productive citizens. In contrast, we spend about $8,500 a year per child, for much bigger returns.
High-quality pre-k delivers many benefits that help guide at-risk children in the right direction. Solid research shows that children from high-quality pre-k are more likely to be ready for school, not experience grade retention and graduate from high school. They are less likely to be arrested or incarcerated.
A survey of all incoming male inmates in early 2018 found that those who were suspended in elementary school had higher school dropout rates and were more likely to have been placed in a residential juvenile justice program compared to inmates who had not been suspended.
High-quality pre-k programs instill the basics of reading and math, so children aren’t already behind by the time they enter school. Just as importantly, they teach impulse control and getting along with others. They also partner with parents to teach the importance of reinforcing positive behaviors and reading together. The results add up to starting children off on the right foot, equipped to make good decisions and overcome challenges.
Read the full op-ed here.
