#16 Early Childhood Education 2003-2004

Meredith Bellson 15 posts Aug 17, 2007 11:44 AM

#16. Early Childhood Education 2003-2004 NOTE: POST A MESSAGE TO MAKE SUGGESTIONS! WHEREAS, in November 2002 the Tennessee Constitution was amended to authorize lotteries with funds allocated to scholarships, and the excess allocated to K-12 capital construction, and early learning and before and after school programs; and WHEREAS, regardless of how individuals feel about a lottery, there will be a lottery in Tennessee; and WHEREAS, early childhood education is one of the few and the most important of the allowable uses of lottery proceeds; and WHEREAS, 130 of Tennessee’s 132 schools identified for improvement have over 50 percent of their students qualifying for free and reduced meals; in 77 of these schools, the concentration of economically at-risk students exceeds 90 percent; and WHEREAS, nearly 50 percent of Tennessee’s three and four year old children fall in an “at-risk” category due to low socio-economic status, which has been correlated to a reduced readiness to enter school ready to learn; WHEREAS, research shows that when a child enters school behind, no matter the intervention, that child is still behind at the 12th grade level; and WHEREAS, Tennessee needs to invest funds where they can make the most difference, when children are young and brains are more receptive; and WHEREAS, short-term results from quality early childhood education include: higher scores on standardized tests, reduced retention rates, reduced referrals to special education and increased graduation rates; and WHEREAS, long-term results from quality early childhood education include decreased crime and delinquency, decreased out-of-wedlock births, decreased welfare dependency, increased post-secondary education and increased economic well-being in adulthood; and WHEREAS, exhaustion of surplus Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) results in the loss of $9M that funded 90 early childhood education classes serving 1,800 at-risk four-year-old children; and WHEREAS, the loss of 90 classes would result in the loss of 90 teachers, and mean that 1,800 children would lose the opportunity for the substantial and essentially life-changing benefits from experiencing early childhood education; and NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare support establishing a scholarship program that does not cost too much, so that there will be funds remaining for early childhood education, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that $9M in lottery proceeds be allocated in FY 2003-2004 lottery proceeds to avoid the loss of 90 early childhood education classes; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in future years lottery proceeds be used to fully phase-in early childhood education programs to serve at risk four-year-olds.

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