EDITORIAL: Child Care Worth State Investment

Mar 28, 07:42 AM

Current Headlines: By Detroit Free Press

Mar. 28--A new national study of child care centers underscores why, even in the midst of Michigan's economic downturn, Gov. Jennifer Granholm must continue efforts to strengthen early childhood education.

Researchers with the National Institutes of Health report that children with access to high quality child care before kindergarten have a higher-level vocabulary in the fifth grade compared with other students who had access to lower quality care.

Surprisingly, the study also concluded that the more time a child spent in child care the more likely their sixth-grade teacher would be to eventually report the child as "disobedient in school."

The research was based on analysis of 1,364 children from 10 states. No Michigan children were in the study, but state policymakers should still view the research as another strong indicator of the importance of exposing as many young children as possible to quality care.

The state's ultimate goal of producing more educated citizens has to begin here, a goal Granholm has been pressing since her first term. The governor has put a number of beneficial building blocks in place, starting with Project Great Start, an effort to boost the academic achievement of day care workers. Day care centers in Michigan are also required as part of their licensing process to read to children at least 30 minutes a day.

Those are vital beginnings that ought to be built upon through such policy changes as increasing the number of Pre-K programs in public school districts, and even the more radical step of offering free preschool to every young child.

But for now, it's at least gratifying to know that Granholm's push for a statewide focus on quality early childhood education is well founded.

Read more about the study at www.nichd.nih.gov/research/supported/seccyd/overview.cfm.

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