Strong Start for America's Children

Most people would agree that early childhood education is crucial to the future wellbeing and degree of school readiness for children. In a world where preschool education is starting to rival college tuition the questions arises, how are middle and lower income families supposed to compete? Research has shown that early education starting from infancy can make huge differences in student outcomes as well as long term benefits for them as adults. It is no surprise that with the high cost of early childhood education that this most acutely affects minority families that are already at an economic disadvantage. Black and Latino children in the inner city of Grand Rapids have fewer opportunities to get ahead in school and break the cycle of poverty in their families. As citizens that care about education given the breadth of schools both collegiate and otherwise in the area it is important that we give every child equal opportunity to be prepared for their first year in kindergarten.

Luckily there is pending legislation that could alleviate this issue. By now everyone has heard of head start and knows of their program and curriculum. Well a new bill spear headed by Iowa senator Tom Harkin known as Strong Start for America’s Children will help equalize the discrepancies in early education. This bill will use preexisting child care centers and bring them up to quality standards, so families will not have to change their child care providers. Teachers will be better qualified and assessment of these programs will become regular. According to this bill $4billion is being given to states specifically for this purpose. With that money states and cities such as Grand Rapids will be able to afford quality child care centers and create standardized teaching methods for all infants in toddlers in our area.

As a minority women myself I have an invested interest in this bill and seeing all children succeed in school. Even though this issue can directly impact minority families it is not a minority issue when 68% of our states fourth graders cannot read at grade level and 67% of eight graders cannot read at grade level. These children will eventually become leaders in our community and perhaps the nation and it is imperative that they are well prepared for school. In order to ensure their readiness, quality and affordable child care that is often a struggle for lower income families, needs to be universal. Strong Start will make this dream possible by providing universal quality child care for children ages four years and younger.

If you have young children or are passionate about the state of our educational system this bill should be on your radar. Funding is available to make sure that every child has the opportunity to receive the best early child care possible regardless of their parents economic standing. Grand Rapids is known for their exceptional higher education system and it is time for the same care and diligence that is put into our college programs be given to early education. These students will eventually fill classrooms at schools such as Calvin College, or Grand Valley and we owe it to our children make sure they are adequately prepared.

If this is an issue that you want to get involved with, I would suggest discussing the issue with local authorities in your school district, or asking your current early child care provider about how this bill will help them meet the needs of your children. Just over half of state senators have given their support for Strong Start, more is needed to move this bill to the next stage of legislation. Urge our state senators to give their support for a bill that will strengthen Grand Rapids educational system and create equal opportunities for all our children.