But, this was not like any other event I can recall in all my years of working in Harrisburg. Actually, it was quite unusual. The event was designed to thank State Senator Allen Kukovich for 27 years of stellar service to the citizens of his district and the people of Pennsylvania, particularly our youngest and oldest citizens whom he served as one of their greatest champions.
The irony of the event was that it didn’t mark Senator Kukovich’s departure to serve in Congress or some other higher office — like some other good friends to Pennsylvania children will do this year, Senator Charlie Dent, Senator Allyson Schwartz, and Senator Jack Wagner. It wasn’t an event to mourn his death that would have reminded us of two other great statesmen who blazed a trail for us all, Representative James Manderino and Representative Matt Ryan.
Instead, this event was being held because Allen Kukovich had lost his race for re-election.
Senator Kukovich is best known as the architect of the Children’s Health Insurance Program and creator of the Children’s Trust Fund. But he has never rested on his laurels, and he has consistently supported children’s issues throughout his entire 27-year legislative career, including his final post as Democratic chair of the Senate Aging and Youth Committee.
Many of us “old timers” in Harrisburg can share a career of memories detailing the hard work and great fun we had with Allen by our side. But more importantly, there are the many others — children, the elderly, struggling families — who never knew him or heard of him, but who always had a tireless friend in Harrisburg when it mattered. His legacy will endure. While he will no longer serve in the legislature, we are certain that his contributions to children and their causes will continue.
When the new session of the General Assembly begins in January, the legislature will have lost one of its finest members. All of us who work on the issues that impact Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens will be searching for the kind of leadership that Senator Kukovich always delivered. His efforts were driven by a strong personal commitment to serve all Pennsylvanians, even the most vulnerable; to build partnerships and work in a bipartisan manner; and to always make good on his word. Senator Kukovich was truly a champion for Pennsylvania’s children. And now, we will need more champions who put the needs of children and their families first each day.
Edward Donley is one of Pennsylvania’s most prominent business voices for high-quality early childhood and basic education. He recently became chair of the State Board of Education’s new Committee on Early Childhood.
Background: Joined Air Products and Chemicals in 1943, becoming president in 1966 and chairman in 1978. Active in education, with numerous civic and business volunteer efforts, including: Member, Pennsylvania State Board of Education; chair, Education Policy and Leadership Center; member, U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Workforce Preparation and Quality Education; board member, Lehigh Valley Business-Education Partnership and Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation; former chair, Development Committee, Community Services for Children/Head Start.
How did your interest in early childhood education and education develop? During many years of my career in Air Products, our company was growing very rapidly. Its continued growth depended on a constant infusion of well-educated individuals in all disciplines and at all education levels. It became clear to me that enhancing the education system from pre-K through graduate school was necessary to provide rapid workforce development.
What are your primary goals in children’s advocacy? To continue this effort here in the Lehigh Valley and throughout the state and the nation.
What is your greatest success in children’s advocacy? My greatest success in children’s advocacy has been acting as a spokesperson in favor of education at all levels. In addition, supporting the development of the Donley Campus at Community Services for Children and Head Start headquarters for the Lehigh Valley has been a particularly interesting experience.
Personal: My wife, Inez, and I live in Bethlehem. Martha, our eldest child, is married to a doctor and received a doctorate herself in psychology at the University of Minnesota. Tom is a graduate of Columbia Law School and is president of the York County Chamber of Commerce. Our youngest son, John, has law and business degrees from the University of Chicago and is a partner in the law firm of Kirkland and Ellis in Chicago. We have 10 grandchildren.
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Pittsburgh, Pottstown, Hollidaysburg, Northern Lebanon
Block grant meets local education needs
The Education Accountability Block Grant provided a new opportunity for Pennsylvania’s school districts – funding that could be utilized for specific programs and strategies that research links to improvements in student achievement, including early childhood education. Before the block grant, many school districts invested in ECE with their local resources, or they had to forego it for other budget priorities.
School districts throughout Pennsylvania made ECE their top choice for block grant spending, spending two of every three block grant dollars on prekindergarten, full-day kindergarten, and small elementary class sizes. Their reasons varied according to community needs, or as one official said, “There are 501 school districts in Pennsylvania, and there are a lot of different approaches to things.” However, all were motivated by improving academic achievement and expanding opportunities for the youngest students. They included:
Prekindergarten in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Public Schools confirmed its longstanding commitment to early childhood education by directing its block grant to prekindergarten for 4-year-olds. The school district already administered a Head Start grant for two-thirds of the city of Pittsburgh, and they have offered full-day kindergarten for more than 20 years. But parents seeking quality prekindergarten still faced limited options. Many found themselves above the income limits for Head Start eligibility but unable to afford high quality private programs, or they lacked high-quality programs nearby.
