Our Views: Start earlier in the schools
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One of the lessons of the debate about accountability and school performance in Louisiana — a major policy focus for a generation of state leaders — is that there are few silver bullets for improvements of public schools.
As institutions, they are resistant to change. As large public purposes, they require substantial amounts of money to continue to operate, much less improve. And, most forbiddingly for would-be reformers, improving school performance involves a whole pile of factors that the schools don’t directly control.
That is why reformers — and particularly the business community — have been so supportive of one of the proven ways to influence performance in public schools: early childhood education. Louisiana under Govs. Mike Foster and Kathleen Blanco has made significant investments in pre-kindergarten programs for children from poorer families.
The House Appropriations Committee eliminated a $2.5 million increase for pre-K programs recommended in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget. The Baton Rouge Area Chamber called this week upon the Senate to continue to invest more in pre-K programs.
“Research demonstrates that three- and four-year-old children who participate in high-quality, academically rigorous early childhood programs have higher scores on math and reading tests, greater language abilities and higher graduation rates,” BRAC said.
Why is a business organization so interested in this program?
Because as business leaders have seen, long-term improvement in preparation of children is the way to build a work force for the future.
Public schools continue to be the principal source of tomorrow’s workers, and as the Chamber noted, pre-K is a proven asset.
As institutions, they are resistant to change. As large public purposes, they require substantial amounts of money to continue to operate, much less improve. And, most forbiddingly for would-be reformers, improving school performance involves a whole pile of factors that the schools don’t directly control.
That is why reformers — and particularly the business community — have been so supportive of one of the proven ways to influence performance in public schools: early childhood education. Louisiana under Govs. Mike Foster and Kathleen Blanco has made significant investments in pre-kindergarten programs for children from poorer families.
The House Appropriations Committee eliminated a $2.5 million increase for pre-K programs recommended in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget. The Baton Rouge Area Chamber called this week upon the Senate to continue to invest more in pre-K programs.
“Research demonstrates that three- and four-year-old children who participate in high-quality, academically rigorous early childhood programs have higher scores on math and reading tests, greater language abilities and higher graduation rates,” BRAC said.
Why is a business organization so interested in this program?
Because as business leaders have seen, long-term improvement in preparation of children is the way to build a work force for the future.
Public schools continue to be the principal source of tomorrow’s workers, and as the Chamber noted, pre-K is a proven asset.
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