Observer-Reporter: Editorial: Pay now on Pre-K and Head Start, save money later
In the United States, we do a smash-up job of putting people behind bars – we have the highest incarceration rate on the planet, with 22 percent of the world’s prisoners and only 4 percent of its population – but we do only a fair-to-middling job in providing education that might have kept some of those inmates out of the prison system in the first place.
Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf teamed up with several prosecutors and Pennsylvania Corrections Secretary John Wetzel to push a plan that would provide a significant boost to funding for Head Start and pre-kindergarten programs in the commonwealth, which, they argue, would increase the odds children brought into those programs will grow up to be productive, educated citizens and lower the odds they will waste their potential and while away much of their adulthood behind bars.
Their argument is persuasive. According to Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, which is supporting the proposal, every dollar spent on pre-kindergarten and Head Start returns $1.79 in the short term, and $17 over the long haul. And a study from University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Research on Poverty found enrolling youngsters in pre-kindergarten or Head Start programs increases the chances they will complete high school 14 or 15 years later and not end up being ushered through the criminal justice system.
Boosters for Head Start and Pre-K programs said the programs not only provide a leg up for students in learning that will come in handy once they reach kindergarten, but students who take part also start internalizing lessons in getting along with others, understanding and respecting those who are in authority and, perhaps most importantly, controlling impulsive behavior that could earn them a punishment well beyond a few minutes in time-out once they’re older.
As Wolf said: “There is no better way to invest in the lives of our fellow citizens than in early childhood education. We can see the reverse when we don’t invest. … Let’s reduce the number of people who look at crime as a real option; who think that crime actually does pay.”
Wolf is asking the state’s share of Head Start funding be increased by $20 million, which would enroll about 2,400 additional children, and the amount the state contributes to the Pre-K Counts program be more than doubled, from $97 million to $197 million, which would allow over 11,000 more children to sign up.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Editorial: Pay now or later: Investing in pre-K can head off costlier problems
By the Editorial Board
Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed expansion of pre-kindergarten education got an assist Tuesday from some unexpected boosters: district attorneys who see future crime reductions and cost savings from the plan.
Outside a state prison near Harrisburg, the prosecutors joined with Mr. Wolf to announce their support for his initiative, which would extend pre-K access to 14,000 more students at a cost of $120 million.
As the Democratic governor and Republican-led Legislature tangle over how to close a $1.5 billion to $2 billion budget deficit, it is difficult to see how pre-K will figure into this battle. But advocates and law-enforcement officials present compelling evidence that these investments pay off and deserve special attention in the budgeting process.
According to a report by “Fight Crime: Invest in Kids,” a national advocacy group representing thousands of law-enforcement officials, including Allegheny County Sheriff William P. Mullen, Mr. Wolf’s proposal would save $350 million over the affected students’ lifetimes, cutting demand for special education, raising the number of high school graduates and lowering incarceration rates. The report cites two studies that found those who have had pre-K education less likely to be arrested later for violent crimes or sentenced to jail.
Read the full editorial here.
York Dispatch: Op-Ed: Wolf is Right: Invest in Pre-K Now, Not Prisons Later
By JOHN WETZEL
Acting Secretary of Corrections
At a recent budget hearing, a senator asked, “If you were to advise us as to an investment that we should be making in another agency, in another part of government, that would impact what you do, change the outcome of what you do, what would you recommend?”
My answer was easy: early childhood education programs.
As I see it, every time we talk about corrections reform, it really must begin with the realization that improving the chances for children, especially those in our most disadvantaged communities, is not just a great investment financially, but our responsibility and the true answer to improving criminal justice in America.
A nonprofit, bipartisan, national anti-crime organization, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, recently released a new report documenting how Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed $120 million state funding increase for high-quality pre-kindergarten programs could boost high school graduation rates and, ultimately, reduce the number of people incarcerated in Pennsylvania. Further, the report says that investing in Pre-K now could save taxpayers more than $350 million.
The report makes the case that by the time at-risk children get to kindergarten, many are already behind in vocabulary development, as well as in pre-literacy and pre-math skills. They can also have problems with behavior and impulse control, which makes it hard to get along with other kids and teachers.
The report also cites state and national research studies showing that quality early learning programs have been proven to reduce these disadvantages and, in many cases, eliminate the need for other costly interventions.
As Fredrick Douglass said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
We already know what the numbers say. High school dropouts, those from low socio-economic, high-poverty neighborhoods, and especially children of color, have a 70 percent lifetime likelihood of being locked up.
Read the full article here.
Bucks Courier Times: Editorial: Helping Our Kids Through Pre-K Education
Much of what is written in this space every day can be debated. But there is no debate when it comes to the importance of educating our children. These days, the lack of a good education is not just a ticket to the limited future; too often, it is a one-way ticket to nowhere.
In addition, certain research shows that the earlier a child’s formal education begins, the greater the chances that child will develop a solid foundation for all the learning that follows. We’re not talking kindergarten but pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds.
There is conflicting research that shows the benefits of this early learning are limited and have little long-term effect.
