It is perhaps one of the biggest no-brainers: Early education makes a lasting diff erence for kids - who have a tendency to grow into adults - and for our communities and nation.
Education solves problems. Poor education and a lack of educational opportunities create them.
Arkansas was recently ranked 36th among states in education in the AnneE. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count Data Book, showing improvement in the number of kids attending preschools.
We - and more importantly, education researchers - areconvinced early educational intervention is crucial to positively influencing the future of any state.
That effort took a bit of a hit in Northwest Arkansas last week.
In Carroll and Madison counties, federal budget cuts will mean 75 fewer openings for preschool-age children in Head Start programs. Oft cials recently confirmed a home-based program in Madison County that serves 60 children will end and 15 slots for youngsters will be cut from the Green Forest Head Start center. That’s the result of losing $190,000 in federal money.
Washington County is also feeling the pinch.
The Economic Opportunity Agency of Washington County decided to close the Willow Heights Center in Fayetteville and shut down a Lincoln classroom because of a $155,000 loss in federal funding. The decision means 66 positions - that’s children - will not get into the pre-K program in the coming year.
Laura Kellams, an advocate for such programs and a board member of the Washington County agency, pointed out a reality: “The federal cuts have real consequences for real people.”
Indeed, they do.
Arkansas can be proud of its recent gains in education, but this news represents a step backward. The state can ill-afford to lose ground.
Continued investment in the education of the state’s population is the only way to advance Arkansas toward a brighter future.
Not every parent is willing or capable of promoting the value of learning at home, making the availability of early education programs critical. The state and its taxpayers will pay for uneducated residents for decades to come, but an educated youngster instilled with a drive to learn will become a part of the solution.
Our public schools pay a price when early childhood education isn’t present, as teachers there have to devote time and energy to helping kids catch up. People without education are more likely to become burdens on society, through unemployment, prisons or government assistance programs.
We recognize the federal government cannot keep spending money it doesn’t have, but reductions to early childhood education are among the worst kinds of budget cutting we can imagine.
Cuts to Head Start, which targets low-income children, are particularly hard to accept as their options for quality pre-K are limited. Nationally, the budget cutting will reduce or eliminate services to about 70,000 children.
Is this really the way we’re going to balance the budget? These cuts are the results of the so-called sequestration, a fancy label for indecision. Our elected representatives owe Arkansas’ children better than indecision. They should be advocating for early childhood education, not allowing it to wither.
As we move toward a celebration of the nation’s birth, Congress needs to know: America deserves better for its future.
Opinion, Pages 12 on 06/30/2013