WJR-AM 760, Mitch Albom Show, interview with Judy Samelson, CEO, Early Childhood Investment Corporation, Aug. 12: What state cuts mean for early childhood programs and for Michigan’s children

 

Teachers: Students need preschool to learn basics

Excerpt: “A third of the children entering kindergarten in Michigan don't recognize numbers and letters,can't follow directions and lack social skills, according to a survey of kindergarten teachers statewide. They say the reason students don't know the basics is often because many haven't attended preschool. And with a proposal to slash all $103 million in state funding for the Great Start Readiness Program, which supports preschool programs statewide, educators are concerned that more kindergarteners will be behind.”

 

Excerpt: “The Michigan Senate has passed a budget cut to end Michigan’s Great Start Readiness Program. Not to cut it 10% or 20%, as you might expect with most areas of the budget, but to cut it completely, as if it had no real value.If the joint Senate and House conference committee and Gov. Jennifer Granholm agree to this in the coming months, the program will cease to exist. That will mean the end of pre-K instruction for more than 30,000 Michigan youngsters. And this comes at a time when a survey of kindergarten teachers shows a third of Michigan’s children still enter their classrooms unprepared.

 

Detroit News, news story, Aug. 12: Teachers: Preschool cuts will hurt kids 1 in 3 kindergartners arrives unprepared, Mich. survey finds

Excerpt: “One in three Michigan children aren't ready to succeed in school when they start kindergarten, according to a survey of 675 kindergarten teachers.

The children, according to the survey commissioned by the Early Childhood Investment Corp., aren't prepared intellectually, socially, physically or emotionally.  ‘Cuts by the Michigan Senate have resulted in destroying Michigan's early childhood system,’ said Judy Samelson, chief executive of ECIC in Lansing. ‘The Senate cut $103 million impacting more than 30,000 children.’”

 

Excerpt: “The most vulnerable members of our society are being asked to solve the state's financial crisis by sacrificing their very futures. Early childhood programs like the Great Start Readiness Program and other early intervention programs identify and serve those children who need an extra boost early in life to insure their futures will be bright. Neglecting these children now only means that we, as a society, will have to tend to them (and pay for them) later - through the reform system.”

 

Excerpt: “About a third of the state's children arrive at kindergarten unprepared for learning, according to a teacher survey compiled by an early childhood education advocacy group. ‘We know the state budget is in a whole world of hurt right now, and no one here is naive enough to believe that early childhood won't feel it as well,’ said Lew Chamberlain, CEO of the West Michigan Whitecaps who serves on the local First Steps Commission, which works with the EEIC. ‘But we need to ask our lawmakers to use foresight and wisdom and look at the value of these programs and realize the return on these investment dollars.’”

 

Excerpt: “Quality preschools are key to child readiness for kindergarten, but early education advocates are afraid state budget cuts are going to affect that quality. But while the study shows the need for investment in early childhood education, the state budget is going in the other direction as legislatures look to cut possibly $200 million from education to balance the state budget.”

 

Excerpt: “A new study reports what most teachers already believe: A lot of Michigan kindergarteners arrive unprepared to learn. ‘Consider this statistic: one in three Michigan children are not ready,’ said Julie Kozan. Educators believe study findings are especially timely while state lawmakers consider billions in spending cuts to balance next year's budget. Funding for programs like Saginaw County's Great Start Readiness Program could be completely eliminated.”

 

Excerpt: “One in three Michigan children is unprepared for kindergarten, according to a survey released Tuesday by child advocates criticizing more than $200 million of proposed state cuts to early-childhood programs. ‘That's bad news for a state with the worst unemployment rate in the country, since research shows future success is closely tied to school readiness,’ said Jessica Gillard, a specialist in early education with the Early Childhood Investment Corp.”

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2009/08/one_in_three_michigan_kinderga.html

 WWJ-AM, Detroit, news report, Aug. 12: Teacher Survey Stresses Pre-School Importance

Excerpt: “A new survey released Tuesday by the Early Childhood Investment Corporation supports calls for greater funding for pre- school support services.
Early Childhood Investment Corporation Specialist Jessica Gillard says 90-percent of the Michigan kindergarten teachers surveyed say children who enter school without pre-school experience cannot keep up with their classmates.”

"Michigan kindergarten teachers rank not participating in a pre-school program at age four as a main factor contributing to students starting school academically behind," Gillard told WWJ Newsradio 950's Florence Walton.”

 

Excerpt: “The results (of the kindergarten survey) were presented at a news conference Tuesday called by Great Start at Oakland Family Services in Pontiac, to fuel the fight of Democratic state Sens. Deborah Cherry and Gilda Jacobs and Oakland Schools Early Childhood Director Joan Firestone to convince the state Senate to restore funding for preschool and other early childhood programs in the state’s budget. They are also asking parents to call their senators to urge them to restore funding. Almost all funding for a variety of early childhood programs has been eliminated by the Michigan Senate in its effort to deal with a plunge in tax revenue to fund state operations — including the $103 million for the Great Start Readiness program, which helps prepare more than 30,000 disadvantaged 4-year-olds across the state for kindergarten.”

