From Pre-K for PA:
Yesterday, Governor Corbett signed into law a $29 billion state budget with the following pre-k funding: a $10 million increase for Pre-K Counts and flat funding for the state’s supplement to Head Start. These amounts were proposed by the Governor to enable 1,670 more children to participate in high-quality pre-k programs.
Pre-K for PA was formed to advocate a bold vision that Pennsylvania will ensure access to high-quality pre-kindergarten for all our children. And the reality remains that public funds enable just 1 in 6 of Pennsylvania’s 3- and 4-year-olds to enroll in such programs.
So where do we go from here?
NEW ISSUE BRIEF: Pre-K for PA released this week a report on how Pennsylvania compares to competing states when it comes to pre-k. This is the first in a series of issue briefs that will lay out options for achieving our campaign’s policy vision.
Click here to read the new policy brief:
The National Perspecive — How Pre-K in PA Comapres to Other Competing States
This latest analysis echoes the recently-announced finding by NIEER: Pennsylvania is falling behind. Other states, particularly those that border Pennsylvania, are outpacing us when it comes to expanding access to high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, putting us at a competitive disadvantage. From Maryland and West Virginia to New York and New Jersey, our neighbors have made a greater commitment to providing high-quality pre-kindergarten to more of their children.
Pennsylvania can do better for our children, and your support makes progress possible.
Share our state comparison graphic on Facebook and Twitter, and ask your friends and colleagues to sign the Pre-K for PA petition at www.prekforpa.org/join.
Thank you for everything you do for Pennsylvania’s children.
– The Pre-K for PA team
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.
The Notebook: A push to expand pre-K in Pennsylvania
Ann Ward worked as an early childhood educator at Friends School Haverford for 20 years and knows how important it is for children to develop their creativity and talents early.
But she also knows that not all children have this opportunity.
“What if all people knew that they could wake up in the morning and be assured that their child would be in a program that was meeting all of his or her developmental needs?” she said. “Just think of the sense of well-being and peace that people could have in a community when children are taken care of.”
This vision is what led Ward to become an active volunteer for Pre-K for PA, a statewide coalition formed to expand access to early education for all families, especially those most in need.
Read more at the source.
by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children:
Across the commonwealth this month, Pennsylvania’s high school seniors are proudly donning caps and gowns and standing with their classmates and teachers as they accept their diplomas – a huge accomplishment.
We know (thanks to volumes of research) that high-quality pre-k is a solid foundation for a great education. High-quality pre-k greatly increases the likelihood of high school graduation and college enrollment, in turn leading to stronger employment opportunities and increased lifetime earning potential.
That’s why the work we are doing as part of the statewide, non-partisan Pre-K for PA campaign is so important.
We are proud of the commonwealth’s high school graduates and equally proud of the support people like you are showing in the effort to increase access to high-quality pre-k for every 3- and 4-year-old in Pennsylvania. With your support, we can help ensure Pennsylvania will have many more high school graduates to celebrate in the future – graduates that benefitted from high-quality-pre-k.
If you know someone who hasn’t already signed on as a supporter of the Pre-K for PA campaign, please forward this message to them.
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