4K Early Childhood Education

Quality Matters! 4K Early Childhood Education is Your Business

A Call to Action

More than 100 business and professional leaders attended a
Call to Action lunch meeting on Oct. 3, 2007. United Way of the Midlands & Voices for South Carolina's Children goal for the meeting was to coordinate our community's response to the current lack of legislative leadership. We believe it is critical to insure the future of quality 4-year-old kindergarten programs in South Carolina during the 2008 legislative session.

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You can help! Take time to contact your state legislators.
Scroll down to see their phone numbers and email addresses.

Here are some talking points and facts about this important issue.

We believe South Carolina needs to provide 4K for every child who needs it.

We believe South Carolina will continue to fail in improving our workforce, economic development and quality of life as long as we fail to promote proven solutions to long-standing problems.

We believe that every child in South Carolina deserves an opportunity to start school ready to learn and finish school ready to work.

The Facts

From 2006-2007, there were 57,251 four-year-olds in South Carolina.

Approximately 64% of the four-year-olds are poor and defined as eligible for free- or reduced-price lunch and/or Medicaid services.
Of the eligible four-year-olds, approximately 19% are not being served by a 4K program, which includes Head Start, public schools, First Steps or ABC vouchers.

For the first year of the Child Development Education Pilot Program (CDEPP), $23,575 million was allocated. Of this allocation, 55% was expended.

The State Department of Education expended 70% of its $15,717 million allocation and served 2,932 children.
First Steps expended 15% of its $7,859 million allocation and served 309 children.

Source: SC Education Oversight Committee's July 2007 Update Interim Evaluation on the First Year Implementation of the Child Development Education Pilot Program (CDEPP), July 24, 2007.

4K Benefits All Children

We have underestimated young children for too long. The most important brain development occurs by age five.
Investment in quality preschool education takes advantage of this time when children are ready and eager to learn.
High-quality pre-k helps children develop important social skills such as following directions, taking turns and relating well to peers and teachers.

4K is the First Step to Improving K-12

Kindergarten teachers report that children who attend high-quality pre-k come to school prepared and ready to learn.
Teachers spend more time teaching and less time disciplining when children have high-quality pre-k.
Children who go to quality preschool become stronger readers in elementary school, lifting a burden off public schools that now struggle to help kids catch up.

4K is a Proven Solution that Benefits the South Carolina Economy

Decades of solid academic research from across the country have proven that children who attend high-quality pre-k have stronger social and reading and math skills.
High-quality pre-k gives children a competitive edge.
Business leaders across the country support pre-k as an economic improvement solution.
Every $1 invested in high quality pre-k saves taxpayers up to $17 by reducing the need for remedial and special education, welfare, and criminal justice services. (Source: "The Economics of Investing in Universal Preschool Education in California", Rand Corporation; The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project)
According to the Federal Reserve Bank and the Committee on Economic Development, investing in high quality early childhood education yield significant returns as these programs improve the quality of life of our children, reduce crime, make the workforce of the future more productive and strengthen our economy.