Bloggers Unite for Early Childhood Education

Since BlogCatalog is a Texas-based company, we wanted to take just a moment to talk about some very important legislation that is being considered during our current legislative season here in Texas–and for which a BloggersUnite event has just been added for next Thursday, 4/23/09.

House Bill 130 and Senate Bill 21 are two pieces of legislation aimed at increasing the quality and the availability of early childhood education programs here in Texas.  The listing created on BloggersUnite.org asks bloggers to raise awareness about these bills by blogging about the issue and to take action by speaking to their representatives and letting them know they should support this legislation.  

Because we here at BlogCatalog are not experts on the subject of early childhood education advocacy, we thought it would be good to bring in a guest blogger for this post to explain the importance of this issue and what is currently happening in Austin.

The following article was written by Kara Johnson, Executive Director of the Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition:

Time Running out for Young Learners in Texas

 Passing legislation in Texas often feels like a long tiresome trek, followed by a sustained and painstaking sprint.  If you didn’t know already, Texas has a unique legislative system.  Our lawmakers meet for just 140 days every two years, thus a lot of time is spent getting ready for the legislative session. When session finally begins, it’s a challenging and exhausting race to line everything up to ensure important bills are passed into law.

The early education movement in Texas knows this process all too well.  During the previous legislative session, the movement focused its efforts on Senate Bill 50, which would have greatly strengthened the quality of early education in the Lone Star State.  Advocates from all across Texas made legislative visits, phone calls, and sent emails, only to see the bill die on the House floor.  When seeking explanation from legislators and political insiders, early education advocates were told that they had not done enough to build consensus around Senate Bill 50, and that they should be more united during the next legislative session.

Supporters of high-quality early education took that message to heart.  During the interim between the 80^th and 81^st Legislature, the early education movement went to incredible lengths to achieve consensus around its priorities for the 81^st  Legislative Session.

For the current session, advocates are supporting the identical companion bills, Senate Bill 21 authored by Senator Judith Zaffirini and House Bill 130 authored by Representative Diane Patrick.  These bills would ensure that many school districts are voluntarily able to provide full-day enhanced quality pre-k to their currently eligible four year olds.  Additionally, the legislation calls for a significant amount of funding set aside to support partnerships between school districts and community child care centers or Head Start programs to serve eligible children in community-based high-quality settings. 

Currently Texas schools have no requirements for pre-k class size or staff-to-child ratios, key indicators of program quality.  Senate Bill 21 and House Bill 130 mandate a class size limit of 22 children and a 1 to 11 staff to child ratio.  Participating districts would also observe other quality guidelines, such as ensuring well-trained teachers are in the classroom and that high-quality curricula are being followed. 

There is great consensus on these bills.  Supporters include: the Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition (TECEC), Texas Association for the Education of Young Children (TAEYC), United Ways of Texas (UWT), the Texas Licensed Child Care Association (TLCCA), the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), and over 275 other organizations, chambers of commerce, and associations. Many legislators have responded to the voices behind these bills.  Currently one-third of the Texas Senate and nearly 100 Texas Representatives in the House have signed on in support of the bills. 

Advocates have held the meetings, made the phone calls, and worked together to ensure that high-quality early education was placed on the Texas Legislative Agenda. Now with already more than half of the Session over, they are working overtime to make sure that the Texas Legislature finish the deal.

Never in the history of the early education movement in Texas has the call for high quality pre-k been so loud.  Texas Legislators have received over 10,000 letters and emails, witnessed approximately 1,000 advocates visit the Capitol, and heard nearly 100 favorable testimonies all in favor of Senate Bill 21 and House Bill 130.  In the face of such support, any lingering questions about consensus on early education in Texas are unsubstantiated.

Throughout the push to pass these critical bills, the message has been clear and consistent: high-quality early education builds a foundation for success in school and in life for children that experience it.  Advocates have come to the Capitol not with anecdotes, but with a multitude of research and evidence supporting the need for high-quality programs in our state. 

The research is strong and Texas-specific. The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M conducted a conservative cost-benefit analysis of investing in high-quality pre-k in Texas, and found that every $1.00 invested in high-quality programs saves Texas taxpayers at least $3.50. Because early education takes place during most crucial period of human brain development, high-quality programs can reduce the number of referrals to special education, lower the high-school drop out rate, contribute to lower crime rates, and give children the foundation they need to be high wage earners later in life.

The early education movement has brought consensus and broad-based support behind these bills. We are in the last leg of the legislative race, and it is critical that legislators move to pass these bills.  Inaction carries with it a failed opportunity to strengthen our communities and the future of our children. Let’s cross the legislative finish line assured that our state put its young learners in first place.

Please contact your Texas legislator today and urge him or her to support this critical legislation.

To learn more about early education in Texas visit www.tecec.org

Don’t live in Texas but want to support high-quality early education?  Check out Pre-k Now and Zero-to-three.

Kara Johnson is the Executive Director of the Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition 

*A note from BlogCatalog:  We make it a point to be unbiased about political issues on both BlogCatalog and BloggersUnite.  We feel comfortable supporting this legislation because it has bipartisan support in both the Texas House and Senate.