Letter: Investing in kids reaps lasting benefit

April 3-9 marks the annual celebration of the Week of the Young Child, and gives us an opportunity to highlight the importance of families, early childhood professionals, and communities working together to support every child’s healthy development and learning.
Researchers have found that high-quality early childhood education fosters a child’s cognitive, social-emotional and physical development. Early educators provide nurturing and consistent care, develop lasting relationships with families and prepare children with the skills they need to enter school eager to learn. Long-term studies of such programs demonstrate that they help build a solid foundation for a child’s later success in school and in life.

When we invest in young children by providing affordable opportunities for early education, we reap benefits that are long lasting and widespread. These include better schools, a more educated workforce and less crime — positive results for the whole community.
Last year, the Legislature and Governor Romney made a historic commitment to the state’s young children and families by creating a new Board and consolidated Department of Early Education and Care.

This year, a bipartisan group of 132 legislators, including Senator Creem and Representatives Balser, Khan and Koutoujian, filed legislation that builds on this commitment.

An Act Establishing Early Education For All would create and implement voluntary, universally accessible, high-quality early childhood education for all preschool-aged children in the commonwealth. The bill includes high-quality program standards and a workforce development system, to ensure that well-qualified and compensated early educators will be available to staff the programs.

Please join in celebrating the Week of the Young Child by thanking our state Legislators for their commitment to early education and by urging the Governor to support the Early Education for All legislation. Let’s give every child in Massachusetts the opportunity to reap the benefits that high-quality early education offers.