Morning Call: Letter to the Editor: Fully Fund Pre-k Programs in PA
August 16, 2018
As an educator, I often am forced to battle in my gut between what children should have access to and what they can have access to.
Of this I’m certain: Pre-K education is a valuable experience all Pennsylvania children should have access to for its proven social, emotional and developmental benefits.
I’m not alone. 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. I’m writing to encourage the governor and Legislature to fully fund pre-K.
Our leaders in Harrisburg deserve recognition — they prioritized pre-K in the 2018-19 state budget by growing high-quality pre-K funding by 11 percent compared to the full budget, which grew by just 1.7 percent. This is wise investing and good politics.
The $25 million investment in pre-K programs in the 2018-19 state budget will help thousands of kids access high-quality pre-K, but how can they limit funding to some?
Next year, let’s set a course to ramp up our investment because, as we know, the tens of thousands of kids missing out won’t get a do-over.
Elcira Garcia
Allentown
Read the letter to the editor here.
Morning Call: Letter to the Editor: Early Education Funding Critical
August 6, 2018
Kudos to our legislators for coming together across party lines to support young children and their families. By passing the state budget for 2018-2019, which has increased the funding for high quality pre-K programs by 11 percent, they have clearly demonstrated their understanding about the critical role of early experiences for future success in lives of our children.
Research in the field has shown that investment in early education brings positive outcomes for all concerned. A recent poll conducted in the state also demonstrates that 94 percent of Pennsylvanians consider early education as important. The state’s budget reflects the voice of its citizens and is aligned with the wisdom of the experts in the field.
While the increased funding will help many children to access quality pre-K programs and start kindergarten fully prepared for formal schooling, more funds are needed to cover all eligible children. All children have a right to quality preschool experiences and deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential. Legislators must continue to find ways to fund early education for every child in the commonwealth. Our work is not done until we have reached this goal.
Anu Sachdev
Hanover Township, Northampton County
Read the Letter to the Editor here.
Bucks County Courier Times: State Grant will Allow Neshaminy to Double its Pre-k Program
July 19, 2018 by Chris English
A $1 million state grant will allow the Neshaminy School District to more than double enrollment in its free pre-kindergarten program.
The grant, about twice the amount received by the district last school year, will give officials the latitude to increase total enrollment in the Pre-K Counts program to 120.
It will also allow the district to add Joseph Ferderbar Elementary School in Lower Southampton as a third site where the program is offered, in addition to the closed Lower Southampton Elementary School (now open as an early childhood learning center) and Albert Schweitzer Elementary School in Middletown, said Schweitzer Principal Amy Orlando, who oversees Neshaminy’s Pre-K Counts program.
“I think the foundation a pre-K program helps build for children makes a huge difference,” Orlando said. “There is often a wide difference in reading and other skills between children who have had access to a pre-K program and those who haven’t. It’s wonderful to get this additional funding so we can increase the access.”
Despite the state’s increased investment of $25 million in pre-K programs for this school year, there are still more than 106,000 eligible children in the state who do not have access to high-quality, publicly-funded pre-K due to limited state funding, according to the advocacy group Pre-K for PA.
Read the full article here.
Express Times: Letter to the Editor – YMCA Pre-K Count program a boon for families
July 3, 2018
After our fourth child was born, my husband and I focused on working hard in the businesses we owned, trying to keep up with our growing family’s needs. When our youngest was three, I number-crunched, hoping to find an affordable high quality preschool program. I wanted to continue to work and earn for my family while giving her the skills she needed to be kindergarten-ready. We found the Forks YMCA Education Center’s Pre-K Counts program and it was a blessing to our family at a very critical time.
I commend Gov. Tom Wolf and my legislators for their commitment to growth in the state’s expansion of pre-k in the 2018-19 state budget. The $25 million investment in pre-k will serve 2,600 more kids, which represents forward progress.
My daughter thrived in the Pre-K Counts program and is ready for kindergarten in the fall. The two years she has been in the program has afforded her Dad and I time to focus on our respective businesses. We are both back on a track after the economic downturn, and that is enabling us to build our businesses to where they can fully support our family’s current, and hopefully, future needs.
