Enough with the stale scalpel and hatchet metaphors. Governor Gregoire brought out the heavy machinery last week when she axed early learning out of this year’s basic education reform bill.
Those of us who were waiting in the wings of the Governor’s office ready to celebrate the historic inclusion of early learning in basic education had our legs cut out from under us when we learned just moments before the bill signing of the eleventh-hour veto. Sadly, not even the legislative champions of early learning in basic ed had been told beforehand.
In her signing/veto statement, Governor Gregoire stated that the reason for her veto was that any basic education program of early learning should be available for all children, and not just limited to “at-risk” 3-and 4-year olds. Her objective is commendable and I wholeheartedly agree that quality early learning should be broadly available to all children. However, the Governor’s methodology is both short-sighted and blind to the political realities of the day.
Typically, when children start behind they stay behind. The achievement gap starts long before children take that first step into the kindergarten or first grade classroom. While quality early learning opportunities cannot completely erase the barriers and challenges faced by low-income children, they can go a long way towards shrinking the disparities and giving more children a fair and strong start in school. No redefinition of basic education or new robust school funding model will have more of an impact on the long-term outcomes for children than early learning.
It took over 18 months of hard work on the part of legislative champions, advocates, and allies to even get early learning on the table for consideration, let alone passed by the legislature with bi-partisan support. The Governor’s action on this legislation has set the work back for children in Washington – but it has not dampened our spirit nor our commitment.
We all need to let the Governor know that early learning is a public policy priority. And we could use your help. If you want to weigh in with Governor about her decision and tell her how important early learning is to you, you might want to sign on to the new Children’s Alliance petition.
Filed under: early learning, education, children, family, income, inequality, kindergarten, middle class, pre-kindergarten, preschool, public policy, school, washington state
