I haven’t been that involved in advocacy for Pre-Kindergarten. A few years ago, when I helped organize a coalition to constructively respond to local school improvement proposals, our group fervently agreed that “Universal Pre-K” was a critical priority to improve educational opportunities for all kids. There were some interesting discussions about what that might look like and how expansion doesn’t necessarily mean adding Pre-K to our public schools but supporting and building on existing high quality independent pre-school programs.
In an article earlier this month in the Washington Post, Marci Young of Pre-K Now lays out why this education reform strategy should be put into place without further delay. Pre-K has “50 years of solid research behind it” and “proven results that demonstrate how to improve student achievement. It’s a solution backed by both political parties to help narrow the achievement gap, increase high school graduation rates and reduce crime and delinquency. It’s an investment proven to yield up to $7 for every public dollar invested, paying dividends to families, school districts and taxpayers.”
Here in Vermont, the Kids are Priority One Coalition does excellent work to advance this critical goal. I’m excited that Governor-Elect Shumlin has articulated early education as one of his top priorities.
Dec 20, 2010 @ 11:31:45
The research Ms. Young talks about were small scale programs done on highly disadvantaged children. She and the UPK advocates are overgeneralizing the benefits to the larger population. What the studies do show is that we will receive the largest return on investment if we target publicly funded preschool to the children with the greatest need.