Oregon Legislature finds $1 million for Early Head Start

News > Full News List > Oregon Legislature finds $1 million for Early Head Start

Original Source | The Oregonian
By Bill Graves, Wednesday April 7, 2010

Tyshun Brewer, Early Head Start teacher (with back to camera) leads a lesson at Albina Head Start in NE Portland last summer. Brent Wojahn / The Oregonian

In a move that has escaped much public attention, the Oregon Legislature in its February special session came up with $1 million for the state's first spending on Early Head Start, a program to help prepare disadvantaged children under age 3 for school. The state money will allow the federal Early Head Start program to add about 64 children to the 1,700 it now serves in Oregon. It is another step in building high-quality preschool services from birth to age 5 for Oregon children from low-income homes, advocates say.

The move reflects the Legislature's commitment to early childhood education, given that lawmakers approved the expansion at a time when they were scrambling to find money to fill a $185 million hole in the current two-year budget.

Ready for School, a coalition of early childhood education advocates, has been lobbying for a state commitment to Early Head Start for more than a year, arguing it will help the state strengthen its federal-state partnership for preschool education.

"We put it on the top of our agenda," said Swati Adarkar, executive director of the Children's Institute in Portland, a member of the coalition.

She is getting invited to speak to preschool education advocates in other states, she said, "because they are curious how in these tough economic times, the Legislature is supporting early childhood education. It is an opportunity to talk about something good that Oregon is doing. "

The Legislature protected the Oregon Head Start program, which serves 3- and 4-year-olds from needy families, during its 2009 session after sinking an additional $39 million into the program in 2007. The state is spending about $110 million this biennium on Head Start.

Many education and political leaders and some economists argue investments in Head Start save money in the long run. Research shows high-quality preschool yields returns ranging from $2 to $17 for each dollar spent because children with a preschool foundation are less likely to quit school, need remediation or turn to crime.

The Children's Institute will release a report today on how the social, emotional and behavioral health of young children provides the foundation for success in school and beyond.

The institute will release its report at a business and community leaders breakfast this morning at The Governor Hotel in Portland, where Dr. J. Ronald Lally, who helped develop Early Head Start, will speak.

Lally, co-director of the WestEd Center for Child & Family Studies, has said, "any serious educational initiative that hopes to positively impact the achievement gap must begin with an early social and emotional focus."