Early Learning

An Investment in the Future

Senate Democrats want our children to get off to the best possible start in life. It’s why the creation of an early learning department is a top priority this session.

By the time a child is 5 years old, 90 percent of her brain is developed. Children who receive the social, emotional and cognitive stimulation they need early on will have greater success in school and in life. If we want to make a positive impact on the learning of our children, reaching them before they enter kindergarten is key.

Research also tells us that children who receive early learning services are more likely to graduate from high school and from college, and less likely to use drugs, get pregnant as a teenager or enter the criminal justice system. Clearly making the investment in early learning services is good for our children and our communities.

And it’s good for business, too. For every dollar spent on early learning, we get $8 in return. In addition to giving our children a great sendoff to kindergarten, our investment will help them meet the challenges of the global work force ahead of them.

Washington’s early learning, child care and preschool programs are scattered across several agencies. By consolidating them in a single, Cabinet-level agency, we will make it easier for families and professionals to navigate through this information to find just what they need. We’ll eliminate duplication and overlap, too, and save the taxpayers those unnecessary costs.

Right now, parents rely on word-of-mouth to find high-quality child care. But that would change with an early learning department. One of its duties would be to set up a quality ratings system. This would give parents and other concerned adults information for making informed decisions about the best day cares for them.

Senate Democrats want to give parents good information about how to be the most effective first teachers of their children. We also want to create a seamless system for child care and early learning professionals to get the assistance they need to work with our youngsters. Our children deserve nothing less. After all, our future rides on them.