OPINION PAGES

As a Pennsylvania pediatrician for the past 25 years, I’ve seen thousands of children grow up in the commonwealth. And I’ve seen how their well-being can be impacted not only by their health, but also by their opportunities —particularly their opportunities to learn.

In the United States, we do a smash-up job of putting people behind bars – we have the highest incarceration rate on the planet, with 22 percent of the world’s prisoners and only 4 percent of its population – but we do only a fair-to-middling job in providing education that might have kept some of those inmates out of the prison system in the first place.

Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed expansion of pre-kindergarten education got an assist Tuesday from some unexpected boosters: district attorneys who see future crime reductions and cost savings from the plan.

At a recent budget hearing, a senator asked, “If you were to advise us as to an investment that we should be making in another agency, in another part of government, that would impact what you do, change the outcome of what you do, what would you recommend?” My answer was easy: early childhood education programs.

Much of what is written in this space every day can be debated. But there is no debate when it comes to the importance of educating our children. These days, the lack of a good education is not just a ticket to the limited future; too often, it is a one-way ticket to nowhere.

Debate in Harrisburg will soon begin in earnest to adopt a state budget for fiscal year 2015-16, and education funding will be front and center. Among the proposals being sought by Gov. Tom Wolf is increased funding for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, an initiative that recently attracted outspoken support from some unusual kindergarten bedfellows: The law enforcement community.

DENNIS L. BENCHOFF|SPECIAL TO LNP
When we marvel at precision-guided munitions hitting a small target from miles or even hundreds of miles away, we should note that somewhere in that chain of events are highly skilled soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines who made it happen. Just as civilian employment has become increasingly high-tech, so too has military service.

Debate in Harrisburg will soon begin in earnest to adopt a state budget for fiscal year 2015-16, and education funding will be front and center.

Debate in Harrisburg will soon begin in earnest to adopt a state budget for fiscal year 2015-16, and education funding will be front and center. Among the proposals being sought by Gov. Tom Wolf is increased funding for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, an initiative that recently attracted outspoken support from some unusual kindergarten bedfellows: the law enforcement community.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s call to boost preschool education funding by $120 million statewide received Republican support Monday at a Head Start center in Lancaster.