 

Excerpt: “Advocates for early childhood health and education programs are looking to build a public campaign against state program cuts slated for Wayne County. Melody Moore is with the Great Start Collaborative. She says lawmakers are making the cuts believing that there are other community supports in place. ‘But there are not. For example with the preschool program. Once that program is eliminated there are not additional supports to support children so they can enter a preschool program. The Healthy Michigan Fund, there are not enough supports in place to provide these services to families.’ Moore says one way to pay for the programs could be a penny tax on services or alcohol.”

 

Excerpt: "’We are sending too many children to school unprepared for learning,’ said Judy Samelson, CEO of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation. A study released Tuesday by (ECIC) says one in three Michigan children aren't prepared for kindergarten. Which CEO Samelson said puts an undue burden on the teacher, the school, and the state. ‘They are not socially or emotionally prepared,’ Samelson said. ‘They might not be physically prepared, they might not have the very rudimentary understanding of the language or cognitive skills.’ ‘That survey is right on target," Andon Pogoncheff said. Pogoncheff was a teacher for 30 years and now consults for school districts. He said parents need to play a bigger role.”

 

 

Excerpt: “Michigan students are having trouble on both ends of the academic spectrum. New research from a survey of teachers shows about a third of preschoolers are not emotionally, socially or intellectually ready to start kindergarten. A group lobbying to stop cuts in early childhood education released the report. Right now state lawmakers are considering cutting more than $100-million in grants for preschool programs to help balance the budget.”

 

 

Excerpt: “Michigan residents know that we must continue to invest in our youngest residents if our state is to emerge from its multi-year recession. These public views contrast sharply with the budget cuts proposed by elected officials: eliminating the pre-kindergarten program, which served 610 4-year-olds in Kalamazoo County last year; eliminating home-visiting programs that prevent child abuse and neglect in high-risk families; reducing to fewer than 40 hours per week the child care support for low-income working families -- affecting more than 2,000 preschool-aged children in our county; reducing health care services for approximately 5,000 children, ages 0 to 5.”

 

 

Excerpt: “What legislators have proposed will shred the safety net in Michigan, leaving children unprepared to succeed in school. Research clearly shows that children who do not get off to a good start in school often continue to do poorly. Many eventually end up in our criminal justice system or on welfare, which costs the state millions annually.”

 

Excerpt: “Educators and parents were told last week that early childhood programs in Michigan will likely feel the effects of state budget cuts. State Sen. Randy Richardville (R., Monroe) said early childhood programs, including those provided by the Monroe County Intermediate School District, could suffer under the proposed budget. "You are going to get cut. But you are not going to get cut completely would be my best guess at this point," he warned a group of about 30 people at an informal discussion at Riverside Early Learning Center.”

 

Excerpt: “The Michigan Senate has proposed cutting the Great Start School Readiness program as it tries to balance the new state budget. If passed by both houses and approved by the governor, 172 students would be out of the pre-kindergarten program and 10 classroom staff would lose their jobs, according to Branch Intermediate School District (BISD) Early Childhood Education Director Linda George. “I felt you needed to know the impact,” George told members of the BISD board. “This is just some of the cuts being discussed.”

 

 

 Excerpt: “Members of the St. Joseph County Great Start Collaborative — and supporters of early childhood programs and services in general — are rallying to convince legislators to not cut funding for early childhood programs from the state’s fiscal year 2010 budget.“

 

Excerpt: “State Rep. Richard Hammel, D-Mt. Morris Township, visited Central Elementary today to talk to parents about potential state cuts to early childhood programs. While pre-kindergarten children crawled around their feet and played with toys during a Successful Kids = Involved Parents (SKIP) gathering, parents voiced their concerns about possibility of losing such programs, which offer tips on parenting and early education. The state Senate recently passed their version of the budget, which would result in the elimination of SKIP and other similar programs.”

 

Excerpt: “The Michigan Senate was short-sighted in passing budget bills that eliminated state funding for many early childhood services. The loss of pre-K, prevention services and Great Start programs will hurt our children, our families and our future. By eliminating the Great Start Readiness Program, hundreds of local children will have no access to quality preschool - and that will cost us all more when they enter kindergarten unprepared. By eliminating programs like the Nurse-Family Partnership, Great Parents Great Start, and 0-3 Secondary Prevention, we'll lose valuable home-visiting programs that are proven to prevent child abuse and neglect and ensure children are ready for school. By cutting funding for the ECIC or the Great Start Collaboratives, we would be dismantling a systemic approach to helping all young children and their families. Early childhood is an investment in our future - and saves money in the long run. There are other ways to balance the state budget - like closing tax loopholes.”

