 |
|
Who's Online
|
There are currently, 27 guest(s) and 0 member(s) that are online.
You are Anonymous user. You can register for free by clicking here
|
|
|  | News Items Posted On: March 15, 2006
Showing stories 1 - 2 of 2.
CA - Universal preschool plan fuels debate
Submitted by emohan. Posted on Wednesday, March 15 @ 16:57:42 EST by emohan
|
|
For some children, kindergarten comes too late.
By age 5, neuroscientists say, poverty, deprivation and stress can disrupt crucial stages of brain development, setting children up for a lifetime of academic and personal failure.
That's where preschool comes in.
Proponents of a free, universal preschool system in California believe that early education is key to improving the lives of disadvantaged children and will eventually reduce the state's costs for services such as special education and even incarceration.
"Young children enter school carrying the burden of their early experiences," said Ross Thompson, a UC Davis professor who focuses on child development and public policy. "It is simply more efficient to prevent later difficulty than to try to remedy problems that occur."
In June, the question will go to California voters, who will be asked to create a new tax bracket to fund a free, voluntary, half-day preschool available to all 4-year-olds.
Proposition 82, the "Preschool for All" initiative, is the latest effort by child advocate and movie director Rob Reiner, who led the successful 1998 campaign to increase cigarette taxes to pay for early childhood programs.
If it passes, Prop. 82 will impose an extra 1.7 percent tax on individual earnings above $400,000 a year, or couples' earnings of more than $800,000.
The tax would raise about $2.4 billion annually to open new, public preschools and pay for slots in existing private programs that meet state criteria.
Full text available at The Mercury News
|
IN - Program wants kids learning early
Submitted by emohan. Posted on Wednesday, March 15 @ 16:48:19 EST by emohan
|
|
A new program in Washington Township Schools hopes to give children a better early childhood education.
"We are hoping it will help us to bridge the gap before kids get to kindergarten," said Nora principal Suzanne Zybert, principal at Nora Elementary School. "We want to be just as ready for them as they are for us."
A team of principals and one administrator from Nora, Wyandotte and Greenbriar elementaries and the H. Dean Evans Community and Education Center will partner with area preschools on the Ready Schools/Ready Community Initiative, said Kathy Levine, coordinator of Wyandotte School, which serves preschool and kindergarteners.
The initiative, paid for by a $14,000 grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, will address five factors in early childhood education: quality staff, suitable environment, appropriate grouping practices, consistent schedules and parental involvement.
"Research has shown children who have quality early childhood education have better academic success, are better citizens, spend less time in jail, make more money and attend higher education," Levine said.
Full text available at The Noblesville Ledger
|
| |
|
Login
|
|
Don't have an account yet? You can create one. As a registered user you have some advantages like theme manager, comments configuration and post comments with your name.
|
|
|
|
