skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Law Enforcement Leaders Speak Out for Early Learning

play audio
Play

Friday, April 15, 2011   

SPOKANE, Wash. – Washington spends more than $800 million a year on corrections, and advocates for children believe there's a way to reduce that number – by funding early learning programs.

On Thursday, the Spokane police chief, sheriff and prosecuting attorney agreed. They cite a Michigan study that found at-risk children were five times more likely to be in the criminal justice system in their 20s if they had not been in a high-quality preschool.

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich says he was one of those kids, and a Head Start program got him off to a better start in life.

"The money that we're spending to give them those early childhood experiences - to light that fire of intense interest in learning - is what's going to provide for their future. And that future can be a bright future; or that future can be sitting in a jail cell. Our choice, as a society."

Both the House and Senate budgets trim early learning programs, but they go about it differently. The House cuts or ends some individual programs, while the Senate proposes paying less per child for ECEAP, the state's preschool program for low-income families, and asking parents for a copayment. Gary Burris, a senior policy associate with the Economic Opportunity Institute, says any option comes with problems.

"The Legislature 'gets it,' but there's such a revenue shortfall right now that early learning is not being spared. Some would say that maybe it's not being cut quite as badly as other programs - but there still are some very significant cuts proposed, and it could really be devastating for families."

Burris says even small fee hikes will price some parents out of the childcare system, and could cause providers to lay off staff or close their doors.

Proponents of cutting early learning believe it's something parents should be taking care of. Sheriff Knezovich says many who work in law enforcement see it differently.

"When I hear talking heads say, 'It's the parents' responsibility' - well, you know, they're right. The problem is, in today's world, many of these kids don't have parents - or if they do have parents, that was a purely biological function. They don't have the same upbringing, the same mentoring, that kids did a generation ago."

Knezovich says one person's criminal career can cost taxpayers $2.5 million in the corrections system.

The newly-released Senate budget has not yet been approved. When it is, a conference committee will be appointed with members of both Senate and House, to negotiate budget differences.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021