Great Start: A necessary cut?

Cuts not a change for the better
By Paul Liabenow, Cadillac Area Public Schools superintendent

Change is inevitable and we are all painfully aware of that. However, change that will put a 4-year-old child in Michigan at a disadvantage is a change we cannot afford.
Children in Michigan need every advantage available to succeed. As superintendent of Cadillac Area Public Schools, I humbly request that you lead the charge as advocates for these young learners.

As of this press time, there is no guarantee of funding allocated for the Great Start Readiness Program (four-year-old program) in Michigan. Cadillac Area Public Schools has administered this early education quite successfully and championed the cause of preschool students in our community.

There is not an option for the 2009-2010 school year unless the Senate determines the program worthy of funding. The state legislature will be setting program funding targets over the next several weeks.

 It is with fear and trepidation that our community, teachers and administrators face the end of early education for our most fragile population. The GSRP program greatly benefits children throughout their school career.

A good foundation of early education benefits students and communities by paying dividends over the course of their lifetime.

An early childhood education keeps students in school, provides the opportunity for prolonged success and systematic advancement by grade, keeps kids out of trouble and out of the judicial system, reduces teen pregnancy, provides an increased opportunity for good employees and citizens and it’s the right thing to do, to educate the young.
These are some sobering facts as the Senate has the Great Start Readiness Program on the chopping block:

• Michigan Ranks 27th among all states for funding of 0- to 5-year-old programs.
• In 2005 one in five young children in Michigan lived in poverty.
• Investing in the young student will SAVE the taxpayers money through the course of the student’s school career.
• Eighty-three percent of Michigan voters indicated early childhood development programs are an absolute necessity.

The jury is still out. I implore you to contact our leaders in Lansing and communicate your dissatisfaction with the loss of pre-school in Michigan. Visit Michigan.gov for our lawmakers’ contact information.
Senator Ron Jelinek, (R), Senate Appropriations Chair provided a counter-point to Liabenow’s column. You can read both columns at http://www.cadillacnews.com/story_news/?story_id=1031290&year=2009

Source:  Cadillac News , 08.03.09