(keeping with our promotion of candidate diaries. Osman is running in the Washington County Senate primary. – promoted by JDRyan)
Quite understandably, environment and health care are up there as the hot button issues with the most resonance for progressive voters. But why doesn’t education and, in particular, early care and education have the same attention of progressive voters?
The science behind early education is clear. During the first years of life, when the brain is stimulated in specific ways the neurons connect. If the proper stimuli are not given then it is likely that many of those brain synapses may never connect. When a child begins school without the basic building blocks of learning it becomes very difficult to catch up. If children begin the race behind the starting line they are literally left behind.
I was talking to someone last week at the hamburger summit. He was jesting with me. He told me that he is a high school special educator. He protested that if I had my way and all children came to school with the requisite skills he would be out of a job. He was right.
Vermont needs universal access to high quality early care and education. The evidence is overwhelming that over a lifetime a one dollar investment in early education pays back many times over. High quality universal pre K will, in the long run, save on special education costs, welfare costs, not to mention the enormous amounts of money spent on prison. Most of the inmate population in Vermont lack reading and learning skills.
Vermont has begun to walk toward universal Pre K through a program called “Building Bright Futures.” But the Douglas Administration has not put its money where its mouth is. Fear mongering by the right wing tells parents that those who favor early education are trying to take their children away and that universal pre K is a slap in the face of parenthood. Nothing could be further from the truth. Having a rich early childhood with various and different stimulation is the first major step to a full and productive life. For more information on this issue check out the website of KIds Are Priority One http://kidsarepriorityone.org/
As the father of a 10 month old infant, I’m of course very much invested in supporting early child development. Not just selfishly, although certainly my first concern is our son, but because it pays off in the long run for all of us as you observe.
I was told recently that there is no right to public education (and all the other related services like those discussed at Kids Are A Priority) in the Vermont Constitution. Yeah, but there’s also no prohibition against the community deciding it’s a necessary and proper thing to provide, especially since our Constitution also makes liberal mention of ‘common weal’ and ‘public good’ and such.
Regardless, how shortsighted of the GOP, Libertarians, et al, who want a fertile environment for business and self-sufficiency, if they don’t invest in giving our children every opportunity to succeed.
Donny Osman is dedicated to a strong public education system for all Vermonters. His past work towards this end and his passion to ensure continuation of same are the best reasons to support him as a State Senator. Beyond education, Donny understands the need for all Vermonters to work together for the betterment of all. I urge all to vote for Donny Osman.
I think that there are a couple of other issues that are more fundamental.
First, the wages of ordinary working people have been stagnant for a generation. Remember when one person working could support a family of four? I can, just barely. Kids would have more of the stimulation and general attention that they need if both parents weren’t doing overtime just to survive. Parents would have more time and more energy for their kids if wages had kept up with inflation and productivity.
Second, kids are left behind because of the assembly line organization of our schools. Ask any teacher, parent, or student the following and you will get a “yes”: “Does each child learn a subject at a different rate of speed?” Sure, it clusters on a bell curve, but some kids need longer than others to master the same material. So why do we give them all 180 days and call the ones who need 240 days failures? Why do we force kids who could learn a subject in 120 days to sit around being bored? This is radical, but why not get rid of grades (1st, 2nd, 3rd….12th) and grades (A, B, C, D, F)? A student goes to a teacher and studies a subject till he or she gets it, and then moves on. If it takes a particular kid till “12th grade” to learn “9th grade” reading, at least he learned it. If another kid gets into college courses, right on. Some kids might be faster in one subject and slower in another, but it wouldn’t matter.
That said, I’m voting for Donny. He’s got the right priorities.
In order for child care workers to unionize, a change in law would have to be made. Racine, Bartlett, Dunne and Shumlin all support this change. Do you support it as well?
A study released this week shows that a good kindergarten teacher has a surprising amount of impact on a child’s future.
Note: “fade-out effect” in the last paragraph in the quote refers to the fact that by high school, the multiple-choice tests that are supposed to indicate a student’s education show little difference between those who excelled due to a quality kindergarten education and those who didn’t.
In addition to the importance of a high-quality kindergarten experience, this study shows that the high-stakes multiple choice tests we’re giving kids as a condition of graduation are irrelevant to their success in adult life.
The cumulative effect on earnings from a given kindergarten teacher per classroom of students is increased by an average of $320k.
The best early education is at home with a parent or other household adult, a bunch of cardboard boxes, some crayons and a whole bunch of outdoors stuff.
Take the kid to the grocery store with you, and you’ll teach the kid to shop for food. Take the kid to the bank with you, and you’ll teach the kid about handling money. The list goes on and on and on.
Unfortunately we’re pushed down this road of finding expensive solutions such as child care and other more formal early education. We need social and economic policies that bring back the golden dream of the middle class: a chance to move our kids up in the world while being part of a family and community.
Finding more ways to spend more money trying to find a substitute for a family (nuclear, extended or otherwise) will not solve the long term problem.