Tags: education
Tags: education
January 1, 2005
No, we didn’t forget the title on the cover of this edition of the Regional Review. In fact, after playing around with several possibilities, we concluded that the expression on this child’s face was title enough.
You name the emotion or feeling, and you can probably find it in this kid’s face. Thoughtful . . . Curious . . . Inquisitive . . . Frustrated . . . Determined.
What we see in his face, though, is a question: what’s my future? Will I get a good education? Will I get a job? Be a good friend, a good neighbor, a good parent, a good citizen?
These questions have always shaped and informed public policies and investments, and there’s no better sign of this than the billions of dollars Americans commit to public education every year, in most states starting at age five.
But there’s growing evidence — hard evidence gathered from years of study and research — that starting at age five isn’t enough. Simply put, children who fail to start school ready to learn will find it difficult to travel the path of prosperity. Not only are they more likely to fail academically, but they’re more likely to become disruptive in class, drift into delinquency, and end up with a life in crime and/or dependent on public welfare. Compounding the problem is the lack of a comprehensive “system” of early education and care to act as a safety net — unlike the safety net we provide to seniors through Social Security, or the safety net we provide to the disabled and indigent through Medicaid. For young people born into tough circumstances, the odds are often tragically stacked against them.
As the evidence gathers, early education is attracting new advocates. More and more business people, focused on the labor pipeline fueling their companies, are coming to see early education as a smart investment that pays off many times down the road — a return increased by the “social costs” avoided if a kid gets a good start to his or her education. That’s the theme of this issue — exploring the connections between early education, economic development, and ultimately, the economic future of our city, region, and state.
Just as in school, we begin with a primer — “The ABCs of Early Childhood Care and Education” — which gives you an overview of how we currently provide, pay for, and ensure quality in early education and care.
The second piece is must reading that is shaking up the thinking around the country on how we view early education and care. Art Rolnick and Rob Grunewald, economists at the Minneapolis Fed, make a case in “Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a High Public Return” that we should be comparing and measuring investments in early education against other economic development investments.
Moving on to quality, Steve Barnett of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers makes the case in “Better Teachers, Better Preschools” that teacher quality and how we ensure it are crucial considerations.
Next, Governor Rendell’s new point person for early care and education, Harriet Dichter, details the significant steps Pennsylvania has taken over the past two administrations to reach more of the state’s children. That piece is followed by “Should the United States Have Preschool for All?” — a summary of the debate on universal versus targeted preschool and where Pennsylvania falls on the scale. Next, we go local and look at the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s “Early to Learn” program, a leading civic effort to get kids ready for school.
And last, but certainly not least, we look at the remarkable commitment of one Pennsylvania company, PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., and their Grow Up Great initiative, through a speech PNC’s CEO, James E. Rohr, delivered at the annual Corporate Voices for Working Families conference in Washington last June. PNC’s 10-year, $100 million commitment is testimony to that company’s belief that investing in children not only feels good, but is good for the bottom line.
This Regional Review is only a start for understanding this issue in Pennsylvania. Nationally, new research into the economic case for early education and care is being commissioned by the respected Committee for Economic Development, in partnership with Philadelphia’s own Pew Charitable Trusts. Closer to home, PEL will continue to explore this issue, through its usual combination of research, communications and events. All of this would not be possible without our partner, The William Penn Foundation. We thank them for their support, and we look forward to more opportunities in the coming months to think about, and act on, the future of our children.
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