What if we told parents on the first day of pre-K that their child is already behind and they may not graduate with the skills they need to get a job, or they may not graduate at all?
Overwhelming evidence points to quality early childhood education from birth as the crucial component to having healthier children, and children prepared to solve tomorrow’s challenges. As parents we benefit, too. We need to fund the birth to three act and we need to fund it now.
That is what has happened since universal pre-K was launched. The achievement gap has not narrowed. Graduation rates have declined. Our children are not prepared for tomorrow’s jobs and it is only getting worse because of COVID.