When the Pittsburgh Board of Education chose to invest its entire $4 million block grant in prekindergarten programs, district officials used a Head Start community assessment to guide program placement. They strove to fill unmet needs by looking for unserved areas, programs with waiting lists, and schools with available, appropriate space. In about six weeks, from arrival of the funds in late July to school opening in mid-September, the district created 24 classrooms in 22 schools to serve 400 children, while also establishing nine new Head Start classrooms through a different funding source. Lessons learned from the region’s Early Childhood Initiative were put in place, especially those around meeting the needs of the city’s distinct communities. Quality drove all elements of planning and implementation, including adoption of a curriculum that supports the elementary curriculum.
Demand was immediate. “We put one ad in the paper, and people came out of the woodwork,” said Carol Barone-Martin, Senior Program Officer for Pre-Kindergarten Education. Today, Pittsburgh Public Schools’ prekindergarten and Head Start programs are serving 1,700 children, but the city is home to about 10,000 3- and 4-year-olds. In the future, Barone-Martin said, they would like to continue expanding and to help other community children’s programs build their learning enrichment capabilities, making quality prekindergarten and school readiness a reality for all children entering Pittsburgh schools.
Full-day K: Hollidaysburg and Pottstown
In rural Blair County, Hollidaysburg School District surveyed parents with incoming kindergartners in the 2002-03 school year, seeking their feelings about full-day kindergarten. Though full-day kindergarten had never been available, 80 percent of parents favored the idea. That same school year, district officials began planning, building a team from the existing kindergarten teachers and school administrators to coordinate curriculum, with input from elementary teachers.
When the school board voted unanimously to invest its entire block grant to convert half-day kindergarten to full-day, the district was ready. Space was already available in the three elementary schools where the programs would be sited, and seven new full-time teaching positions were created and filled. The Hollidaysburg philosophy: Use the time to boost academics while also introducing kindergartners to the school-day routine, according to Linda Russo, director of public relations/grant writer. As the first year is implemented and assessed, the district will continue to refine the program to meet academic goals and the needs of students and their families.
The Pottstown School District, in Montgomery County, is a veteran of early childhood education, having offered kindergarten for 4-year-olds, or K-4, for 10 years. But kindergarten was only a half day, so making the decision about block grant usage was a matter of taking the next logical step. “We understand the value that quality early childhood education has in the overall development of youngsters,” said John Armato, Director of Community Relations.
Pottstown is small for a suburban school district, with only 3,212 students enrolled in 2002-03, but it shoulders some challenges faced by much larger districts — for instance, a family mobility rate reaching 60 percent in some elementary schools. With full-day kindergarten, the district is striving to advance children’s development, focusing on such skills as reading and math, library work, and handwriting basics. The district is also devoting other funds to working with two longtime community partners, the YMCA and Montgomery Early Learning Centers, to reinforce academics by incorporating elements of the ECE curriculum into before- and after-school child care settings.
Small class sizes in Northern Lebanon
Northern Lebanon School District is a rural district impacted by suburban-like growth. In one of its four elementary schools, in a high-growth area, class sizes in kindergarten through second grade was as high as 26 students. Research shows that early elementary class sizes of 17 or fewer students promote higher standardized achievement scores, with gains that last at least until the ninth grade. Small class sizes also help close achievement gaps among low-income and minority students, and they result in fewer special education or disciplinary referrals.
Instilling that positive classroom environment through small class sizes had been a goal of Northern Lebanon’s summer academic enrichment program, so district officials chose to use part of their block grant for the same purpose. Now, teacher:student ratios in the rapidly growing school are 1:13 in kindergarten and 1:17 in first and second grades.
Small class sizes offer the advantage of better time management for teachers, which encourages more interaction between individual students and the teacher, and a stronger focus on student-centered instructional strategies. The classes are also focusing on basic and advanced computer training, “even at that level,” says Superintendent Dr. Don L. Bell, because “we don’t say, ‘Look at the full technology we have,’ but ‘Look at what the kids are using’.”
Northern Lebanon School District is also making sure that teachers are trained in techniques for managing small classes, assuring that the district will achieve the benefits indicated by the research. The district is using other block grant funds for professional development, including using the results from assessments of the small classes to guide teacher training efforts.
Pre-K reports commend Pennsylvania, but more can be done nationwide
Students in Pennsylvania’s high-poverty school districts are benefiting from more prekindergarten and full-day kindergarten, according to a preliminary analysis of Education Accountability Block Grant usage. Among all districts, full-day kindergarten was the most popular of the 11 block grant options, greatly expanding the number of kindergartners in full-day programs. 
I attended an event in the Capitol recently that on the face of it looked like so many other events that occur each day. Crowds filled the Rotunda and people spilled over the balconies. We all came because we’d seen a flyer or an e-mail urging us to attend. TV cameras and reporters were in attendance. And, we were all there for the same reason — wishing to send a common message of support. 
