STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - July 19, 2007)
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By Mrs. CLINTON (for herself and Mr. BOND):
S. 1823. A bill to set the United States on track to ensure children are ready to learn when they begin kindergarten; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, supporting our children and early childhood education are critical to keeping America competitive. Today I am pleased to introduce the Ready to Learn Act, legislation that will help families in New York and across the country by preparing children for kindergarten. I am pleased my colleague Senator BOND, a long-time leader in early childhood development, has partnered with me in introducing this essential legislation.
Since my time as a law student, I have worked to spread information about the importance of care and education for our children, especially our youngest children. It is critical that we provide them with every possible opportunity to learn, grow, and develop early on, not just once they start kindergarten, but before they arrive. This is a cause I have believed in and fought for over the past 35 years, as an advocate, a lawyer, First Lady, a Senator, and most important of all, as a mother.
The Ready to Learn Act will help prepare children for kindergarten by providing funding for States to establish high-quality early learning programs to promote school readiness for four-year-olds in their State. States will apply for funding through a competitive process to establish and administer voluntary preschool programs; this legislation will allow governors to build on pre-existing early childhood systems. Schools, child care entities, Head Start programs, or other community providers of pre-kindergarten programs are all eligible for funding.
To ensure high-quality programs that properly prepare children to be ready to learn, State plans will require qualified teachers, a developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate early learning curriculum and support for professional development.
Research has shown the early years are critical in a child's development and that pre-kindergarten education offers benefits that extend through the first years of school and beyond. Children who attend high-quality pre-k programs are less likely to be held back a grade or to need special education, and they are more likely to graduate from high school. They also have higher earnings as adults and are less likely to become dependent on welfare or involved in crime.
While some parents can afford high-quality pre-kindergarten opportunities for their children, so many hard working families simply can't. As a result, in today's current education system, it is not unusual for children to arrive at kindergarten already behind their peers. Nearly 50 percent of all kindergarten teachers report that at least half of their students come to school with problems that hinder their success. One in every six kindergartners needs specialized one-on-one tutoring or special instruction in a small group. Each year, more than 200,000 children repeat kindergarten.
Back when I was First Lady, I hosted a White House Conference on Early Childhood Development and Learning, where expert after expert emphasized the importance of these early years. A child who arrives at kindergarten ready to learn has a far greater chance of excelling, not only in his or her early years, but far into his academic career. Studies show that children who learn the names and sounds of letters before entering kindergarten are 20 times more likely to read simple words by the end of kindergarten than children who enter kindergarten not knowing the letters of the alphabet. Children who do not know their letters prior to kindergarten too often fail to catch up with their peers who do. Eighty-eight percent of children who
are poor readers in first grade remain poor readers by the fourth grade. Children who are not at least modestly skilled readers by the end of third grade are unlikely to graduate from high school.
Like many of my colleagues, I have seen what happens when we invest in our children. We already know that for every one dollar we spend on early childhood education, we reap seven dollars as a society. I have seen what happens when caring adults come together and make the commitment to ensuring that our children can fulfill their God-given potential.
I saw it back in Arkansas when we brought HIPPY to America to teach parents how they could educate their children. We taught them about the importance of reading to their children, and using household objects to teach basic lessons.
I have seen it in visiting Head Start programs where children were learning to read, learning to count and solve problems, learning to share and interact with others and thrive in a structured environment.
We are seeing it around the country in States that have already started investing in early childhood programs. The Ready to Learn Act will support and build on that success.
Supporting our children and early childhood education are critical to keeping America competitive. It is my hope that my colleagues will join Senator BOND and I in supporting this important legislation.