Kirsten Gillibrand United States Senator for New York

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Home  >  The American Opportunity Agenda: Establish Universal Pre-K
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The American Opportunity Agenda: Establish Universal Pre-K

For American families, Universal pre-K is an essential piece of the puzzle that not only allows their kids to get a good start, but it also allows mothers to remain on the job earning a paycheck and helping our economy grow.

Research has consistently shown that high quality early learning programs improve cognitive, social, emotional, and language development, which are necessary skills for life.  The first five years is a period of incredible growth and development for a child.  Yet, for too many families - quality, affordable early childhood education is out of their reach.  Robust investment is needed to expand the number of children served, ensuring that at-risk children enter kindergarten with tools for success.    

Research also shows that lowest-income and disadvantaged children are the least likely to participate in preschool programs. And children from middle-class families are only slightly more likely to participate. Preschool opportunities for 3-year-olds appear to be a particular challenge for some middle- income families. Among 3-year-olds, 34 percent of children in families earning $50,000 to $60,000 participate in preschool programs, compared to 42 percent of children in families earning less than $10,000.

Senator Gillibrand is sponsoring Senator Harkin's Strong Start For America's Children Act. This legislation will help more children arrive at kindergarten ready to succeed by funding a 10 year early childhood education initiative to expand early learning opportunities for children up to age 5. The Strong Start Act would expand early education by helping accelerate efforts at the state level to provide high-quality preschool to low and moderate income families and encourage local partnerships to increase the quality of infant and toddler care through the Early Head Start program.

Universal pre-K is a necessary investment that will further opportunity and success for our children from the start.

Download a copy of The American Opportunity Agenda here