Notwithstanding that latter research, this much is intuitive: An early start is beneficial in virtually every endeavor. Thus, we recognize that pre-K education can give kids a grounding in basic literacy, language, math and particularly social/emotional skills. However, such education remains out of reach financially for almost 70 percent of Pennsylvanians. The statistics aren’t much better in Bucks and Montgomery counties. And when you talk about high-quality pre-K education that’s publicly funded, access is limited to just 8 percent of children in Bucks and 6 percent in Montco.
These are numbers from Pre-K for PA, a campaign that aims to make pre-K education not mandatory but universally available to all of the nearly 300,000 children ages 3 and 4 in Pennsylvania. And not just any pre-K education but high-quality pre-K that exposes the children to specially certified teachers and programs designed to maximize every child’s potential.
The home environment remains the chief fountain of early learning, and no type of institutionalized program can substitute for a nurturing home environment. That said, children taught only in the home can enter school lacking the ability to socialize and interact well with other children. Most children, we think, eventually will “catch up.” But social skills are an important component of child development, and teaching them is one of the stronger arguments for pre-K education.
Read the full editorial here.
Observer-Reporter: Editorial: Education Funding is Crime Fighting, Too
Debate in Harrisburg will soon begin in earnest to adopt a state budget for fiscal year 2015-16, and education funding will be front and center.
Among the proposals being sought by Gov. Tom Wolf is increased funding for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, an initiative that recently attracted outspoken support from some unusual kindergarten bedfellows: The law enforcement community.
District Attorneys Risa Ferman, Montgomery County; Seth Williams, Philadelphia; Jack Whelan, Delaware County; and Tom Hogan, Chester County, held a press conference April 29 to introduce a report, “We’re the Guys You Pay Later,” by the Fight Crime: Invest in Kids coalition. The report makes the case that more money is spent on jailing adult defendants than on investing in education for children. That early investment can be shown, the report argues, to change the path for at-risk children from potential criminals to productive members of society.
Looking to early education to prevent crime is gaining traction nationwide. According to the report, children who participated in high-quality preschool and parent coaching programs through Chicago’s Child-Parent Centers were found to be 20 percent less likely to be arrested or incarcerated for a felony as young adults than those who did not attend.
The benefits are evident on families as well as the enrolled children, the report states. The Chicago CPC program cut child abuse and neglect in half for the children served, compared to similar children from families not being helped.
In place since 1989, state Pre-K Counts funding has made possible early education slots for 160 children in profit and nonprofit childcare centers who have partnered with the district to ensure quality instruction, qualified teachers and a seamless integration with the district’s curriculum, PEAK Coordinator Mary Reick told Pennsylvania first lady Francis Wolf during a recent visit.
A recent grant from the Kellogg Foundation is also allowing PEAK to reach out to families as early as when children are born and to help with their needs as parents during Literacy Nights and other outreach efforts.
The study emphasizes the importance of getting to children early in life with learning opportunities. Studies have shown that in homes where parents are poor or uneducated, the vocabulary to which children are exposed differs by as much as 30 million words from the vocabulary in a home of educated, professional parents. Early education works to close some of that gap.
Gov. Wolf’s proposed budget calls for increasing funding for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts by $100 million, which will double the commonwealth’s current annual investment of $97.3 million.
Read the full editorial here.
Lancaster Online: Op-Ed: Fund Quality Pre-K in PA for Sake of National Security
Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 6:00 am
DENNIS L. BENCHOFF|SPECIAL TO LNP
When we marvel at precision-guided munitions hitting a small target from miles or even hundreds of miles away, we should note that somewhere in that chain of events are highly skilled soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines who made it happen. Just as civilian employment has become increasingly high-tech, so too has military service.
That message was the focus of a recent visit to Philadelphia by U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, who highlighted the troubling reality that far too few of America’s young adults now have the skills and attributes necessary for military service. He warned that with the retirement of many highly skilled service members, the nation faces a challenge in recruiting people with the high-tech abilities needed in the 21st- century armed forces.
The disturbing fact is that 72 percent of today’s young Pennsylvanians are not eligible for military service because they are too poorly educated, medically or physically unfit, or have disqualifying criminal records. These shortfalls will continue to undermine the military’s efforts to recruit high-quality individuals.
In the end, this capability gap among our youth threatens both national security and economic prosperity.
For this reason, more than 500 of my fellow retired generals, admirals and other senior military leaders have become members of Mission: Readiness — Military Leaders for Kids, in order to support targeted investments to help young Americans grow up to be educated, healthy, and fit to ensure our defense and to succeed in life.
Fortunately, this key issue is gaining traction in Harrisburg as lawmakers discuss the adequacy and effectiveness of our public education system that is in large part responsible for producing the human capital we need. Among the proposals being considered is a historic expansion of Pennsylvania’s high-quality early learning programs.
Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed increasing state funding for high-quality pre-K by $120 million; this would provide access for an additional 14,000 children.
As I maintained last week at a legislative breakfast in Lancaster, decades of research have shown this would be a sound use of taxpayer dollars.
Front-loading our education system with high-quality pre-K and other early learning programs can better prepare our children by boosting graduation rates, deterring youth from crime, and reducing obesity rates — all while providing a strong return on investment.
Read the entire op-ed here.
