QUALITY PRE-KINDERGARTEN FOR ALL
WHEREAS, access to quality early learning
opportunities for all children, from infancy to 5 years-old, can only be
accomplished through a strong partnership of parents, early childhood advocates,
educators, policy makers, private and faith-based providers, community and
business leaders, and elected officials; and
WHEREAS,
the school readiness problem that exists in K-12 education
affects children of every income, cultural, language, disability and social
background; and
WHEREAS,
repeating grades, rising remedial training, and struggling students are
common symptoms of the growing school readiness problem in K-12; and
WHEREAS,
there can be a greater impact on later academic success by providing quality
pre-kindergarten education opportunities; and
WHEREAS,
only 50 percent of our nation’s three and four-year olds are enrolled in
high quality pre-kindergarten programs; and
WHEREAS,
research has shown that pre-kindergarten education (usually 3 and 4
year-olds) increases educational success and adult productivity including
increasing cognitive abilities and achievement, improves social behavior,
increases educational attainment, and increases employment, earnings and tax
revenue as well as decreases the costs of government for schooling, social
services, crime and health care; and
WHEREAS,
results from one of the major pre-school studies indicates that those, who
where enrolled in a quality pre-school program, when at the age of 27 were
three times more likely to own their own home, twice as likely never to be on
welfare, four times more likely t/o be earning more than $2,000 per month, and
have half as many arrests as those who did not participate; and
WHEREAS,
nearly 90 percent of the nation’s voters support the view that there needs
to be governmental support for pre-school programs so that all parents can
afford to enroll their children in high quality programs; and
WHEREAS,
pre-kindergarten programs are being included as part of court decisions
involving state education funding adequacy cases; and
WHEREAS,
lack of access to quality pre-kindergarten programs results in lost
economic growth to cities, lower worker productivity, and increased costs to
government,
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the
federal and state governments to establish policies and funding to assist in
the funding of quality pre-school education programs for all children; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S.
Conference of Mayors calls on increased funding for Head Start to expand the
number of children who can participate and increase the salaries paid to the
program’s teachers and aides;
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors encourages the
funding of programs at the state and federal level to help educate, train and
retain good preschool programs and staff, including support for higher
education and better compensation so staff remain in the field of early
childhood education; and
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors supports quality
pre-kindergarten education programs for all as a common standard for every
child throughout the United States.
©2004 U.S. Conference of Mayors 