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Isles want state
aid for kids
A poll shows support for
government-subsidized preschool
Eight out of 10 Hawaii residents consider preschool a key to academic success and believe the state should make it affordable to all children, according to a poll released yesterday.
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"Right now, about half of our entering kindergarten students start school up to two years behind, and often never catch up," said Alex Harris, policy director for the alliance, which is working with partners in the School Readiness Task Force in hopes of expanding access to early childhood education.
"Not surprisingly, this is because only half can afford preschool now or are eligible for programs like Head Start," he said. "Universal preschool will close the achievement gap between high- and low-income students before it even begins."
The poll found that 83 percent of respondents believe preschool boosts academic achievement and 78 percent believe the state should provide subsidies so all parents can afford to send their children to the preschool of their choice. Sixty percent were even willing to pay more taxes if the money went toward universal preschool. The poll has a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percent.
The state's Open Doors program, which provides financial help to low-income families for preschool, serves just 7 percent of the eligible population, and its funding has remained flat at $3.5 million since it was created 15 years ago, Harris said. High-quality preschool programs cost an average of $517 a month in Hawaii, he said, so a family with one child must earn $59,466 to afford the full cost of preschool.
After the debate over education reform in the last legislative session, sentiment seems to be building on both sides of the political aisle to give some attention to the early years.
Gov. Linda Lingle's senior policy adviser, Linda Smith, said yesterday the administration is considering the issue closely.
"The governor feels that early childhood education is an area that has bipartisan support," she said. "It is one area where we're taking a look at both legislative and funding initiatives."
At a School Readiness Summit earlier this month in Waikiki, the governor said longitudinal studies show that investing in early education helps produce students who attend school and graduate at higher rates and are more likely to become contributing members of society.
Sen. Brian Kanno (D, Kalaeloa-Makakilo) said yesterday he will introduce legislation to subsidize parents on a sliding scale according to income so they can afford a high-quality preschool of their choice. Already 55 percent of children in Hawaii do attend preschool, he said, so it's a matter of reaching the gap group of low- and middle-income children who don't already qualify for help through Open Doors, or other programs such as Head Start.
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"It is absolutely a priority," he said. "People have to understand the critical nature of preschool. People may think of it as play or child care, but it's really a key part of a child's educational development."
"All of the research about how much babies' brains develop before they're 5 -- it's so overwhelming," he said. "In some cases it's use it or lose it. That's kind of scary when you think about it."
David Lawrence Jr., president of the Early Childhood Initiative Foundation, told last month's summit in Waikiki that support for making preschool available to all is growing state by state. Georgia already offers it, and Florida and Oklahoma are following suit, he said. A century ago, kindergarten used to be considered unnecessary and even "anti-family," he noted, but is now a basic expectation for every 5-year-old.
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a national organization of police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and victims of violence, highlighted the link between preschool and positive social behavior at a news conference last month in Washington, D.C.
"There is no substitute for tough law enforcement," said Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, board chairman of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. "But by investing now in pre-kindergarten to give kids the right start in life, we can dramatically decrease the chance that you or someone you love will become a victim of violence."
He cited a 22-year study of the High/Scope Perry Preschool in Ypsilanti, Mich. At-risk 3- and 4-year-olds that were left out of the program were five times more likely to become chronic lawbreakers by the time they reached adulthood than kids in the program. By reducing crime, welfare and other costs, the program saved $7 for every $1 invested.