Elisabeth Chun, executive director for Good Beginnings Alliance in Honolulu, said funding for Head Start, Early Head Start, young children's special-education programs and federal childcare and development block grants create a foundation for early-childhood education in Hawai'i and every state.
"Yet, none have had a significant increase in funds for six years," Chun told the House Education and Labor Committee. "They should be made Congress' first priority for increased investment, starting now."
The experts, citing $25 billion spent annually on preschool programs already, also said Congress should push for better coordination of various federal early-childhood education programs at the state and local levels and find ways to improve the programs' quality.
"We are spending $25 billion and are not getting $25 billion worth of results," said Ron Haskins, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution in Washington. "Why would we think that simply pouring new money into the existing system would produce better outcomes."