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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > June > 24 > Entry
Guest column: Cuts to early education would harm Ohio’s long-term goals
Jenni Roer is a member of the Montgomery County Family and Children First Council executive committee.
Much debate has taken place during the last few weeks on how Ohio could have done a better job of keeping NCR and the 1,200 jobs that Dayton will lose when they are moved to Georgia. The truth is, Georgia started its plans to lure companies like NCR more than 10 years ago, when it instituted universal prekindergarten for every 4-year-old.
Georgians saw what Ohioans are having difficulty seeing — that children who receive high-quality early education are 20 percent more likely to graduate from high school, 23 percent more likely to attain higher education, 50 percent less likely to become a teen parent, and significantly less likely to participate in criminal activity and become incarcerated.
Georgia’s foresight paid off. Since instituting the prekindergarten program in 1995, high school graduation rates have spiked by 10 percentage points. It is now serving 75,000 4-year-olds in its quality prekindergarten program, and a recent study by Georgia State University showed that the children who participated in Georgia’s preschool program exceeded the national norms on their overall math skills, reading skills, expressive language and letter and word recognition by the first grade.
In Ohio, we serve 18,400 children in our Public Preschool and Early Learning Initiative programs. The Strickland administration has just proposed complete elimination of early learning programs. These initiatives have prepared 12,000 low-income 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds for kindergarten during the last two-year budget cycle.
The programs address the health and cognitive-development needs of low-income children in order to give them the comprehensive services they need to break the cycle of poverty. The elimination of early learning initiatives is an example of choices that will keep us in the same position we are in today — watching as companies flee our state and wondering why our last-minute scrambling to create incentives is not effective.
True incentives are thoughtful, long-term investments that focus on research-based results. According to research conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis, each dollar invested in high-quality early care and education for low-income children returns as much as $16 in savings by enabling children to graduate from high school, go on for higher education, become gainfully employed and fuel rather than hinder the economy.
Apparently this is a lesson that Georgia has already learned, at our expense. In Columbus, Gov. Ted Strickland and the legislature need to take a close look at this budget and fund — not eliminate — programs that will build the long-term incentives that Ohio needs to keep and attract companies like NCR.
High-quality early education, particularly Ohio’s Early Learning Initiative programs, needs to be at the top of that list.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: Education, Guest Columns, Ohio politics
Comments
By Karen
June 24, 2009 10:32 PM | Link to this
Are our legislators really going to balance this budget on the backs of low-income at-risk children?By Eric
June 24, 2009 10:44 PM | Link to this
I don’t even want to think about what is going to happen to these kids. There has to be other choices.By Outraged
June 24, 2009 10:48 PM | Link to this
Why are we cutting and eliminating proven economic stimulators?By Zondra
June 25, 2009 5:46 AM | Link to this
We all need to remember when we go to the polls next NovemberBy Zondra
June 25, 2009 5:46 AM | Link to this
We all need to remember when we go to the polls next NovemberBy amanda
June 25, 2009 7:33 AM | Link to this
With the loss of valuable programs for early education, we are cutting away at our future. People will be moving out of Ohio looking for something better and obviously, if we don’t heed how important early childhood programs are, than places like Georgia who will have an impact of the lives of children deserve our businesses and citizens. Make Ohio a top notch state in this country! Keep ELI and don’t change subsidized childcare in Ohio. Don’t send our families away…By amanda
June 25, 2009 7:33 AM | Link to this
With the loss of valuable programs for early education, we are cutting away at our future. People will be moving out of Ohio looking for something better and obviously, if we don’t heed how important early childhood programs are, than places like Georgia who will have an impact of the lives of children deserve our businesses and citizens. Make Ohio a top notch state in this country! Keep ELI and don’t change subsidized childcare in Ohio. Don’t send our families away…By KSK
June 25, 2009 9:48 AM | Link to this
Unless Ohio starts investing in it’s future, we will never make a comeback.