Jennifer Barnett
Forks Township
Leaders in Harrisburg Get it! Continued Investment in Pre-K Will Serve Thousands More Young Learners
Early Learning Programs get Significant Boost in 2018-19
Harrisburg, PA (June 22, 2018)– The Pre-K for PA campaign called the additional $25 million investment in pre-kindergarten programs contained in the 2018-19 state budget agreement continued progress toward something that Pennsylvanians universally support – early education.
A poll commissioned by the Pre-K for PA campaign done by Harper Polling in May showed 75% of likely voters support increasing funding to expand access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-kindergarten, while 94% of voters believe that early education is important.
The principal partners of Pre-K for PA issued the following statement regarding the investment:
“Governor Wolf, along with Republican and Democrat legislators made a wise investment in Pennsylvania’s early education system and clearly prioritized our state’s youngest learners in this budget. While the 2018-19 Pennsylvania state budget grew by just 1.7%, leaders in Harrisburg grew high-quality pre-k funding by 11%, high-quality child care services grew by 4%, and home visiting grew by an impressive and much needed 33%. This year’s budget istestament to the fact that Governor Wolf, along with Republican and Democrat legislators, understand their constituents’ priorities.
“Still, more than 106,000 eligible children do not have access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-k due to limited state funding. This budget increase will allow access to thousands of 3- and 4-year-old students in the upcoming school year. It is a step in the right direction, but we still have much work to be done as Pennsylvania lags far behind 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 West Virginia is leaps ahead of us – it has had universal access for pre-k aged kids since 2012. We have to ramp up our investment in the coming years because, as we know, the tens of thousands of kids missing out won’t get a do-over.”
The 2018-19 spending plan included the following expanded investments to early learning:
- Increases Pre-K Counts investment: $20 million
- Increases investment in Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program: $5 million
- Increases investment in Child Care Services: $6.8 million
- New investment in home visiting programs: $6.735 million
Pre-K for PA is an issue campaign supported by individuals and organizations across Pennsylvania who believe that investing in our children is the right choice and an urgent necessity. Its vision is that every 3- and 4-year-old in Pennsylvania will have access to high-quality pre-k. For more information visit www.prekforpa.org.
The Intelligencer: LTE: Educate or Incarcerate Event
June 11, 2018
I want to recognize Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub, Capt. Milligan, Sheriff Milton Warrell and state Rep. Bernie O’Neill for leading an important community meeting on early childhood education.
At this meeting, Mr. Weintraub presented a new report from the anti-crime organization, Fight Crime: Invest In Kids. The report documented that Pennsylvania’s future prison population can be trimmed down considerably — while yielding almost $150 million in societal benefits over students’ lifetimes — if the governor’s $40 million proposed pre-K investment is included in the final 2018-19 state budget. This funding increase would serve 4,440 more at-risk children.
These cost savings are believable when you consider that Pennsylvania’s state and local governments spend roughly $3.2 billion per year incarcerating adults, or about $43,000 per inmate in the state corrections system. Mr. Weintraub noted that education attainment is often the deciding factor between productive, contributing citizens and those that find themselves on the wrong side of the law. He also discussed a new survey conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections of all incoming male inmates during the month of January 2018 that showed nearly 40 percent of incoming state prisoners did not graduate from high school. Nationwide that figure climbs to 60 percent.
Additionally, the survey showed that difficulty reading in elementary school was a substantial indicator of future juvenile criminal behavior. Inmates that experienced this difficulty were 14 percent more likely to be arrested as a juvenile compared to those who said they did not have early reading difficulty. As an early childhood education provider with three centers in three counties, I appreciate the support of law enforcement. Their argument is powerful — we need our youth to be educated, not incarcerated, and that process starts early. I hope the legislature again prioritizes pre-K in the final budget.
Nicole Fetherman, executive director,
LifeSpan School & Day Care
Read the Letter here.
