Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Wednesday that it is unfair to expect public schools to meet more rigorous performance standards when so many children enter kindergarten unprepared because they have not attended preschool.
At a news conference at the Early Education Center of Seagull Schools across from the state Capitol, the governor said a state-funded school readiness program would help expand access to preschool and reduce the gap between children.
"It is totally unfair to send a child into a teacher’s classroom at an elementary school who is already a year or two behind, and then, not only expect them to catch up, but for the other children then to accommodate that same thing in a classroom, and the teacher and the staff at the school to be able to overcome that.
"You can’t stand on the sidelines with your arms folded, saying, ‘Well, now you have to perform.’"
The Abercrombie administration has requested $2.9 million for planning in fiscal year 2014 and $28.2 million to serve about 3,500 4-year-olds in a school readiness program in fiscal year 2015. The administration is also asking for $648,300 in fiscal year 2014 and $681,300 in fiscal year 2015 to expand staff in the governor’s Executive Office on Early Learning.
The school readiness program would initially target children who would have been eligible for junior kindergarten, which is being eliminated, but could be expanded over the next decade to serve more of the state’s 18,000 4-year-olds if it turns out to be successful. The children of low-income parents would be able to attend preschool for free, while middle and higher-income parents would pay on a sliding scale.
A 2008 study prepared for Good Beginnings Alliance, an advocacy group for universal preschool, found that every $1 invested in early childhood education produces $4.20 in savings on future education, social service and criminal justice costs.
Forty-two percent of children entering kindergarten in Hawaii have not attended preschool.
"If we don’t catch the kids early, unfortunately the justice system tends to have to catch some of them later," Abercrombie said. "Not everybody … but so much potential is lost because children come into school not ready. That’s what this is, this is a readiness program.
"Who can be against readiness?"
State Sen. Jill Tokuda (D, Kailua-Kaneohe), the chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee, and Rep. Roy Takumi (D, Pearl City-Waipio-Pearl Harbor), the chairman of the House Education Committee, have committed to helping Abercrombie advance a school readiness program at the state Legislature this session. Other lawmakers, however, have concerns about cost and whether the state can deliver on quality and accountability.
Tokuda’s two young sons joined her at the news conference on Wednesday, while Takumi spoke of the importance of education to his grandchildren.
Takumi said Abercrombie’s support for state-funded preschool could make the difference "because it takes political will, and I do believe this is the year that we’re going to do it."
