This morning, the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee held a public hearing on Senate Bill 6759. The bill would begin work to include early learning in basic education. Doing so would elevate Washington’s commitment to the preparation of young children for kindergarten. Studies show that children who show up ready for kindergarten are more successful in school and life.
Bonnie Beukema, deputy director, helped organize a group of early learning advocates to submit testimony on the legislation.
LEV Foundation Board member Yaffa Maritz testified that:
As a researcher, I understand the critical importance of the early years to cognitive development. Dr. Pat Kuhl’s research from the University of Washington Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences on language development proves that kids from diverse backgrounds come to school with huge differences in the richness of their vocabulary. These are significant differences – more than million words. These differences put at-risk children at a great disadvantage right from the start.
Since we can’t very easily change home environment, we can at least as a civil society offer equal opportunities as early as possible for kids to help close the inequality gap.
Ensuring that every child in need attends quality preK would help close the inequality gap and help ensure children arrive to kindergarten ready to succeed.
Click here for Yaffa’s full testimony.
Janet Levinger, who serves on the boards of United Way of King County, Social Venture Partners, the League of Education Voters, Child Care Resources, and the Bellevue Schools Foundation, said:
Research from prominent economists has shows that for every dollar invested in high quality PreK saves taxpayers up to $7 later. Not only are there savings from remedial and juvenile justice programs, but over the long-term, these kids are more likely to graduate from high school, gain stable employment, and contribute positively to our community.
Protecting PreK investments would ensure that the program could not be cut and that all eligible children would be served.
Click here for Janet’s full testimony.
And, Emma Margraf submitted a copy of her testimony to the committee. As a new foster parent, she has a unique perspective on the importance of early learning.
If all at-risk children were guaranteed quality preK, my foster daughter would be leaps and bounds ahead of where she is right now. There would be no waiting lists. Parents and caregivers would not need to struggle to find quality. The State would save a lot of money. And, guess what? At-risk children would be much further ahead – where they deserve to be.
There are 19,000 other children in foster care in Washington State with stories like hers, and they need us to support them with real education FROM THE START in order to become productive citizens. Without our hard work right now, they won’t have the foundation to be the people they want to be.
