Erie Times: Op-Ed: Early learning aids economy: Betsy Bort, Mike Plazony, Nick Scott Jr.
The three of us, all members of Pennsylvania’s Early Learning Investment Commission, operate in very different industries. However, we all share a vested interest in making Erie County a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
That is why we are pleased that there is widespread bipartisan support for increased investment in high-quality early childhood education programs in this year’s state budget. Both Gov. Tom Wolf and House and Senate Republicans have proposed significant investments in these programs — $120 million and $30 million, respectively.
By age 5, 90 percent of the brain is developed. Decades of research show early learning programs are the key to helping children achieve school readiness, which in turn helps them meet critical educational benchmarks that lead to them graduating from high school, joining the workforce, and becoming an overall productive member of society. Recent data shows that quality early learning programs even help to improve health outcomes as adults.
While children who participate in these programs certainly have better lives because of them, providing adequate access to quality early learning also ensures a stronger, more vibrant economy for the rest of us — in the long and short term.
Quality early learning yields impressive long-term returns to society — up to $17 for every dollar invested — in the form of increased earnings and income taxes, reduced special education and welfare costs, and the really big savings, reduced crime.
As for immediate economic benefits, according to America’s Edge, every $1 invested in early care and education in Pennsylvania generates an additional $1.06, for a total of $2.06 in new spending in the state. In fact, investments in quality early learning generate more new spending for local businesses than investments in eight other major economic sectors, including transportation, construction, wholesale trade, retail trade and manufacturing.
However, Pennsylvania is currently ranked 30th in the country in terms of access to pre-kindergarten programs for 4-year-olds, well behind our neighboring states of West Virginia, Maryland, New York and New Jersey. And close to 65 percent of our young people will stay right here in Pennsylvania and become part of our future workforce. If we would like to remain economically competitive, Pennsylvania must invest accordingly in quality early learning today.
Read the full op-ed here.
Tribune-Democrat: Despite Lack of Funds, Somerset Head Start Opens its Doors for Classes
By Kecia Bal
SOMERSET – In the first few minutes at Head Start, 3-year-old Jazmine Dillow stayed close to her mother – away from the rest of her class, huddled nearby for a story: “Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes.”
Within 10 minutes, she was exploring blocks and interacting with the others in her own sparkly school shoes.
It’s an experience she might not have had on Wednesday, if Somerset County Community Action Partnership administrators had not borrowed money and cut costs to fund Head Start and Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts programs, absent of funds from the nearly three-months-late state budget.
Head Start and Pre-K Counts started this week for 166 kids in Somerset County. That’s a week later than it would have started if funding had been in place. The pre-K program is fully funded through the state, and Head Start is run with a mix of federal funding – also funneled through state coffers – and state allocations.
Wednesday was the first day for students, and mom Brandi Johnson of Somerset said she’s relieved that her 3-year-old daughter Syarra will have a place to learn.
“I think it’s a very good program,” she said.
“My 13-year-old did Head Start when she was younger. It really got her ready for kindergarten.”
Brett Ziegler of Somerset accompanied his 4-year-old daughter Summerlyn and helped her hang a new backpack in her locker. Ziegler’s son, 3-year-old Shadyn, started Pre-K Counts in the next room. Wednesday marked the start of Summerlyn’s second year in Head Start after the family moved from the Shade-Central City School District this past year.
“We saw last year her improvements – by leaps and bounds – through the program, and we’re so glad to hear that it is available in Somerset,” he said.
Read the full article here.
Sunbury Daily Item: LTE: Push for Pre-K Funding
I was glad to see Mary Ellen Jansen’s recent “My Turn” column touting the economic benefits of investing in early childhood education. I’d like to add the law enforcement perspective. District attorneys across Pennsylvania have long supported increasing access to high-quality pre-kindergarten programs as part of a comprehensive approach to reducing future crime.
