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Early Education
Joan L. Benso
President and CEO, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
Every Child, Every School: Success from the Start
March 12, 2003
Back to Report Home
Good afternoon. I'm Joan Benso, President and CEO of Pennsylvania
Partnerships for Children. Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
is a strong, effective, and trusted voice for improving the health,
early education, and well-being of the Commonwealth's children.
In Harrisburg and Washington, PPC voices policy solutions proven
to guide Pennsylvania's children toward lifetime success and away
from failure.
On March 25, Governor Rendell intends to give the legislature his
plan for education reforms, the reforms that he sees as his mandate
from the electorate. He expects to adopt an early childhood education
plan because it works in boosting school achievement.
The three elements of comprehensive school reform are funding equity,
adequacy, and accountability. Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
supports the drive for equity, which is critical to the fairness
of our education system. Adequacy and accountability are equally
important, because they mean that we spend well and get results.
And a key factor in adequacy and accountability is early childhood
education that includes voluntary, quality prekindergarten, full-day
kindergarten, and small class sizes in the early grades, because
they deliver results.
Today, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children releases a report
detailing the implementation of the early education continuum and
its benefits. Every Child, Every School: Success from the Start
follows a common-sense premise: That children who start school behind
stay behind, and we end up spending more on their special education,
remediation, and even later failure in life. But when kids get a
good start - when they get the enriching learning opportunities
that they're hungry for - they stay on track, and our schools perform
better.
The people of Pennsylvania want education reform. They want Pennsylvania's
schools - all schools, not just their own - to help children achieve
the potential they were born with. When schools fail, we feel discouraged,
disheartened. We see the children in them slipping away and feel
that somebody, anybody, ought to do something about it. But what?
This report details one piece of the what. State after state has
adopted early childhood education policies to fit their needs, and
the needs of their children. New Jersey's poorest children were
actually the victors in a court battle to improve education in crumbling
schools, and prekindergarten for kids in the poorest districts is
being followed by pre-K and full-day kindergarten for children higher
up the income ladder. New York is striding toward universal prekindergarten
for 4-year-olds. They and many other states have taken what is now
a truism - that learning experiences before school and in the early
school years set the stage for the education that follows - and
injected it into policy.
That offers Pennsylvania advantages and disadvantages. The advantage
is that we can learn from their experiences and incorporate their
lessons in effective policy. The disadvantage is: They are that
much more ahead of Pennsylvania. While their early childhood education
investments ripen on the vine, Pennsylvania's hasn't even been planted,
and we fall that much farther behind in the educational achievement
sweepstakes.
And make no mistake about it: The stakes are higher than ever in
the No Child Left Behind era. The federal government mandates 100
percent proficiency by every schoolchild in reading, writing, math,
and science by the year 2014 - just 11 years away. Those 11 years
are awfully close when measured in current proficiency levels; 43
percent of Pennsylvania fifth-graders are not proficient in reading,
and 47 percent are not proficient in math. And you can't just assume
that the poorest, struggling districts are the bulk of the problem.
Even in the so-called best districts, you'll find that many children
- and one is too many - fall short of proficiency on achievement
tests.
It may seem frightening, but Pennsylvania is on the brink of an
education breakthrough. The governor ran on a platform of early
childhood education. The people of Pennsylvania elected him to implement
his vision. Many legislative leaders and members have strongly supported
prekindergarten and the other elements of the early childhood education
continuum.
The stars are aligned. Pennsylvania is positioned to move ahead,
and its children are the winners.
Every Child, Every School details the accountability that
springs from prekindergarten, full-day kindergarten, and small class
sizes in the early grades. All offer better test scores, better
grades, fewer grade retentions, fewer special education and remediation
referrals. The benefits extend well beyond the actual program and
culminate in better high school graduation rates. That's what we
mean by accountability - getting an achievement bang for the educational
buck. We pay for a child's education, and we get a child's education.
For lawmakers to consider while they debate the governor's proposal,
Every Child, Every School details the best ways to implement
this early education continuum:
- High-quality prekindergarten: Pennsylvania should phase in
voluntary, universal prekindergarten for 4-year-olds, provided
in a variety of settings to fit parents' needs and encourage
community planning. To emphasize prekindergarten's educational
aspects, the state Department of Education should have oversight,
and local school districts could administer services. Phase-in
would begin with the 42 highest-poverty districts, because that's
where children most in need can be found, and extend to every
district in eight years. The effort would be primarily state
funded, with a sliding scale of local contributions implemented
in year six.
- Full-day, developmentally appropriate kindergarten: The state
should fund full-day kindergarten by including it in an overhaul
of the basic school funding formula. Currently, districts get
no extra funding for an additional half-day.
- Small class sizes in the early grades: To boost students'
report cards and test scores, even in later grades, the state
should help high-poverty districts achieve average class sizes
of 17 students in kindergarten through third grade. We calculate
that 92 districts could be included - those districts where
40 percent or more of students qualify for free and reduced-price
lunch.
While lawmakers debate early childhood education, we note that they
should also strive for education finance reform. Lawmakers should
restore equity and adequacy to education funding to further assure
the school success of every child.
Let me note, too, that early childhood education, as a policy issue,
belongs to many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Pennsylvania
Partnerships for Children has sought prekindergarten and full-day
kindergarten investments for several years, and the reception in
the Capitol has always been warm and supportive. Legislators have
embraced what science has revealed and common sense has always told
us: that young children love to learn, and the learning opportunities
we give them resonate for life.
Pennsylvania is on the verge of great things for kids. Every child
has the potential to learn and succeed, but they can't do it on
their own. They need to learn in the best possible settings - in
quality prekindergarten that fits their families' needs, in full-day
kindergarten that offers the rudimentaries of learning, and in small
class sizes through third grade that position children for school
success.
Thank you.
This Page Last Modified
August 11, 2003
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Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
116 Pine Street, Suite 430
Harrisburg, PA 17101
717-236-5680 / 800-257-2030
Fax: 717-236-7745
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