 

Excerpt: “More than 600 children in Ingham County would be hurt by the Senate's plan to eliminate the Great Start School Readiness Program. Michigan lawmakers are basically asking 4-year-olds to do the heavy lifting on budget cuts. Parents should be outraged!”

 

Excerpt: “MASON - Across the region, services providers and advocates in the early childhood education field are concerned about the impact of further budget cuts to programming for young children and their families.”

 

Excerpt: “While the state of Michigan is in a difficult fiscal situation, state budget cuts should be made with some sensible strategy. High-quality preschool is one area in which there is the most rigorous evidence of long-term economic benefits. A strategic approach to state budget policy should avoid cutting the budget areas with the strongest evidence of effectiveness.”

 

Excerpt: “It is with fear and trepidation that our community, teachers and administrators face the end of early education for our most fragile population. The GSRP program greatly benefits children throughout their school career. A good foundation of early education benefits students and communities by paying dividends over the course of their lifetime.”

 

Excerpt: “The KPS board and the Greater Kalamazoo community is rallying around the importance of early-childhood services. The list of those involved with the Kalamazoo County Committee for Early Childhood Education includes many prominent civic and business officials. but just as the movement is picking up speed, there's fear it could get derailed by the state budget crisis. Republican legislators are proposing more than $400 million in cuts to early-childhood services, including elimination of preschool funding.”

 

Excerpt: “Frustrated parents and program supporters cannot understand how the Legislature could consider such proposals since early childhood programs help prepare children for school and save money in the long run. “We’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Scott Busenbark of Monroe, whose twin children received many services years ago. “It seems education would be the last thing to be cut. It scares me to think what will happen 10 years from now.”

 

Excerpt: “This is part of our tendency to engage in what your mother might have called cutting off your nose to spite your face. Here's one seemingly small, but very important example of this that's been going on since the beginning of the year — important because there is still time to do something about it. The Legislature and Gov. Jennifer Granholm have: Eliminated pre-kindergarten programs for more than 30,000 Michigan 4-year-olds, "saving" $103 million; Reduced child-care support for low-income working families, saving $135 million; Reduced support to Medicaid providers who offer health-care services to children under age 5, saving around $25 million; Eliminated all funding for the Early Childhood Investment Corp., an outfit that supports early childhood education and quality child care in Michigan, saving $14 million. What's the common thread in all of these budget reductions? They go after programs designed to educate and care for very young children. Some in the state Senate want to cut them even further. That's too bad. Especially since there is compelling evidence that there are few more worthwhile investments.”

 

Excerpt: “The Leelanau Children's Center is not alone, these cuts would affect countless programs and childcare centers throughout the state. All of the parents and educators I talked with say they know our lawmakers are in a tough situation, but they say these programs are essential and it's up to citizens to call legislators and let them know what matters.”

 

Excerpt: “Over 20 people, including state Rep. Andy Neumann, gathered to discuss proposed cuts to early childhood development programs on Monday. The focus of the discussion was on a budget presented by the state Senate that would cut child day care funding and eliminate funding to the Early Childhood Investment Corporation. There was discussion that early child care programs, which have been promoted by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, had deeper cuts than other programs due to a political agenda of the Republican-led Senate. "I hope nobody is using (children in need) as bargaining chips, but yet in the back of my mind I wonder if they're not trying to do that," Neumann said.”

 

Excerpt: “One in four Midland County 4-year-olds attend a Great Start Readiness Program preschool. Now the GSRP is the latest educational program to face the state's budget ax. "It's one of the most successful and well-researched early childhood programs Michigan funds," said Alan Oman, the Midland County Educational Service Agency supervisor of early childhood and family services. The GSRP started in 1985 as The Michigan School Readiness Program.”

 

Excerpt: “The cuts, more drastic in the Senate than what the governor or House have suggested, could have long-term effects on child health and educational development. Studies have shown that children who get early instruction do better later in school. And advocacy groups say that with a bad economy and widespread job losses pinching more family incomes, it's more critical than ever to provide help for youngsters.”

 

Excerpt: “We are fortunate in Kent County that our community is committed to the principle of prevention and that the private sector has stepped up to invest heavily in innovative programs that, among other things, prevent child abuse, prepare children for school, and keep them out of the emergency room and hospital. The loss of public funding for those efforts would undermine the significant private investment that already has been made. Most importantly, it would undermine our children and our future prosperity. That's something none of us can afford.”

 

Excerpt: “Parents in the Lansing area and throughout the state should be alarmed about the Michigan Senate's plan to eradicate $103 million for pre-kindergarten programs that serve 30,471 of Michigan's most vulnerable children.”

 

Excerpt: “A recent Lake Research poll released indicated three-quarters of Michigan voters want early childhood development and education programs protected, a GOGSC news release said. Eighty-four percent of those polled think early childhood development and education is "an absolute necessity."  http://www.ironwoodglobe.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=36233