Business Leaders Warn of Early Learning Gap; Urge States, Federal Government to Build High-Quality Early Childhood Education Programs

5/7/2003

From: Tita Thompson of The Business Roundtable, 202-872-1260 or Donna Klein of Corporate Voices for Working Families, 301-380-6856

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Declaring that too many children enter school ill-prepared to succeed, The Business Roundtable (BRT) and Corporate Voices for Working Families (CVWF) today called upon the states and federal government to make the development of "high-quality" early childhood education programs a top priority.

The two leading business groups released a statement entitled, "Early Childhood Education: A Call to Action from the Business Community." It points to research that describes "the wide learning gap between lower- and higher-income children before they enter kindergarten" and warns that many poor and middle-class children who start out behind "will fall further and further behind." The statement says high-quality programs can close the gap, citing research that shows that children in such programs score significantly higher on measures of learning skills and school readiness.

"The evidence is compelling-high-quality early childhood education is cost-effective and pays big dividends in the long run," said Joseph M. Tucci, Chairman of the BRT's Education and the Work Force Task Force and President and CEO of EMC Corporation. "The business community supports high-quality early childhood education programs because they lead to improved education results, a world-class work force, a healthier society, and ultimately a stronger economy."

The business leaders also identify a "Statement of Principles" for high-quality programs for 3- and 4-year olds, and ask decisionmakers to endorse the principles and incorporate them into their policies. The BRT and CVWF will use the principles to assess existing early childhood programs and evaluate and formulate policies on pre-K, Head Start, and other early education programs.

"High-quality early education programs for 3- and 4- year olds help working families and employers," said Donna Klein, President of Corporate Voices. "When employees are comfortable and confident in the quality and staff of their early care program, they are mentally engaged at the workplace and are more productive. Companies not only benefit from increased productivity, but are also more assured that the K-12 system will be successful in its mission. It's a win/win for everyone."

The statement says that high-quality programs focus on six principles. It states that a successful early childhood education system:

1) Views children's learning as its central mission. It also includes healthy nutrition, safe environments, diagnostic screening, and follow-up services to treat disabilities and health problems that might affect children's ability to learn).

2) Articulates standards for children's learning and program quality that align with K-12 academic standards.

3) Ensures that teaching staff possess the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to help young children enter school prepared to succeed.

4) Supports parents as their children's first teachers and provides high-quality program options to parents who choose to enroll their children.

5) Embraces accountability for measurable results.

6) Builds crosscutting partnerships to govern, finance, sustain, and improve the system.

For the complete statement, which includes a full description of the six principles, visit http://www.brt.org or http://www.cvworkingfamilies.org.

The business groups urge states to take the lead in building high-quality systems. They also call upon the federal government to continue to exert leadership and play an active and important role, supporting the participation of low-income children and supporting state efforts to build staff capacity and other components of a high-quality system.

Citing the states' current budget crunch, Tucci said, "We all know these are hard economic times for the states, but we urge leaders to make early childhood education a high priority because of the long-term benefits to families, communities, and our nation."

Klein added, "Just expanding the number of early childhood programs won't be enough to close the early learning gap. The only way to do it is with high-quality programs that incorporate the six principles and prepare children to enter school ready to learn."

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The Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading corporations with a combined workforce of more than 10 million employees in the United States and $3.7 trillion in annual revenues. The chief executives are committed to advocating public policies that foster vigorous economic growth and a dynamic global economy.

Corporate Voices for Working Families is a non-partisan, non-profit corporate partnership organization created to bring the private sector voice into the public dialogue on issues affecting working families. Collectively the 36 partner companies employ more than 3 million individuals throughout all fifty states, with annual net revenues of $750 billion. Over 70 percent of the partner companies are listed in the Fortune 500, and all share leadership positions in developing family support policies for their own workforces. This experience is the primary asset Corporate Voices brings to the ongoing dialogue with policy makers and other stakeholders.