Two years ago this month, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) welcomed me as the first ever U.S. Secretary of Education to speak at their annual conference. In my remarks, I talked about the Obama Administration's shared interest in overcoming many of the obstacles early learning educators and advocates have challenged for years -- from inconsistent program quality to insufficient access to successful programs for children with high needs.
During this week's NAEYC conference, a mere two years later, my Senior Advisor on Early Learning, Jacqueline Jones, announced our plan to create the U.S. Department of Education's first ever Office for Early Learning.
For too long, federal programs and funding streams for early learning have functioned in isolation, lacking strong, coordinated collaboration across agencies and even within our own Department. Establishing a dedicated office underscores a critical step in progressing the national dialogue about improving outcomes for young children. It will institutionalize, increase, and coordinate federal support for high-quality early learning, manage outreach to the early learning community and enhance support for building high-performing early education systems in states across the country.
Through Jacqueline's leadership, our Department has worked tirelessly to engage partners in the field and across the federal government in an effort to elevate the conversation around identifying excellence, incentivizing innovation, and rewarding success. A breakthrough in our efforts happened last May, when our Department joined the Department of Health and Human Services in announcing the first ever Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, a $500 million federal commitment that supports states' efforts to create comprehensive plans to build coordinated systems and improve early learning and development programs so that more children, especially those with high needs, will enter kindergarten ready to succeed. The Challenge received widespread interest with 35 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico submitting applications in October.
Improving early learning programs for children birth through third grade is critical work and plays a fundamental role in building a cradle to college and career education system for our children. Research consistently shows that high-quality early learning programs benefit children, our society, and our national prosperity. It is simply one of the most cost-effective investments America can make in its future.
In this year's State of the Union address, the President posited that "if we raise expectations for every child, and give them the best possible chance at an education, from the day they are born until the last job they take -- we will reach the goal that I set two years ago: By the end of the decade, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world."
Our children deserve nothing less than a strong start to a life filled with opportunity, and it all starts with successful early learning programs. Through the courage, skill, and commitment of states across the country, early learning has already begun its transformation. An Office of Early Learning will allow our Department to better support their efforts, deepen public awareness of the impact of this work, and leverage early learning investments in ways that raise quality and expand access for more children.
In the coming weeks, I look forward to sharing more details on the role the Office of Early Learning will play in continuing the Department's commitment to providing all children with a world-class education.
Follow Sec. Arne Duncan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ArneDuncan
Whose results are not off the chart
And a trillion was spent
Without making a dent
For it sought not the brain but the heart
"The federal government alone has more than 79 literacy-related programs administered by 14 federal agencies" http://www.margaretkay.com/Illiteracy%20Historical%20Overview.htm
However, while you are at it, get rid of race to the top, and no child left behind, and make schools be about teaching and learning again, and not standardized tests, and aiming to teach just enough for everyone to get over an arbitrary line.
If a child is not performing, or ditching class, or thwarting the education of classmate - we ship them to Mexico. For $8000+ that we spend on education, we can afford private/military style schooling in Mexico (we build facilities).
Bad students can now be taken out of the system, away from the streets where they cause more trouble, and learn in a disciplined environment.
We reduce the laws on corporal punishment, and take the children out of their familiar environment.
Whatever the child loses in terms of disconnectedness, is more than made up for by the better skills and brain power they will achieve.
Whatever corporeal damage we may have to do, military style, is humane since it leads to better ends.
Parents may complain...but hey...if they could take care of their own damn children, we wouldn't be in such a mess.
The question is, who pays? Do we throw more onto the State? The US already spends more than it should on education (upwards of $8000 per student year). More money isn't an answer.
No matter how much is spent, the most critical factor in a child's life is the quality and commitment of their parents. This is the biological lottery, in a way. If you are born to bad parents, your fate in life is grimmer.
The symptom are educational statistics. The root cause is family planning. People who don't even have $1000 saved, or a decent skill in the wage markets, are having kids. This is a recipe for the continuation of structural poverty.
The State has already encroached far beyond its mandate. Schools are now soup kitchens (almost 35 million US children get some form of food assistance), behavioral centers (teaching kids manners), and often babysitting institutions. The purpose of School is to teach, with discipline. Unless parents support that system, those kids are screwed.
I heartily endorse that early childhood education, pre-school and kindergarten, can greatly start kids off on the right foot educationally and help their getting really prepared and clued about schooling.
Question: I wonder if studies have been made to show that benefit of pre-schooling persists into the higher grades or where a noticeable drop-off of those good benefits may kick in.
By the time they graduate HS, South Korean students have spent TWO YEARS more in school than American students.
OBSOLETE Systems CANNOT be REPAIRED.
OBSOLETE Systems MUST be REPLACED.
I can't really think of any of consequence... yea it would further centralize things, which may make it difficult to innovate, but right now school quality is tied to the wealth of the area.
Once we start with a more equal footing, we might be able to get somewhere.
The other side of me wants to say: how early is early enough for childhood education? Kids should play, not be turned into cogs as early as pre-preschool.
That being said, the most important "pre-preschool" is in the home. As a pediatrician who often sees babies born to poor single mothers I try to stress the importance of reading to children, turning off the TV, good nutrition and a regular bedtime. Most of these moms didn't have good role models themselves. They really do want the best for their kids.
Corporate partnerships make a lot of sense for trade schools, certificate programs, and applied technology 2-year degrees.
However, foundation skills that serve as the building block for a wider range of potential futures need to be preserved in basic common schooling.
Parents and their children deserve the right to choose. It isn't your right to force parents to send their kids to a school that suits your selfish interests.
Apple, IBM, 3M, Microsoft and so on can provide the skills young minds need to expose themselves to what is in their future and put an end to kids thinking they can make a living only if they get a degree in Latin.
Available to all?
At public expense?
Never happen..........................how will the wealthy kids keep their advantages if EVERYONE has access to a good education?
Congress works for the 1%, the ones that fund their campaigns............
Why do you think things are the way they are?