James M. Jeffords: “While there are benefits for all children, low-income children benefit even more than children from more economically…”

“While there are benefits for all children, low-income children benefit even more than children from more economically advantaged families. And we see those benefits regardless of the setting in which the early education and care takes place--as long as it is a quality program. So I ask my colleagues, how can we, as a nation, continue to shortchange these programs? Why do we not view early care and education as an integral part of our educational system? How can we as a nation continue to view it as a private matter among families, rather than a social imperative? Every one of our industrial competitor countries do. Every one--and the government pays for it. We are leaving children behind. Our children are not entering school ready-to-learn. Our children are lagging behind most other industrialized nations in math and science. We know that the best predictor of quality early education and care and positive outcomes for children is a trained, competent teacher. So why do we have a child care workforce that has little education and training beyond a high school diploma? The majority of the providers in center-based child care receive less training and job specific education than child care workers in urban areas of Nigeria. We know that this surplus should be used to address the greatest needs in our nation today. So why don't we begin to take care of the most critical problem, the early education and care of our children?”