The research is clear: front-end education investments in high-quality pre-K will improve graduation rates and decrease criminal behaviors. High school dropouts are 3 1/2 times more likely than high school graduates to be arrested, and more than 8 times as likely to be incarcerated. Indeed, half of Pennsylvania’s state prison inmates failed to obtain a high school diploma. This is why prosecutors from throughout Pennsylvania, from both political parties, publicly support these investments in order to prepare kids for more successful and lawabiding lives. In Snyder County 86 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds lack access to high-quality pre-K each year. In Northumberland County 80 percent lack this access, and in Union County it’s 78 percent. I commend both the General Assembly and the governor for prioritizing pre-K in their respective budgets. I hope that the final negotiated budget will include more funding to expand access to high-quality pre-K not only for its economic benefits, but as part of a proven crime prevention strategy.
Snyder County District Attorney Michael Piecuch is a member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids and the Early Learning Investment Committee of the Susquehanna River Valley.
Read the Letter to the Editor here.
Patriot News: As We See it: When They Talk Budget, Wolf and Lawmakers Can’t Forget Early Childhood Education
By The Members of Pre-K for Pa.
The sharp elbows of politics can sometimes be bruising, however unintentional the bump. As Pennsylvania’s budget impasse stretches into its third month, across the commonwealth the impact of political gridlock is beginning to be felt.
As PennLive’s Jan Murphy notes in “Cash flow woes: Schools feeling the pinch of the Pa. budget impasse” (PennLive, Aug. 31), small business owners and non-profits who operate high-quality Pre-K Counts and Head Start classrooms across the commonwealth are being forced to make a hard decision.
And that’s this: Either take out loans (and pay the interest) to open their doors to eager young learners or close state-funded classrooms
We urge Gov. Tom Wolf and the Legislature to work together to craft a budget that resolves this hardship.
But their negotiations regarding pre-kindergarten funding can’t only be about preserving state funding levels from last fiscal year for pre-k and getting those grants out the door.
Each year, more than 200,000 3- and 4-year-olds in Pennsylvania are missing out on this once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity.
These kids don’t get a “do-over” if they miss out on high-quality pre-k. For them, this negotiation must also be about increased funding.
That is why we, the 10 founding partners of Pre-K for PA, a statewide campaign to expand access to high-quality early learning, are cautiously optimistic that the eventual outcome of budget negotiations will favor our youngest learners.
Pre-K for PA’s vision is that every at-risk 3- and 4-year-old will gain access to high-quality pre-k by 2019.
In order to achieve that widely supported goal, the final 2015-16 budget must provide a substantial increase in state funding for pre-k.
It will take about $400 million in additional state investments over the next four years to increase access to children at greatest risk of academic failure.
The budget passed by the House and Senate, which included a $30 million increase, is a good first step to providing high-quality pre-k to an additional 3,500 children, but a $120 million increase this year would serve an additional 14,000 children and put us closer to our Pre-K for PA goal.
High-quality pre-k is a critical investment in the future of our children. Higher graduation rates, lower criminal activity, greater lifetime earnings and lower rates of special education are all connected by research to be outcomes of attending quality pre-k programs.
If we fall short of the much-needed $120 million additional investment this year, it will require larger increases in later years and leave more 3- and 4-year-olds missing out next school year. For these kids, delayed investments means lost opportunities.
Read the full op-ed here.
Centre Daily Times: LTE: Pre-K Funding Essential
Sheriffs and other law enforcement leaders across Pennsylvania have long-provided good reason for increasing access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-kindergarten.
Research is clear that front-end education investments improve graduation rates and help prepare at-risk kids for more successful lives.
High school dropouts are 3 1/2 times more likely than high school graduates to be arrested, and more than eight times as likely to be incarcerated. Department of Justice statistics show that 68 percent of state prison inmates do not hold a high school diploma. Participating in quality pre-kindergarten increases high school graduation rates by as much as 44 percent.
Quality pre-kindergarten should be part of a comprehensive approach to our crime problem. This is why both Republican and Democrat sheriffs and prosecutors throughout our commonwealth support increased access to pre-K as a crime-prevention strategy.
I commend both the General Assembly and Gov. Wolf for prioritizing pre-K in their respective draft budgets and hope that a final negotiated budget will include a substantial step towards serving more of the roughly 1,500 3- and 4-year-olds in Centre County that lack access to high-quality pre-K each year. For law enforcement leaders, this would be filling a crime-prevention gap.
DENNY NAU
BELLEFONTE
The writer is sheriff of Centre County.
Read the Letter to the Editor here.
