OPINION PAGES
Sunbury Daily Item: Letter to the Editor: Commitment to Early Learning
Letter to the Editor by Joanne Troutman, President/CEO of Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way
Scranton Times-Tribune: Letter to the Editor: Pre-k Expansion
Editor: As we all know, a quality education in the very early years is the best gift we can give to our children to succeed in life.
Post-Gazette: Op-ed: The Academic Medal Count
But increasingly, we athletes worry that the United States is winning the Olympic medal count but losing the academic medal count. In Rio, America’s 121 medals vastly outpaced second-place China. However, our children’s 2012 international academic scores ranked 35th in math and 27th in science.
Centre Daily Times: Op-ed: Helping students find success starts at a young age
According to a new report from ReadyNation, more than 170,000 positions in Pennsylvania will not be filled with in-state employees possessing the educational credentials their employers seek. Businesses spend about $188.9 million each year on retraining employees, and about 56 percent of employers expect the recruiting problem to worsen.
The Sentinel: Book: Early STEM funding key to state’s workforce
Pennsylvania has a long tradition of investing in high-quality early childhood education, but it’s not enough. While Pennsylvania’s recently enacted state budget for 2016-17 will allow 6,200 additional children to enroll for a full year, about 70 percent of PA’s income-eligible three- and four-year olds do not have access because of inadequate funding. That’s 120,000 young children each year who might lack learning experiences in math and science fundamentals.
Philly.com: Letter to the Editor: State Funds Also Needed for Phila Pre-k
While the passage of the soda tax is good news for Philadelphia’s pre-K children, Mayor Kenney’s plan to serve 10,000 children counts on additional funding from the state.
Reading Eagle: Letter to the Editor: Pre-k Programs Need More Funding
We must find a way to invest more in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our young children. The need is still so great.
Indiana Gazette: Letter to the Editor: Pre-K now can help prevent crime later
Increased pre-K and targeted home visiting investments will help more children grow up to be good neighbors and good citizens and ultimately reduce taxpayer expense. I urge our legislators to support their inclusion in next year’s state budget.
Indiana Gazette: Letter to the Editor: Pre-k Now Can Help Prevent Crime Later
When it comes to fighting crime, we can pay now or pay much more later on. In Pennsylvania, we spend $2.2 billion a year on state prisons, and that doesn’t even include county jails. We can reduce that “back end” expenditure with upfront investments that help at-risk children grow up healthy and confident, away from crime and toward productive lives.
PennLive.com: Editorial: Legislature, Wolf should act responsibly on funding for pre-k programs
And as important as the billions of dollars the state spends annually on kindergarten through 12th grade education and higher education are, the money it spends on its youngest Pennsylvania, those aged three and four years old, are critical for future success.
