Statements On Introduced Bills And Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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By Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. KAUFMAN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. BEGICH):

S. 839. A bill to assist States in making voluntary high quality universal prekindergarten programs available to 3- to 5-year olds for at least 1 year preceding kindergarten; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the well-being of our children, both now, today, and also into the future. That is why today I am reintroducing my bill, Prepare All Kids, along with Senator Kaufman of Delaware and Senator Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

I believe--and I know this is a belief shared by many people in our country--every child in America is born with a light inside and it is our responsibility to keep that light burning ever brightly. This bill will help States to provide at least 1 year of voluntary prekindergarten education to children between the ages of 3 and 5. The Prepare All Kids Act will also provide funding for important programs that serve the needs of children from birth to age 3, a most critical time in the development of children.

The research is irrefutable. Investing in children in their earliest years greatly improves their life outcomes, and conservative estimates put the savings to our economy at about $7 for every $1 we invest. So this is about two things: It is certainly about our obligation, our abiding obligation to our children, but it is also about our economy, the obligation to our economy that we have to develop skilled workers to compete in a world economy.

There is no question that for some of the most disadvantaged children there is an achievement gap between them and their more privileged peers that sometimes never closes. One study shows that before entering kindergarten, the average cognitive scores of preschool-age children in the highest socioeconomic group were 60 percent above the average scores of children in the lowest socioeconomic group. I believe investing in children is the right thing to do, and it is the smart thing to do. Sometimes the oldest sayings are the truest because years of scientific research on early childhood programs has proven without a doubt that an ounce of prevention is indeed worth a pound of cure--certainly when it comes to investing in our children.

Earlier this year, I was proud to advocate for investments in our children in this year's recovery bill and prouder still when those investments remained intact with passage. Programs such as Early Head Start, Head Start, and childcare programs are receiving desperately needed increases right now, as working parents all across the country struggle to maintain jobs, keep their homes, and ensure their children are well cared for while they take care of their responsibilities. It is critical that working families can depend upon these investments in the years to come.

The Presidency, the administration of Barack Obama, has an important budget blueprint for further recognizing the wisdom of investing in our children. In addition to the recovery bill investments, the President's Zero to Five initiative highlights the importance of investments during the critical period of time between birth and age 5: investments in early learning, nurse home visitation, and creating neighborhoods in which low-income and disadvantaged children can receive the help and assistance they need to succeed in life.

I want to emphasize very clearly today as it relates to the bigger picture of giving children what they need in the early years, my bill, the Prepare All Kids Act, focuses on prekindergarten, but it also focuses on programs that serve infants and toddlers. It is also about investing in and preparing all kids--not just some but all--who are about to enter kindergarten. It is absolutely imperative that we don't see children in pieces, that we not create silos as we begin to focus on the kinds of investments our children need. We cannot allow that to be ``siloed'' that way, not childcare versus Head Start versus prekindergarten. These programs should not have to compete with one another, and in my bill I make sure they don't.

We also have to remember that investing in children cannot suddenly begin when they are 3 or 4 years old. It must begin from the earliest days of a child's life, literally beginning before they are born. The Obama administration, in outlining its vision of early childhood, shows a wise commitment to streamlining and coordinating a system of early childhood programs and investments. I could not agree more with the need for such streamlining.

We are also fortunate indeed to have Secretary Duncan and, hopefully very soon, the confirmation of Governor Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services--both of whom really get it, as the President said to a joint session in speaking of another part of our priorities in terms of getting it, understanding what we have to do. When it comes to the continuum of early childhood development and education, both of these officials, as well as the President and Vice President and their team, all get this, and they understand it. That is why they have made Zero to Five such a high priority.

Let me turn to an economic summary of the Prepare All Kids Act. First of all, in this bill we assist States in providing at least 1 year of high-quality prekindergarten education to children. Under my bill, prekindergarten programs must adhere to high-quality standards. That includes a research-based curriculum that supports children's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development and individual learning styles. Experts tell us that at the preschool stage, social and emotional learning can be as important and perhaps even more important than cognitive learning. That is where early socialization takes place--learning to share, pay attention, work independently, and express feelings. All these are critical to successful childhood development.

Classrooms in our bill will have a maximum of 20 children and children-to-teacher ratios of no more than 10 to 1. Children need individualized and quality attention to thrive, and these requirements provide that. The bill helps States that want to expand pre-K programs to full-day programs as well as extend their programs year round. This supports both children and working parents who need high-quality programs for their children during the workday and in the summer.

Prekindergarten teachers will be required to have a bachelor's degree at the time they are employed, but we give them sufficient time, 6 years, in order to get it. We also allow States to use funds for professional development for teachers. But we want highly qualified and committed teachers in our pre-K programs.

States must create a monitoring plan that will appropriately measure individual program effectiveness. And, one more point: infant and toddler programs will receive a significant portion of the funding--15 percent. These programs typically receive the lowest dollars of all early childhood programs, making it difficult for parents, many of them single moms, to find quality childcare for the youngest of our children.

We have to recognize in this bill and other places as well the critical role of parents in the education of their young children by strongly encouraging parental involvement in programs and assisting families in getting the supportive services they may need.

Children come in families. To truly help children, we have to involve and support their parents. We have to involve the whole family. More important, children cannot succeed without the active involvement of their parents. I believe we have an obligation to our children and to our future workforce.

Compared to children who attend high-quality preschool, those who do not attend such programs are five times more likely to be chronic lawbreakers as adults and more likely to abuse illegal drugs. Children who attend high-quality preschool are more successful in school, more likely to graduate from high school, and thus more likely to become productive adults who contribute to the U.S. economy.

But for anyone who needs additional reasons, decades of research on life outcomes of children who have attended early childhood programs proves the wisdom of this investment. Conservative estimates are that we save $7 for every $1 invested--in crime, welfare, and education costs. Some studies have shown as much as $17 in savings.

We must ensure that the light in every child--really, their potential--burns brightly. It is my deep conviction that as elected public servants we have a sacred responsibility to ensure we invest in our children by providing early learning and development, nutrition and health care--these three: nutrition, health care, and early learning. That is why I am committed to serving the children of this Nation and why I am reintroducing the Prepare All Kids Act.

I look forward to working with President Obama and Democrats and Republicans in the Congress who share these priorities. I look forward to giving our children the good start they deserve, to keep their light shining brightly.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be placed in the Record

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