Lynn C. Woolsey: “many of the children with the greatest capacity to learn will not be finishing their school year because they did not…”

“many of the children with the greatest capacity to learn will not be finishing their school year because they did not have a school year. I am talking about children under 5 who are often left behind because too few States offer universal, voluntary, State-funded, pre-K programs. Democrats believe every parent who wants to send a young child to pre-K should have that opportunity, regardless of their income. Democrats are committed, as part of our ``Democrats' New Partnership for America's Future,'' to working with States to establish, expand, or improve high-quality, pre-K programs. The bottom line is: pre-K works. Children who participate are more likely to excel academically, go to college, and hold a secure job, and less likely to require special education, to have delinquency problems, or slip into welfare dependency. This is the educational equivalent of preventive health care. As childhood immunizations allow us to avoid debilitating illness, similarly, high-quality pre-K reduces the need for remedial efforts and produces more successful adults. Like all educational issues, this is fundamentally an economic issue. High-quality pre-K is a desperately needed investment in our children, their future, and our Nation's economic strength. Mr. Speaker, our global competitors do not wait until children turn 5 to begin their formal education. Why should we? ____________________”