NEWS ROOM
Local Leaders Celebrate New Pre-K Counts Classroom
Somerset County Commissioners and other local leaders visited a new Head Start expansion classroom at the Turkeyfoot Valley Area School District. The Commissioners were joined by Turkeyfoot Valley Area School District and Tableland Services officials, as well as Head Start students to mark the new classrooms with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
State Leaders & Families Celebrate New Pre-K Counts Classroom
Pennsylvania State Senator Camera Bartolotta and staff from Representative Tim O’Neal’s office joined Blueprints for a visit to the new Pre-K Counts expansion classroom in the Frank Sarris Public Library. They were joined by the CEO of Blueprints, Darlene Bigler, the Executive Director of the library, Peggy Tseng, and Vice Chair of the Library Board of Trustees, Marsha Blanco, staff from Blueprints, WQED, and Trying Together, and pre-k students and families to mark the new classroom with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
York Daily Record: Op-Ed: Early Childhood Education: An Investment Worth Making
The Republican budget that has passed the House and been forwarded to the Senate – a budget crafted without Democratic input or support – would dramatically reduce the early learning funding increases proposed by Wolf. It is my hope that we’ll be able to find a way to put those increases back in a final budget.
Sunbury Daily Item: Editorial: Pre-k Puts Kids in Better Place
Lawmakers often say they are working to make the world a better place for our children. If that’s the case, members of the state Legislature should take a close look at a proposal by Gov. Tom Wolf to boost pre-kindergarten funding by $75 million in the next state budget.
Morning Call: Your View by retired Allentown police chief: ‘Spend more on potential, less on penitentiaries’
Pennsylvania’s law enforcement professionals are tough on criminals because it is their job and their mission, but we know that safer communities start with diverting youth from lives of crime in the first place. We can fight crime by assuring that each Pennsylvania child earns a high school diploma and grows up to lead a productive, law-abiding life. This path demands a continuum of public investment in childhood, building a foundation of success from birth through graduation.
PennLive: OpEd: Investing in early childhood education reduces crime and saves taxpayer dollars | Opinion
At-risk children face so many challenges throughout their lives. One of the greatest accomplishments they can attain that dramatically reduces their likelihood of engaging in criminal activity is graduation from high school.We can help start them on the right path to a high school diploma and give their parents some of the skills that they may not have learned in their own childhood by providing these children with access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-kindergarten programs.
MEDIA CONTACT
Kate Philips
215-850-4647
kphilips@prekforpa.org
EARLY EDUCATION EXPERTS
If you are a reporter looking for comment or background from one of our early education experts, please Kate Philips at kphilips@prekforpa.org.
LOGO FILES
Sharon Herald: Pre-K Counts classroom helps meet community’s education needs
Gathered in the Pre-K Counts Classroom, a group of young children listened intently Tuesday moprning as state Rep. Mark Longietti read a story about a witch.
Gov. Wolf visits Allentown’s Volunteers of America Children’s Center
On Friday, Sept. 9, Governor Tom Wolf joined childhood advocates and state lawmakers to highlight his accomplishments in increased funding for early childhood education during a visit to the Volunteers of America Children’s Center in Allentown.


