The Colorado General Assembly convenes today, and among its top priorities are proposals to fix up ramshackle school buildings in the poorest districts and expand preschool opportunities.
These are laudable goals that will provide help to those who need it most. In the long-term, these policies will give children the tools they need to build their own successes.
This agenda, crafted by a panel appointed by Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter and supported by the Democratic majority in the legislature, will face some opposition from minority Republicans.
There have been rumblings of dissent from folks like Mike May, R-Parker, the House minority leader. The party line is that early-childhood education gains evaporate by third grade. Read: It’s a waste of money.
May was quoted in The Post as saying he won’t abandon the idea of parental responsibility so that the state will “raise kids by age 3.”
That’s an extreme characterization and one that distorts the large body of research on the efficacy of early-childhood education. Indeed, there have been studies that cast doubt on the long-term value of early-childhood education for poor children. They showed that some gains faded by third grade.
First, this points to problems with education for 8- to 10-year-olds that allow such regression. Second, other reputable studies show these children made many other gains.
Long-term studies show poor children who attended preschool were less likely to need costly special education or remedial classes. They had higher school achievement in later years and lower dropout rates.
It’s important to realize, as one researcher put it, that one year of preschool can’t be expected to reverse a lifetime of deprivation. But the evidence is clear that it surely helps.
In addition, Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff has made a strong case for the need to offer financial help to poor school districts with crumbling buildings. He has many anecdotes about rotting floorboards and leaky roofs. He says these districts need state help, and he’s right.
The Republicans have an education agenda this session that includes increasing school safety, establishing a teacher performance incentive plan, and mandating graduation standards.
There’s nothing that says Republicans can’t pursue their ideas while working in conjunction with Democrats to fix schools and offer broader preschool opportunities.
In fact, we suspect Coloradans would rather like to see legislators transcend partisanship and work together on important issues, such as education. We hope they find a way to make it happen this session.
