EXCERPT FROM: The Commercial Appeal
By Kevin McKenzie
Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons didn't suggest Thursday that he needed more prosecutors to fight crime; rather, he highlighted quality prekindergarten programs as a way to excite children about learning and avoid future lives of crime.
"They are not going to be stealing our cars and breaking into our homes and robbing us at gunpoint," Gibbons said. "It's that simple."
Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell echoed the point that success in school, bolstered by starting early, is a crime-fighting tool. Among inmates in the Shelby County Jail, fifth grade is the average level of education achieved, Luttrell said.
The sheriff and the district attorney lobbied for prekindergarten education during a news conference on behalf of a national nonprofit group called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids.
Mark Rogers, the Nashville-based state and regional director for the group, said it recruits law enforcement officials to make the case for research-based investments that will reduce the number of children who become involved in crime.
In this case, convincing state and federal officials that more funding for voluntary prekindergarten programs for at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds will reduce crime -- while also reducing the need for costly special education -- is the organization's goal.
In Congress, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., is an important target for the group because he is a key member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and could raise the issue of prekindergarten in upcoming education legislation.
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids offers a number of studies to bolster its case. They include research looking at prekindergarten centers in Chicago that found children who did not participate were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18.
Another study, of the Perry Preschool Program in Ypsilanti, Mich., found that it saved $16 for every $1 spent by reducing crime and special education costs.