Tim Kaine's Pre-K Plan

The Washington Examiner recently ran a story on Tim Kaine's pre-K plan for Virginia.  http://www.dcexaminer.com/articles/2005/09/29/news/n_virginia_news/05newsv29kaine.txt

Below is an editorial I wrote about the plan:

In Alexandria, Virginia, almost fifty percent of children show up to kindergarten without any preschool-like experiences.  Anecdotal and hard data tell us the kids without pre-kindergarten have a harder time in school.  We all know the parable about teaching a man to fish.  Well, pre-school is fishing 101.  Any child not given the best chance represents a failure for all of us.  Fifty percent not given that chance, when we know we could do better, is unconscionable.

As the parent of a three-year-old and a one-year-old, I am deeply impressed by Tim Kaine's "Strong Start" plan for universal four-year-old pre-kindergarten.  Not only does it demonstrate he cares deeply about my children and those of every Virginia family, it shows that Kaine's focus is on the long-term success of our state and our children.  Kaine could have ignored the years of early education research and just said it costs too much.  But he didn't do that.  He studied the facts, thought about the kids of Virginia and put the future of our state first. 

The Strong Start plan says a lot about how Kaine would govern.  Kaine's plan asks each community to help craft the approaches that make the most sense for them.  And it does not mandate pre-kindergarten or set up a government-only system; it strengthens the existing network of public and private providers, including churches and local co-ops, and leaves choices in the hands of parents.  As a parent, this gives me great confidence in his priorities and governing style.

Reams of research about brain development conclude that pre-kindergarten makes sense.  Most of the brain's foundation for learning develops before the age of five.  If we don't ensure children have the proper foundation, we are shortchanging them before they even walk into an elementary school.

Even without all the studies, many parents intuitively know all of this.  We see how fast our children learn; how they surprise us with new words, phrases and ideas. And many of us have seen kids interact with children of the same age who have not had access to the same amount of reading or brain stimulation.  We know children who don't know a few basic letters or colors, or that can't identify a frog or turtle.  More and more research says that the brain learns how to sort and organize information by the age of five.  For parents, it doesn't take over forty years of research to know that, we see it happening every day.

Unfortunately, many children are left behind. Many families don't have access to pre-K.  Head Start serves the very poor. However, the low-income requirements and marginalized funding for Head Start mean many families can't use it.  While higher income families often provide pre-school experiences for their children, there is a large group in the middle that has very few options. 

Every child should have access to the best education and the greatest opportunity to succeed.  If we truly want every child to meet the annually increasing testing requirements of No Child Left Behind or to meet Virginia’s standards of learning, we have to embrace pre-K education for everybody.

Over the long-term, pre-K will save us money. Multiple studies show that dollars invested in pre-kindergarten save many, many more government dollars later as these children are less likely to get into trouble or require government services.  In addition, pre-k strengthens the economy by expanding the number of highly qualified employees. All of this is why business leaders, police officers, juvenile court judges, economists and even the Federal Reserve talk about the value of early education programs.

Kaine's proposal represents the type of long-term, strategic choice I wish we were called to make more often.  Given how easy it is for campaigns to focus on the short-term during gubernatorial races, Kaine's plan for long-term educational success is nothing, if not bold. Kaine has spelled out a plan for the long-term competitiveness and fiscal strength of Virginia.  With his compassion for our children and optimistic plan for their future success, Kaine has demonstrated his ability to lead.

1:56:49 PM