Early education opens doors
The Cape Cod Times, Op-Ed by Andrea Silbert, July 4, 2008

Gov. Deval Patrick and his Job Readiness Task Force have just presented the citizens of Massachusetts with a bold, reform-oriented vision for education in the 21st century. The plan puts children's needs first and foremost, while strategically focusing resources where they will generate the greatest return on investment for the commonwealth.

By the time a child is 3 years old, the architecture of the brain is nearly 90 percent developed, setting the foundation for all future learning, behavior and health. Yet too often, past discussions of education policy have started at kindergarten. Gov. Patrick's plan recognizes the importance of starting at birth and getting kids ready to succeed in school.

The plan calls for universal, high-quality pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten, beginning in high-needs districts. It also will create a task force to establish a statewide birth-to-school-age strategy to ensure the healthy development of children, particularly those from low-income families, and will establish a Commonwealth Child and Youth Readiness Cabinet, an intergovernmental agency responsible for developing and implementing a shared vision to advance the health and well-being of all children and youth.

These steps will aid all children in Massachusetts, but are particularly crucial for the one of four children in Massachusetts who live in low-income households. At age 3, children from high-income families have vocabularies averaging 1,100 words, while middle-income kids have 750 words and low-income children only 480. These differences not only persist but increase as a child ages. One study finds that half of the "achievement gap" between high- and low-income students in the 12th grade can be attributed to disparities going back as early as first grade.

Fortunately, there is a solution. Research indicates that low-income children who participate in high-quality early childhood education are 40 percent less likely to need special education services or be held back a grade, 30 percent more likely to graduate from high school, and twice as likely to go to college. Middle-income children, who also lag in school preparedness and may have less access to high-quality early education than either than low- or high-income peers, will also benefit tremendously from Gov. Patrick's plan.

In fact, all taxpayers in Massachusetts will benefit, since early education is one of the best investments we can make as a society. For every dollar spent on high-quality early education, studies have shown a cost savings of up to $7. On Cape Cod, which struggles to meet the needs of working families, early education provides a double boost by simultaneously training tomorrow's leaders and helping meet the needs of today's parents.

Just over two years ago, the Cape Cod Times called for the creation of "a blueprint for building the region's capacity to provide affordable, high-quality child care." From that challenge, the Barnstable County Commission released a blueprint last December titled "Child Care: Key to Keeping Working Families on Cape Cod."

Indeed, in a region that struggles to retain working families, providing access to high-quality early education will greatly benefit our children, work force and economy. Gov. Patrick's call for universal pre-kindergarten can't come quickly enough, so let's do all we can to support this vision and encourage the governor and the Legislature to continue keeping our commonwealth's children at the center of education reform.

Andrea Silbert of Harwich is president of the Eos Foundation and served on the Leadership Council of Gov. Patrick's Job Readiness Task Force as well as the Early Education and Care subcommittee.