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If you are a Leader, this message is for you

Section: Community

If you are a Leader, this message is for you:
Act 876, passed last year to assure Universal Early Childhood in Louisiana is not being implemented nor funded this year. What an unfortunate and damaging decision, both to our children and our state. If you consider yourself a leader, you must take immediate action to support the most important challenge you face – educating our young children so they can be successful students and successful citizens. You know the facts. It would be morally wrong to ignore them for another year.

Lets begin with the Louisiana’s Kids Count ranking for 2008: Based on 10 key indicators - 49th ; Child death ranking - 50th Teen Death rank - 49th; Rank of Births to teens 15 – 19: 49th Ranking of teen high school dropouts: 50th; Rank for Children in home with no working parent: 50th; Ranking for per capita income: 50th.

But you know the statistics. They have been unchanged for years. When are we as a state going to wake up and rearrange our priorities?

According to Pre K For All Louisiana, there are approximately 64,700 four year olds in Louisiana. With about half of all 4 year olds presently in some program, nearly 32,000 children are not in a program this year. In the course of five years, thousands of our children will move into kindergarten with no preparation, and even those in a program may not be fully prepared. This spells drop out in higher grades. Unless and until all of Louisiana’s four year olds are in a quality education program, their chances of succeeding in school and eventually graduating high school are minimal.

According the the Southern Education Foundation report, the strongest investment the state can make, includes increasing high school and college rates by 1% each year, adding $22 billion to the state’s economy and $2.3 billion in state revenues by 2050. I’d like to see a comparison of other industries and what their economic and social return would be in that time period.

They also showed that by expanding high quality Pre-K funding and coverage would bring a return of up to $8.00 for every dollar spent. Oddly, average life expectancy would also increase at a more rapid rate. You can read this report on their website.

Here’s more. In Louisiana there was a 95% increase in costs of adult corrections between 1985 to 2005…from $285 million to $552 million. Seventy percent of prisoners are only 40 years of age or younger. Do you want to calculate the lifetime cost of supporting these prisoners?

The 2008 Kids Count report shows Louisiana with an estimated 1200 youths in legal custody every day, 67% of them in custody for non-violent offenses. Prison is an incubator for more serious crime. It is quite possible we are educating 1200 children each day to become graduate criminals. In fact, a recent New Orleans Times-Picayune article shows Louisiana leads the U.S. in incarceration. A recent report, “Fight Crime: Invest in Kids” from the organization of thousands of police chiefs, sheriffs, and prosecutors provides “4 steps to dramatically reduce school and youth violence.” Guess what’s #1? You’ve got it: Early Childhood Education.

Our state budget was $29,803,922,791 last year. Overall spending on K – 12 education amounted roughly to 16% or $5,045,521,536. And yet only 67% of high school students graduate. What can change that is investment in early education. But you already know that. What’s keeping you from making the right decisions for our state?

Last June 2008, a team of Louisiana legislators and educators attended a symposium at Harvard where they reported their experience “startling,” according to one of the attendees with whom I spoke. They learned that between the time of conception and age 5 is the most important time for a child when 85% of brain development occurs, factors that can make or break a child’s chances of success. Where are these leaders today and why aren’t they fighting for early education?

Please do all you can to correct this harmful decision.

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