CALIFORNIA — Orange County DA and State Legislator Tour Preschool, Discuss Crime-Prevention, Economic Benefits
Jan 8th 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Jan. 8, 2010
Contact: Jennifer Ortega, (916) 837-3904, jortega@calfightcrime.org or Beth Helmsin, (916) 505-9149, bhelmsin@calfightcrime.org
ORANGE — Assemblymember Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills) and Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas today visited students at California Elementary School’s state-funded preschool, to see first-hand how early education is preparing children for the future.
“Children who receive a high-quality preschool education are more likely to graduate from high school and pursue productive, crime-free lives,” said Mr. Rackauckas, an executive committee member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California – a bipartisan, anti-crime organization led by nearly 400 sheriffs, police chiefs, district attorneys and victims of violence. “In terms of both public safety and the economy, investing in programs that keep kids in school and off the streets is a winning strategy.”
Assemblymember Hagman joined Mr. Rackauckas in reading to the children and touring their classroom. They also met with local education leaders to discuss the benefits of high-quality preschool programs and the need for continued investments in early education. Other participants included: Mayor Carolyn Cavecche, City of Orange; Ellin Chariton, Executive Director, School and Community Services; Jean Barbre Ed.D., Orange County Department of Education; and Robyn Class, Executive Director, Orange Children & Parents Together.
Studies show that children who attend a high-quality preschool are less likely to get in trouble with the law, and are up to 44 percent more likely to graduate from high school.
Preschool helps cultivate a well-educated, skilled workforce by giving young children a solid foundation of social and intellectual growth. In cost-benefit analyses, economists have found high-quality preschool provides an excellent return on investment.
However, access to quality preschool programs remains limited and many of the kids who need it most are not enrolled. According to the RAND Corporation’s California Preschool Study, only about half of low-income children are in preschool, compared to 80 percent of children whose families earn more than $100,000 a year.
Thanks to recent action in Washington, D.C., early childhood education has become a priority for lawmakers across the country. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), or stimulus bill, provides more than $5 billion in early care and education funding.
Additionally, if legislation introduced by California Congressman George Miller (D-Martinez) passes the Senate and is signed by the President, early childhood education around the nation would be eligible for $8 billion in competitive grants over the next eight years.
In November 2009 Governor Schwarzenegger signed an executive order creating the California State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care that positions California to compete for and receive millions of dollars of federal funds for early education programs. The council, a statewide planning body, will ensure efficiency, effectiveness and accountability in California’s early childhood education system.
In 2008, the state made significant progress in the area of early education. AB 2759 (Jones) streamlined several preschool funding sources to assist in quality improvements, reduce administrative burdens and make preschool more accessible.
SB 1629 (Steinberg), also enacted in 2008, established the Early Learning Quality Improvement System advisory committee, which began meeting in March 2009. The committee will lay the framework for quality standards for preschool and child care programs. Development of the quality improvement system will consider research, policies, program information, and best practices at the national, state, and local levels.
On behalf of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, Mr. Rackauckas, along with law enforcement leaders around the state, have called for continued investments in access to quality preschool as a means of protecting public safety.
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Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California is a bipartisan, non-profit, anti-crime organization led by nearly 400 sheriffs, police chiefs, district attorneys, and victims of violence. Its mission is to take a critical look at the research about what really works to keep kids from becoming criminals. Among the strategies proven to be effective are preschool, after-school programs, child abuse and neglect prevention programs, dropout-prevention programs and intensive interventions for juvenile offenders. www.fightcrime.org/ca
