[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 116 (Thursday, July 19, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9616-S9617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. CLINTON (for herself and Mr. Bond):
  S. 1823. A bill to set the United States on track to ensure children 
are ready to learn when they begin kindergarten; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, supporting our children and early 
childhood education are critical to keeping America competitive. Today 
I am pleased to introduce the Ready to Learn Act, legislation that will 
help families in New York and across the country by preparing children 
for kindergarten. I am pleased my colleague Senator Bond, a long-time 
leader in early childhood development, has partnered with me in 
introducing this essential legislation.
  Since my time as a law student, I have worked to spread information 
about the importance of care and education for our children, especially 
our youngest children. It is critical that we provide them with every 
possible opportunity to learn, grow, and develop early on, not just 
once they start kindergarten, but before they arrive. This is a cause I 
have believed in and fought for over the past 35 years, as an advocate, 
a lawyer, First Lady, a Senator, and most important of all, as a 
mother.
  The Ready to Learn Act will help prepare children for kindergarten by 
providing funding for States to establish high-quality early learning 
programs to promote school readiness for four-year-olds in their State. 
States will apply for funding through a competitive process to 
establish and administer voluntary preschool programs; this legislation 
will allow governors to build on pre-existing early childhood systems. 
Schools, child care entities, Head Start programs, or other community 
providers of pre-kindergarten programs are all eligible for funding.
  To ensure high-quality programs that properly prepare children to be 
ready to learn, State plans will require qualified teachers, a 
developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate early 
learning curriculum and support for professional development.
  Research has shown the early years are critical in a child's 
development and that pre-kindergarten education offers benefits that 
extend through the first years of school and beyond. Children who 
attend high-quality pre-k programs are less likely to be held back a 
grade or to need special education, and they are more likely to 
graduate from high school. They also have higher earnings as adults and 
are less likely to become dependent on welfare or involved in crime.
  While some parents can afford high-quality pre-kindergarten 
opportunities for their children, so many hard working families simply 
can't. As a result, in today's current education system, it is not 
unusual for children to arrive at kindergarten already behind their 
peers. Nearly 50 percent of all kindergarten teachers report that at 
least half of their students come to school with problems that hinder 
their success. One in every six kindergartners needs specialized one-
on-one tutoring or special instruction in a small group. Each year, 
more than 200,000 children repeat kindergarten.
  Back when I was First Lady, I hosted a White House Conference on 
Early Childhood Development and Learning, where expert after expert 
emphasized the importance of these early years. A child who arrives at 
kindergarten ready to learn has a far greater chance of excelling, not 
only in his or her early years, but far into his academic career. 
Studies show that children who learn the names and sounds of letters 
before entering kindergarten are 20 times more likely to read simple 
words by the end of kindergarten than children who enter kindergarten 
not knowing the letters of the alphabet. Children who do not know their 
letters prior to kindergarten too often fail to catch up with their 
peers who do. Eighty-eight percent of children who

[[Page S9617]]

are poor readers in first grade remain poor readers by the fourth 
grade. Children who are not at least modestly skilled readers by the 
end of third grade are unlikely to graduate from high school.
  Like many of my colleagues, I have seen what happens when we invest 
in our children. We already know that for every one dollar we spend on 
early childhood education, we reap seven dollars as a society. I have 
seen what happens when caring adults come together and make the 
commitment to ensuring that our children can fulfill their God-given 
potential.
  I saw it back in Arkansas when we brought HIPPY to America to teach 
parents how they could educate their children. We taught them about the 
importance of reading to their children, and using household objects to 
teach basic lessons.
  I have seen it in visiting Head Start programs where children were 
learning to read, learning to count and solve problems, learning to 
share and interact with others and thrive in a structured environment.
  We are seeing it around the country in States that have already 
started investing in early childhood programs. The Ready to Learn Act 
will support and build on that success.
  Supporting our children and early childhood education are critical to 
keeping America competitive. It is my hope that my colleagues will join 
Senator Bond and I in supporting this important legislation.
                                 ______