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.
Express-Times Letter to Editor: Delayed State Budget Hurting Pre-k Programs
Back-to-school season is always exciting for a pre-K educator like me. I get to meet a new group of young learners who I know will benefit from the lifelong opportunity high-quality pre-K provides.
This year, however, my excitement is tinged with sadness because I know some 3- and 4-year-olds will be missing out on pre-K because of the lack of state funding and the absence of a state budget. As the governor and lawmakers continue to negotiate a budget that was due on July 1, young children are missing out on a pre-K opportunity they can never repeat.
In other words, an avoidable delay caused by grownups is having a lasting negative impact on our kids. Right now, only about one in six of Pennsylvania’s 3- and 4-year-olds has access to high-quality pre-K, despite its proven benefits in preparing kids for success in kindergarten.
Even if Gov. Wolf gets the $120 million he wants, access would increase to just one in four kids. It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s going to take several years of similar increases to make high-quality pre-K available to every family that wants it for their child.
It’s time for Wolf and lawmakers to enact a state budget that significantly increases pre-K access. I’ve seen the difference high-quality pre-K can have on a child’s learning and life, and I don’t want to see any more kids miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity.
Paula Espinal
Allentown
Read the letter to the editor here.
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader: Letter to the Editor: Expand Pennsylvania’s Families’ Access to Pre-Kindergarten Programs
As a parent whose children benefited from a high-quality pre-kindergarten program, I know firsthand how it can help young learners and why Pennsylvania’s leaders need to increase funding for it.
My two boys had the opportunity to attend Luzerne County Head Start during the 2014-15 school year at the Back Mountain Center. The staff made this such a rewarding and educational experience for them. It is reassuring to know that they are not only well taken care of, but they are making new friends and experiencing new things in a fun learning environment.
I have had the opportunity to spend time in the classroom with my kids. This gave me a chance to see how they interact in the school environment as well as get to know their teachers. I attend Parent Committee meetings at the center, where we participate in planning activities for the center and classrooms.
During the most recent school year, I had the privilege of serving on the Policy Council. One parent is elected from each center of Head Start and Early Head Start to help make decisions within the Luzerne County Head Start program. Through my experiences, I have learned over the past year that Head Start is not only there for the children, but also offers support to the families. In addition to the community resources, they also assist parents who wish to obtain their GEDs.
The Back Mountain staff have been great to work with. The family worker is easy to talk to and very approachable when you have questions. My boys absolutely love their teachers and felt comfortable and welcome in their classroom environments. As a mom, it feels good to have my boys rush me out of the house in the morning so they can get to school.
My 5-year-old learned to write his name, identify his numbers and letters, and enhanced his independence and social skills. The Head Start experience, and working with the teachers to help him achieve his goals, has prepared him for kindergarten and a successful future. My 4-year-old will return for his second year with Head Start, and I can’t wait to see what new and exciting things this school year will bring!
There’s plenty of research proving high-quality pre-k reduces the need for special education and makes it less likely a child will repeat a grade or drop out of school. But almost 70 percent of Pennsylvania’s 3- and 4-year-olds don’t have access to it.
Gov. Tom Wolf proposed increasing funding for the state’s high-quality pre-k programs by $120 million, which would’ve allowed another 14,000 children to benefit. The budget lawmakers approved increased funding by $30 million to serve another 3,500 children. Either is an obvious improvement; but considering we have more than 200,000 preschoolers who still lack access to high-quality pre-k, the more substantial investment will reach more kids.
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.
Jennifer Cebrick
Harveys Lake
Read the full Letter to the Editor here.
Easton Express Times: Letter to the Editor: PA Budget Must Address Pre-K Programs, Day Care
As state budget talks continue, it’s important for Pennsylvania parents and taxpayers to understand what’s at stake when it comes to the early learning investments.
Right now only about one in six Pennsylvania 3- and 4-year-olds has access to a high-quality pre-k program, despite its proven benefits in preparing kids for success in kindergarten. That means more than 200,000 3- and 4-year-olds aren’t benefiting from high-quality pre-k. State leaders can shrink this number by boosting Pennsylvania’s pre-k investments in this year’s budget.
The budget talks also could impact access to high-quality child care. Child care can be expensive. Many low-income families need help to pay for it so parents can go to work and know their child is in a safe, nurturing environment. High-quality child care makes employees more reliable and productive, decreases turnover and absenteeism, and increases retention and productivity. It pays off for children, parents and employers.
Together, high-quality child care and pre-k have been proven to help prepare young learners prepare for school by building their academic and social skills. It’s an investment that pays off, but we need to invest more to get a fuller return on investment.
As Gov. Tom Wolf and lawmakers negotiate a state spending plan, they need to make sure these early learning investments are well represented in Pennsylvania’s budget priorities.
Tamara Hammer
Nazareth
Read the Letter to the Editor here.
Erie Times: Letter to the Editor: Legislature should back more pre-K
As a third-grade teacher in Erie, I see every day the value of high-quality prekindergarten.
I can usually spot right away which of my students had access to high-quality prekindergarten access for 3- and 4-year-old children.
The vast majority of those kids who did have access to pre-K were ready to learn when they entered kindergarten, and by the time they reached my classroom, they were socially aware and advancing academically at an appropriate pace. My students who didn’t have the advantage of attending a high-quality pre-K often need remedial work, and the achievement gap at times seems too wide for them to overcome. With some students, I find myself wondering, what if they had the same advantage as their peers? How unfair it is that they didn’t.
In the ongoing budget negotiations in Harrisburg described recently by Sen. Sean Wiley in “Why I support Wolf’s budget veto” (July 8), we don’t learn that the Legislature has proposed increasing pre-K funding by $30 million to serve another 3,500 children, while the governor wants to increase funding by $120 million to serve another 14,000.
Both are obvious improvements, but given there are still more than 200,000 Pennsylvania 3- and 4-year-olds who lack access to high-quality pre-K, we ought to be making the most aggressive investments possible to expand access.
Over the past several years, teachers have struggled to make ends meet in the classroom. It’s frustrating, but not as frustrating as when we see a bright young student’s bulb dimmed before he ever got a chance to shine. High-quality pre-K can make a difference and is proven to prepare a student for a brighter future.
I urge leaders in Harrisburg to see the light before the final act of this year’s budget saga.
Kim Lesik|Cambridge Springs
Read the Letter to the Editor here.
Bucks County Times: Letter to the Editor: Pre-k for All Children
As a parent and a teacher, I see firsthand the impact pre-K can have on a child. It may not be a silver bullet, but it’s clear from day one which children arrive in my classroom having attended high-quality pre-K and who missed out.
Early literacy, communication, and problem solving are key to success later in life but many children are denied the chance to enroll in programs that cultivate those skills.
Even in Bucks County only a small percentage of families have access to high-quality pre-K because the cost can be prohibitive.
That’s why our legislators need to make pre-K funding a top priority in this year’s state budget. The initial budget offered by the Legislature does not go far enough to expand pre-K for working families. At this rate, it would take 20 years to ensure all children have access! On the other hand, the governor’s proposal of $120 million for pre-K and early childhood education programs would be a down payment towards real progress. Other states are doing it and we should too.
Some day soon, I want to begin my year in September seeing every child ready for kindergarten, not just the lucky ones.
Colleen M Stahl,
literacy specialist
Samuel Everitt Elementary School
