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-Adopted by the Board of Directors, October 10, 2001

Compelling evidence shows that children need 3,000-4,000 hours of preschool experience to assure readiness and long-term success in school.  Yet, in Years of Promise, the Carnegie Foundation stated that the “…United States stands virtually alone among modern industrial nations in not providing universal access to early care and education.”

The Yale University’s Bush Center conducted a synthesis of the best research called Quality 2000.  It reported that only one in seven childcare centers provides good or excellent care and education, while one in eight actually threatens children’s health and safety.  This means that most children receive mediocre to low quality service at the very time that brain research tells us we should maximize children’s opportunity to learn.  During this period, children make developmental leaps that form the basis for later achievement.

The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) documents the gap that already exists when young children arrive at school.  Improving Children’s Readiness for School:  Preschool Programs Make a Difference,but Quality Counts!, the Southern Regional Education Board’s 2001 report, presents hard evidence showing that high-quality pre-kindergarten can:

• Help children be more ready for school;
• Improve students’ scores on standardized tests;
• Reduce students’ chances of repeating a grade;
• Reduce referrals to special education; and
• Improve students’ chances of finishing high school.

Approximately 330,000 four-year-olds live in Texas.  Of these children, 175,000 (53%) are eligible to attend Texas public preschool based on low socioeconomic status, homelessness or non-English speaking status.  Of the 125,000 eligible children who attend public pre-kindergarten, more than 40,000 children attend full-day, full-school-year programs; however, 50,000 eligible Texas children do not attend.  National research indicates full-day programs are more accessible for working parents.

Last year, the Spring Branch ISD became the first Texas school district to make a commitment to provide universal access to four-year-old pre-kindergarten.

The National Research Council’s 2001 report, Eager to Learn:  Educating Our Preschoolers, chronicles the lessons learned from our European counterparts and makes policy recommendations that may guide us.  Longitudinal research on the value added by investing $1 in a quality early learning experience has demonstrated $7.16 in savings on such costs as special education and remediation programs, school discipline and vandalism issues, juvenile delinquency, school dropout rates, teen pregnancy and others.  With unprecedented labor force participation by women and emerging consensus among professionals, now is the time for Texas to act on what we know.