As the nation and Iowa struggle through an economic crisis, a new administration and Congress are making choices for our future. The right choice to strengthen our economy is to invest in children.
It is imperative that high-quality, affordable and accessible early-childhood education becomes a priority in state and national investments and policymaking. Focusing our efforts on early-childhood education at the grass-roots level, at the state level and on a national stage will ensure the strength of America today and in the future.
The economic-recovery package passed by Congress wisely invests in child care and Head Start.
We commend the Register for its reporting over the past few months on the world-class schools that can be found in other countries. Iowa's children deserve world-class schools as well, and in particular, an emphasis on providing outstanding early-childhood education.
James Heckman of the University of Chicago and Arthur Rolnick of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota are among some of our nation's top economists who agree that investment in early-childhood education leads to a significant return. It lays the foundation for children to succeed in school, work and life.
Iowa has invested in early-childhood education over the past years through the Universal Voluntary Preschool Program and Community Empowerment, among other initiatives. These are examples of investments working to provide young children with the best possible foundation for their later learning. In Iowa, Early Childhood Iowa is a coalition of state and local leaders, policymakers and partners who promote best practices for young children and their families. The group's vision - Every child, beginning at birth, will be healthy and successful - will be met only when we provide young children and their families with the foundational supports they need.
The Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children strongly believes that our nation cannot wait any longer to make a high-quality, well-financed system of early-childhood education a priority in every state and community. Investments in the Child Care & Development Block Grant and for Head Start help hardworking families, while saving future expenses for them and the nation. For eight years, early-childhood education was not adequately funded at the federal level, yet costs to run and maintain child-care facilities and early-learning programs have increased at a faster rate than inflation. We applaud the new administration and Congress for significantly supporting the needs of young children and their families in the stimulus package.
Here in Iowa, families have been hit hard, not only with the economic downturn, but with the natural disasters of 2008, both tornadoes and flooding. When parents lose their jobs and families are hurt, child care and early-education programs are also affected. Family child-care providers who lose two paying families (because parents are out of work) may experience a loss of more than 75 percent of their total income. Child-care programs throughout the state say they're laying off teachers because their enrollment numbers are lower. Iowa needs to continue to expand eligibility for child-care assistance and improve reimbursements and supports to providers to enhance the quality of their programs, particularly for those who serve low-income families.