PA Budget and Policy Center: Way No. 4 – Pre-Kindergarten Funding
Pre-K Expansion Would Enhance Educational Opportunity and Economic Growth and Pay for Itself Many Times Over
14,000 more children statewide would gain entrance into pre-kindergarten
HARRISBURG (September 21, 2015) – Reporter Erica Erwin noted in The Erie Times-News earlier this year, “The push to make quality pre-kindergarten available to all 3- and 4-year-old children in Pennsylvania has the support of someone familiar with a different kind of battle. Senior Judge Michael Dunlavey, a retired two-star general in the U.S. Army Reserve, said access to early childhood education is connected to the nation’s ability to protect and defend itself.” Dunlavey spoke to a gathering of legislators and local business and community leaders in support of Pre-K for PA, a statewide, non-partisan campaign for high-quality pre-kindergarten access for all 3- and 4-year-old children.
Retired military officers and business leaders may not spring to mind as your typical advocates for early-childhood education. But over the past decade, they have become some of the strongest advocates for pre-kindergarten programs geared toward children at risk of later failing school.
These civic champions know that programs like Pennsylvania’s Pre-K Counts help children stay in school and avoid a life of crime. The payoff is down the line when more young adults join the workforce – or are eligible for military service. Rigorous long-term studies estimate that high quality pre-kindergarten provides a significant return on investment – every dollar spent returns as much as $17 in reduced crime, education and welfare savings as well as higher earnings and increased taxes paid in adulthood.
Gov. Tom Wolf took office this year with a commitment to making publicly funded, high-quality pre-K available to every 3- and 4-year-old child in Pennsylvania. Legislative support for early learning investments also is strong. The bipartisan, bicameral Early Childhood Education Caucus is the largest issue-focused caucus in the General Assembly.
Even so, Pennsylvania’s progress in making smart investments in early childhood education has been too slow. Only one in six three- and four-year-olds has access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-K programs.
Gov. Wolf proposes to increase early childhood education funding by $120 million (88%), with $100 million going to Pre-K Counts. This increase would result in the enrollment of 14,000 more children in programs that help them develop academically and socially prior to entering the regular classroom. (To see an estimate of new pre-K slots in your state House or Senate district, click here.)
The Republican budget would increase Pre-K Counts funding by $25 million, adding only about 3,500 slots (including those created by funding for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program. These 3,500 children would account for only about 1 percent of Pennsylvania’s 3- and 4-year olds. To compare the number of high quality, early-childhood slots added in your state House or Senate district under the Republican and Wolf budgets, click here). Slow expansion of quality pre-school hurts children and employers and reduces economic growth in a job market finally generating more opportunities for parents.
First grade teacher Lindsay Kiefer said, “Kindergarten teachers have a really tough time if students come in at varying levels of prior experience. Kids that come in with a pre-K experience are ready to take the next step. I had a little girl in my class who had the privilege of a great pre-kindergarten experience. She started the year with all of the basic skills and more importantly the confidence to tackle problems. With that great head start going into second grade, she was ready to dive in head first to grade-level topics and skills.”
Newspaper editors, civic leaders and Pennsylvanians from across the state have spoken out in favor of investment in quality pre-school programs.
For example, Snyder County District Attorney Michael Piecuch noted: “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 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.”
Parent Jennifer Cebrick wrote, “Lawmakers and Gov. Wolf need to work together to create a budget that expands access to high-quality pre-K as much as possible so more children can benefit the way my kids did.”
Kiwanis leader Laura Katrenicz noted that, “Pre-K programs benefit not only the child, but also the community. High-quality pre-K reduces crime, supports economic development and growth, and saves taxpayer money that can be reallocated to other community needs.”
As the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette warned: “Only 31 percent of 4-year-olds [in Pennsylvania] attend preschool, most through public initiatives such as Head Start … What they don’t spend on early education today could be wasted on prisons tomorrow.”
Read more on Why the Budget Matters: Let Me Count the Ways.
Gettysburg Times: HACC Hosts Public Forum on Early Childhood Education
By Tom Fontana
The Gettysburg Campus of Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) hosted a public forum Wednesday morning as a follow-up to a film presentation last week on early childhood education.
Healthy Adams County Wellness Arts and the Birth to Five Committee screened the documentary, “The Raising of America: Early Childhood and the Future of our Nation,” at Gettysburg Middle School Thursday night, Sept. 10, hoping to increase awareness of the need for better pre-school education and child care in Adams and Franklin counties. Statistics throughout the movie stressed how the United States falls short in providing pre-school education and maternity leave for parents.
At the breakfast meeting, several speakers concerned about pre-school education offered their views on problems and solutions related to the lack of early brain development.
“Pre-school education reduces the number of students identified for special education when they enter kindergarten and beyond,” stated Dr. Wesley Stahl, Upper Adams School District superintendent. “It also lowers the need for repeating grades and produces higher graduation rates.”
Stahl noted that in the documentary film it was pointed out that 40% of children are not academically ready to start kindergarten.
“We need to look for solutions to educational needs before children are in formal school,” Stahl said. “It’s my personal belief that we’re trying to correct problems too late.”
Adams County district attorney Shawn Wagner talked about how early childhood education affects the criminal justice system.
“We can’t just arrest and imprison our way out of our crime problems,” he stated. “Today’s high school dropouts may be tomorrow’s criminals.”
Nancy Fishman, director of the PA Early Learning Investment Commission, focused on pre-school affects the future workforce.
“We have a looming talent shortage,” she said. “We need to prepare our children early so they are ready for training in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.”
Read the full article here.
Main Line Times: As I See it: Pre-K Counts program needs a no-nonsense budget now!
By Mary Jo Daley
For Main Line Media News
Summer is over and our children are back to school. The pictures in our social media feeds are all smiles. But this back-to-school season unfortunately is being affected by the peripheral impact of partisan politics in Harrisburg, which is now sending waves of uncertainty through state-funded pre-K classrooms across the state.
While teachers and students are getting back to the classrooms, many state-funded pre-K and Head Start classrooms are obtaining needed costly financing in order to open their doors to young learners; some have even been forced to close.
It’s difficult to deny that an early education can play an integral role in many aspects of child’s life. It is especially true for those children whose parents do not have the means to pay quality pre-K tuition. A child’s brain is developed 90 percent by the time they reach the age of 5. Exposing a young child to a classroom setting, social interactions, greater vocabulary and basic classroom skills prior to kindergarten has been proven to reduce the likelihood of repeated grades, special education and later incarceration, while also increasing graduation and college acceptance rates.
Many children start school behind their peers because the economic realities of early learning do not favor them. In the Colonial School District that I represent, for example, 193 students do not have access to high-quality publicly funded pre-K. These students do not get a do-over. Shouldn’t these children have the same opportunities afforded their friends and neighbors as they start school?
Gov. Wolf proposed a $120 million increase in early education funding in his initial budget. That amount, just a small percentage of the $29 billion budget, would provide high-quality early education opportunities for 14,000 additional 3- and 4-year-olds across Pennsylvania. It’s a good start, however nearly 200,000 of our 3- and 4-year-olds in PA currently do not have access to these educational opportunities. If we don’t start now, with this small portion of children, we’ll never reach the point where all of Pennsylvania’s young children are receiving this huge learning opportunity.
There’s no rewind button when it comes to the education of a growing child. Let’s get back to work before back to school is further ruined for more of our youngest learners.
State Rep. Mary Jo Daley is in her second term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives serving the 148th District.
The op-ed can be read here.
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.
