Pre-K

A recent study in Early Education and Development looks at what skills parents believe their children must have in order to be kindergarten-ready.

As the Senate debates whether to cut some Head Start funding from the stimulus package, let's zoom in on Early Head Start for a minute.

In a speech Tuesday morning about the state of education in California, state schools chief Jack O'Connell described the current condition of California schools as "precarious." He is hardly exaggerating. California's budget deficit sits at $41.6 billion, and O'Connell said education may be cut by $10 billion.

One program slated for the budget axe in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed 2010 budget is First 5, a program that funds a wide range of early childhood programs, including preschools, health services, and parent collaboration programs. The governor's budget eliminates funding for the state-wide First 5 commission, which has been receiving 20 percent of the money authorized for the First 5 program. (That allocation is used primarily for media campaigns and program coordination.) The budget also halves funding for the 58 local commissions, which are responsible for determining exactly where money should be spent and disbursing funds. The governor said he plans to redirect the $275 million saved by these cuts to other state programs that serve children.

This is the latest blow to First 5, a program that has struggled in recent years to retain credibility in the eyes of policymakers and the public. Indeed, this is not just about the fate of First 5, but about how to structure services for young children generally.

It’s easy to say we should invest in children. But it’s harder to get a bunch of disparate, unwieldy groups together to speak with one voice as they clamor for funding. Think of the sound of cooped chickens clucking for, well, scraps.*

A new coalition was born last month to turn the cacaphony into a clarion call for help. The Children’s Leadership Council was launched in December representing 36 organizations, from the After School Alliance to Zero to Three.

“We’ve not attained anywhere near as much as we could if we used different strategies,” said William Bentley, president and chief executive for Voices for America’s Children, which is a member of the leadership council. He made his remarks while introducing the coalition at the January meeting of the Invest in Kids Working Group at the Partnership for America’s Economic Success.

From an editorial in today's New York Times:

Federal help also could keep states from rushing into short-term fixes that could have bad long-term consequences. Pre-kindergarten programs save enormous amounts of money later on because as the students age they are less likely to repeat a grade, need special education or get involved with the justice system.

By 2030, more than 20 percent of the U.S. population will be Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They will be key members of the next generation.

As policy makers pore over stimulus proposals, it's time to talk about building projects -- about putting people to work as soon as possible constructing new facilities and renovating crumbling ones. So far, the House Appropriations Committee has suggested spending $14 billion on K-12 school construction. We've argued that it makes good sense to spend stimulus money on building facilities -- and we want to stress that early childhood facilities must be included in the mix.

Last week, the National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) released the results of its six-year effort to review and synthesize all available research about what works in preparing young children, from birth to age 5, to read.

Education secretary-designate Arne Duncan faced some not-so-tough grilling from senators in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee yesterday morning. In his prepared remarks, Mr. Duncan highlighted early education:

Americans aren't the only ones expecting national-level policy changes in early childhood education. In England, schools are preparing for what could be the biggest shake-up in primary education in decades, according to news reports. In early December, Sir Jim Rose, an advisor to English Schools Secretary Ed Balls, issued an interim report on the state of English primary education. His recommendation: Shift away from teaching about discrete subjects and introduce more opportunities for children to play and develop cognitive and motor skills.

The final recommendations of the Rose Review, as his report is called, are not expected until later this year and, if accepted by the government, they won't be in place until 2011. But, the new ideas have already caused a stir in England. Not only do they represent a major shift away from the National Curriculum of 1988, a set of concepts that are supposed to guide the instruction of all English students beginning in preschool. These changes come with a concerted emphasis on early education and early education alignment. On that last point, especially, U.S. policymakers should take note.