[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 38 (Monday, March 14, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E471-E472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ``WE MUST NOT LEAVE THEM WANTING''

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 14, 2011

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to put this important piece on 
early-childhood education into the Congressional Record. Its author is 
Jack Bailer, an outstanding Maryland educator and President of the 
Judith P. Hoyer Foundation, which promotes early-childhood education 
for Maryland's at-risk children.

                     We Must Not Leave Them Wanting

                             By Jack Bailer

       ``For Want of a Nail'' is a proverbial verse showing that 
     actions--or inactions--which may seem insignificant can often 
     have significant consequences:
       For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.
       For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.
       For want of a horse, the rider was lost.
       For want of a rider, the battle was lost.
       For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost.
       And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
       I suggest we could draw a strong parallel between the nail 
     in the verse and a young child's having (or not having) the 
     benefit of one or two years' participation in an early 
     childhood (pre-kindergarten) education program.
       Two examples of such programs would be ``Head Start'' and 
     Maryland's 25 ``Judy Hoyer Family Education Centers,'' aka 
     ``Judy Centers.'' The Judy Centers offer early education for 
     children from birth through five years of age. They also 
     arrange for many other services to be provided to these 
     children and their families--either located on site year-
     round, or brought in on a visiting basis as needed.
       The primary candidates for these programs are three- and 
     four-year-old children who are in home environments often 
     referred to as ``economically and/or culturally 
     disadvantaged.'' This includes those who get little or no 
     exposure to learning about the world around them, as well as 
     those families where little or no English is spoken.
       Lacking experience in an early learning program, these 
     children will enter kindergarten with a very low level of 
     ``readiness to learn.''
       You may ask, what is the difference between ``readiness to 
     learn'' and actual learning? Sesame Street provides many 
     examples throughout its episodes. Here are just two:
       When Grover gets out of breath repeatedly running back and 
     forth from off in the distance yelling ``This is far,'' to 
     face-in-the-camera panting ``This is NEAR,'' the child viewer 
     learns the concept of Near vs. Far.
       When we see one of their spots with the song, ``One of 
     these things is not like the others; three of these things 
     are kind of the same,'' the child learns the concept of Same 
     vs. Different.
       If you'd like more examples, ask any early childhood 
     education professional and they'll give you many, all falling 
     under one or more of seven domains: Social Personal; 
     Language; Mathematical Thinking; Physical Development; 
     Scientific Thinking; Social Studies; The Arts.
       For a child who has not had the pre-kindergarten 
     opportunity to achieve a ``readiness to learn'' so essential 
     for a successful K-12 experience, the sequence of 
     consequences could look something like this:
       Grades K-3: For want of having acquired few if any 
     readiness-to-learn experiences prior to kindergarten, a child 
     doesn't get the full value of what the teacher is saying. And 
     often neither the child nor the teacher realizes that a point 
     made by the teacher is missed because the child is lacking 
     the benefit of an earlier learning experience.
       Grades 4-6: For want of the cumulative effects of full 
     value of instruction because of a weaker K-3 foundation, 
     student progress during this period is further diminished--
     especially in reading comprehension.
       Grades 7-8: For want of reading skills which even approach 
     grade level, in the face of an increased need to be able to 
     read to learn, the student slips further behind.
       Grades 9-10: For want of reading and learning skills which 
     would make school interesting and satisfying, the student 
     becomes increasingly disconnected from class work and school 
     in general. The student shows up less and less frequently, 
     and even then it is more to be around their friends than to 
     go to class.
       Grades 11-12: For want of any further interest in or hope 
     of ever catching up, the student drops out, drifts for a 
     while, maybe works at a menial job, and/or ends up in the 
     criminal justice system.
       This discouraging sequence is not an exaggeration. 
     Longitudinal studies have been done--the most notable being 
     the Chicago school system study. That study tracked two 
     groups of students for over 20 years. One group had a strong 
     beginning with the benefit of a pre-kindergarten readiness-
     to-learn experience. The other group did not.
       By the time both groups were well beyond high school age, 
     nearly all of those in the group with early childhood 
     education were clearly on their way to living successful, 
     productive lives. Sadly, most of those in the other group 
     were not.
       As for societal and budgetary impacts, one study showed 
     that, for every one dollar spent on pre-kindergarten 
     preparation for learning, seven dollars are saved on 
     government spending for public safety, the justice system, 
     and the prison system.
       In the years ahead we will continue to face tough choices 
     among priorities competing for limited public funds. I 
     believe that over-arching all of these is the critical need 
     to give every young child a preparation for learning upon 
     which to grow intellectually for the rest of their lives. 
     Among the benefits we get are: A more highly skilled work

[[Page E472]]

     force; A highly employable work force; An increase in workers 
     contributing to the tax base; A decreasing percentage of our 
     population who fall into the justice system; A higher quality 
     of life for all.
       What can you do to make a difference?
       Contact your local school board members and superintendent 
     and urge them to fully fund early childhood (pre-
     kindergarten) education for all children in your jurisdiction 
     who need it.
       Insist that the system determine how many children in your 
     district currently need to be in a readiness-to-learn 
     environment--but are not.
       Continue following up to see that, using these data, the 
     school system creates and implements an action plan to 
     reallocate funds as necessary, and to deal with staffing, 
     space, and other issues to get all those children into the 
     system by opening of school next year, or the following year 
     at the latest.
       Clearly the increased funding for this will be a challenge. 
     Nevertheless, if our nation is to survive and thrive, we 
     simply must do this. We must not leave behind a single child 
     who may have succeeded in life, but for want of an early 
     childhood education which got them ready to learn. We must 
     not risk the loss of our nation, for want of giving this our 
     most urgent attention.

                          ____________________