Early Childhood Education
April 2011 PFT protest outside of Gov. Corbett's Pittsburgh office.
There may be no program in the Pittsburgh Public Schools that holds more promise for children than the district’s Early Childhood Program. And just like the young children in those classrooms, there is no program that is more vulnerable to the budget periodic budget cuts from Harrisburg or the boasting of record investments that don't move salaries forward.
Two truths make this situation doubly sickening. First, high quality early childhood programs make a dramatic difference in the lives of children. Second, it is completely unnecessary to rob these children of this opportunity to be successful. Pennsylvania could provide adequate funding if it chose to. It looks like it won’t. The PFT has been at the forefront of the local effort to make preK available and accessible to every 3- and 4-year-old in Pittsburgh.
A study conducted by Westat for the Pittsburgh Public Schools concluded that, “First-grade children who attended the district’s pre-kindergarten program had significantly higher reading and math outcomes than first-graders who had an unknown pre-kindergarten arrangement.” The conclusion was true across subgroups, including African American children and disadvantaged subgroups.
This simple and verified “reading and math” reality is the beginning of a series of developmental events that leads to success.
In the short-term, high quality early childhood education helps in the following ways:
In the long-term, high quality early childhood education helps in the following ways:
A dollar spent on early childhood education saves $3 to $17 in societal benefits later in life.
CCEU members believe:
Corporations are getting a free ride—paid for by the lost opportunity of three and four-year olds in Pittsburgh. CCEU members believe that is wrong and we are fighting to restore hope for Pittsburgh’s children.
Two truths make this situation doubly sickening. First, high quality early childhood programs make a dramatic difference in the lives of children. Second, it is completely unnecessary to rob these children of this opportunity to be successful. Pennsylvania could provide adequate funding if it chose to. It looks like it won’t. The PFT has been at the forefront of the local effort to make preK available and accessible to every 3- and 4-year-old in Pittsburgh.
A study conducted by Westat for the Pittsburgh Public Schools concluded that, “First-grade children who attended the district’s pre-kindergarten program had significantly higher reading and math outcomes than first-graders who had an unknown pre-kindergarten arrangement.” The conclusion was true across subgroups, including African American children and disadvantaged subgroups.
This simple and verified “reading and math” reality is the beginning of a series of developmental events that leads to success.
In the short-term, high quality early childhood education helps in the following ways:
- Increases learning
- Aids social development
- Increases readiness for school
- Narrows the achievement gap between African American and white students
- Increases access to health and dental care
In the long-term, high quality early childhood education helps in the following ways:
- Reduces grade retention
- Reduces drop-out rates
- Reduces crime
- Increases high school graduation rates
- Increases life-time earnings
- Increases college attendance
A dollar spent on early childhood education saves $3 to $17 in societal benefits later in life.
CCEU members believe:
- Early childhood programs are essential to the health and development of our children
- Early childhood teachers deserve the same status, pay, and benefits as school-age teachers
- Pennsylvania can support the educational programs that are going to make the biggest difference in the lives of children
- Pennsylvania can choose to build productive lives instead of building prisons
- Pennsylvania could close the Delaware loophole that allows PA-based corporations to pay no taxes in this state
- Pennsylvania could insist that Texas gas companies treat our environment with care and pay taxes on the billions of dollars they are earning from Marcellus Shale drilling.
Corporations are getting a free ride—paid for by the lost opportunity of three and four-year olds in Pittsburgh. CCEU members believe that is wrong and we are fighting to restore hope for Pittsburgh’s children.