Make early education a bigger priority

Though several weeks remain before the 2015 Minnesota Legislature convenes, advocates of early education are pushing to expand support for state-sponsored preschool. It's a worthy goal: Lawmakers should move to bolster what they've begun.

Due to 2013 legislative action, all-day kindergarten was finally available for all Minnesota families in September. Gov. Mark Dayton and the Legislature wisely provided $134 million in state funding for that first year of K–12 public education, acknowledging its important impact on student learning.

The change helps school districts that had used general-fund dollars to offer all-day programs to working families. And it's a welcome money-saver for families in sliding-scale districts, where some had been paying as much as $4,000 a year for a second half-day of kindergarten.

State policymakers also approved $44 million in funding for need-based scholarships for 3- and 4-year-olds to attend quality preschool programs. But at a cost of about $5,000 per student, the funding covers only about 10 percent of the state's eligible preschoolers, according to advocates.

In 2012, Minnesota spent about $500 million in state and federal funds for early-childhood development and education services for 84,000 children, leaving 72,000 children unserved, based on Wilder Foundation research. Cuts to the federal Head Start program have left about 5,500 state children on waiting lists.

Dayton and the 2015 Legislature should act to fill those needs. Local and national research has found that investing in young learners brings huge returns — not only for the individual child, but also for a state in need of educated workers.

Studies show that for every dollar spent on the 3- to 6-year-old set, the communities in which they live reap at least $7 when they grow into productive, contributing adults.

"The main focus of our coalition is closing the gap of access in Minnesota. … There are children in our state who remain unserved," said Frank Forsberg, chairman of the coalition's executive committee and a vice president with the Greater Twin Cities United Way.

Although $150 million may be more than the state can afford in the coming budget session, at the very least legislators should put some additional funding into preschool this year with the goal of adding more in the future.

Previously, legislators and education stakeholders had debated whether funds should go to early education or all-day kindergarten — placing the two in competition for state support. But now that all-day kindergarten has been approved, they can focus on moving toward universal preschool.

The considerable amount of research on early learning also makes the case for additional time on task — even for the youngest learners. For both preschoolers and kindergarten kids, the most gains are made during full-day programs, especially for children from low-income or English-language-learning families. (See accompanying text on the results of a new University of Minnesota study.)

The investment will pay off in closing the state's persistent achievement disparities among children of color — a growing percentage of Minnesota's population and a critical segment of the state's future workforce.

In last year's State of the State address, Dayton pledged to make affordable, high-quality early education available to every 3- and 4-year-old in the state by 2018. During the last two sessions, legislators took overdue, much-needed action to help educate 4- and 5-year olds.