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Saturday, May 7, 2011

Early education helps fight crime
Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey believes early childhood education programs can help keep children from growing up to become adult criminals.

Against the backdrop of a possible loss of funding for full-day kindergarten in the Philadelphia schools, it’s good to see law-enforcement officials from the region joining colleagues across the nation in raising their voices in support of early-education programs.

Prosecutors, police, and other officials are not so much attuned to raising test scores as they are to lowering arrest rates among the criminals of tomorrow who might be among today’s preschoolers.

The first local event among several dozen being staged this month as part of the “Fight Crime: Invest in Kids” campaign was held Thursday in Ambler, where Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman read to children in a Head Start program and pitched for congressional and state support to maintain adequate school funding.

Ferman was accompanied by State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R., Bucks/Montgomery), the Judiciary Committee chairman, who has promoted alternative sentencing and other smart ways to stem the staggering increase in prison costs. In mid-May, city Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey and District Attorney Seth Williams plan to visit a preschool program in Center City.

The campaign’s organizers hope to draw public attention to the long-term costs to taxpayers and society of shortchanging children on early learning. They cite research that shows the long-term savings from early education can be as much as $16 for every $1 spent. The group estimates that such investments also could reduce Pennsylvania’s special-education costs by 10 percent in the near-term.

An irony of the Pennsylvania schools’ current funding crunch is that it’s driven by Gov. Corbett’s austere budget proposal coupled with a no-tax pledge. Yet, as a former federal prosecutor and state attorney general, Corbett should well understand the need for smart crime-prevention strategies, including early-learning programs.

The pay-now or pay-later argument for education and social programs isn’t a new one. But Corbett’s former law enforcement colleagues should be applauded for stepping outside their traditional lock-‘em-up role to make the case that investing in children’s early development is important in fighting crime.
Posted by Inquirer Editorial Board @ 4:00 AM  Permalink | 1 comment
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:57 AM, 05/07/2011
    You mean if we dont "maintain adequate funding" things will get worse? I didnt think that was possible. Is anyone at home teaching basic human decency to these thugs? We might do far better by offering voluntary sterilization incentives.
    — tr88


1 comments
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