South Pittsburgh Reporter: Councilwoman Rudiak in NY, NY to learn more about pre-school
The Grable Foundation has partnered with The Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children (PAEYC) to design a series of learning tours to foster innovative early childhood education, strategies and policies.
Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak will represent Pittsburgh City Council on the first of these learning tours to New York City Monday and Tuesday, July 14-15, to learn about New York City’s universal Pre-K program.
Councilwoman Rudiak has advocated for a “Pittsburgh Promise for preschoolers,” in which every pre-school age child living in the City of Pittsburgh would have access to a free, high-quality preschool education. She has also been an early champion of the Pre-K for PA Campaign (http://www.prekforpa.org), a project of the The Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children (PAEYC).
Read the full story here.
The Times Leader: Giving children a head start can help Pennsylvania’s economy
A recent commentary on the economic benefits of early learning (“For region’s sake, let’s rally to deliver top-notch early childhood education,” June 26) gave The Times Leader’s readers an excellent overview of how high-quality early childhood education programs save money for taxpayers while helping to build a better educated, more competitive workforce in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Over the course of my career in early learning, I have seen firsthand how quality programs such as Head Start prepare children for success in school and life – particularly among children who are at higher risk of academic failure due to poverty or other circumstances that are beyond their control. When we nurture these young minds at such a critical period in their development, we prepare them to persevere and succeed despite the obstacles they might face.
Read more at the source.
Business570: Quality pre-K education reaps long-term economic benefits
The bottom line for business is that early learning opportunities for our children have tremendous long-term benefits for our workforce.
Beyond business, high-quality pre-k helps virtually every aspect of our communities and our quality of life. Let’s track some of those benefits through the life of a child:
■ By better preparing children for kindergarten, high-quality pre-k has been shown to save money in our K-12 schools by reducing the need for special education and remedial instruction.
■ By better preparing young learners for K-12 (particularly kids at high-risk of academic failure) pre-k has been shown to decrease dropouts and increase the rates of graduation and college enrollment.
Read the full story at the source.
Centre Daily Times: Support Early Ed initiatives
Norman Rich’s recent oped, “Quality early learning instills STEM skills and core character traits,” CDT, June 23), does a terrific job in identifying the impact that high-quality early learning can have on young learners and the future workforce.
Considering that approximately 70 percent of our nation’s state prison population failed to receive a high school diploma, education is a pivotal factor between incarceration and productive citizenship.
Knowing this connection from research and experience, law enforcement leaders have long supported investments in high quality pre-kindergarten as a key crime prevention strategy.
MetroKids: The Pre-K for PA Campaign
When Tonja Claxton’s daughter started Kindergarten this past school year, she was well prepared. After attending a state-funded preK program for two years, school was nothing new.
“I’m thankful that my child was exposed to an amazing curriculum in pre-Kindergarten,” says the Philadelphia mom, who says she could not have afforded preschool without financial assistance. “As a low-income parent and single mother, I knew that early childhood education was important, and I noticed a difference between my child’s development with a supportive system and without.”
Because Claxton believes that every child, regardless of family income, should have that same advantage, she now advocates for early childhood education as a volunteer for Pre-K for PA.
More at the source.
