"Estimates are that early childhood education programs that are focused on children at risk produce returns of as much as 7%-16%, a large portion of which are social returns."
-Thomas F. Cooley, columnist for Forbes.com |
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"If children receive support for growth in language, development of motor skills, social skills and emotional support, they are more likely to succeed in school subsequently and to later contribute to society. Absent that kind of early development, children are more likely to drop out of school, commit crimes and require support from the welfare system."
-Thomas F. Cooley, columnist for Forbes.com, November 26, 2008 |
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"I am proud that Connecticut enacted our Early Childhood Education Cabinet in 2005. In early 2006, I created a partner organization, the Governor's Early Childhood Research and Policy Council, to assist the Cabinet and to ensure development of a solid early childhood investment plan and high public accountability. Working together, these two bodies have moved Connecticut forward towards a better system for serving our vulnerable young children, and their families. They have also worked well together to increase public accountability for our increasing investments in the early years."
-Governor M. Jodi Rell, March 20, 2008 |
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"Each child gets a single chance at those first one thousand days. We know every child counts – we must also ensure that every day counts."
-Governor M. Jodi Rell. Early Childhood Summit, January 15, 2008 |
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"Things are happening early on in the lives of young children that are either going to set a strong foundation for high economic achievement and high economic productivity ... or can build a foundation that's going to be the beginning of failure, of school failure and economic dependence and criminal behavior."
-Professor Jack Shonkoff, Hartford Courant. January 15, 2008 |
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"The road to prison starts early. The cabinet will highlight research at the summit that establishes that youngsters experiencing academic failure by grade three are far more likely to experience later school failure, welfare dependence and incarceration as adults. The research shows that children who participate in a high-quality preschool, combined with regular home visits by a trained family resource specialist, are four times less likely to commit a felony by the time they’re 40."
-Hartford Business Journal, January 14, 2008 |
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"The healthy development of all children benefits all of society by providing a solid foundation for economic productivity, responsible citizenship, strong communities, and a secure nation."
-Jack Shonkoff, M.D., Harvard University, 2008 |
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"Strong, prolonged activation of the body's stress response systems -- called Toxic Stress -- in the absence of the buffering protection of adult support can lead to lifelong problems in learning, behavior, and both physical and mental health."
-Professor Jack Shonkoff, M.D., Harvard University, 2008 |
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"The people of Connecticut, and history, will judge us by whether we accepted our stewardship simply to preserve the comfortable status quo or whether we seized it with boldness of purpose. I, for one, am emboldened."
-Governor M. Jodi Rell, State of the State Address, January 2005 |
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"It is critical that our children are ready to learn when they enter kindergarten. We know that long-term academic success depends largely on the experiences children have in the first few years of their lives...The goal we must strive for is to make certain that every child in Connecticut has the opportunity to attend a pre-school program."
-Governor M. Jodi Rell, Gov. Rell Acts to Expand Preschool Opportunities" press release, August 17, 2004 |
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"Since 1999, annual spending by the Connecticut prison system has shot up by 38%, to a staggering $575 million. The budget for the agency that responds to family crises has climbed to nearlyh $690 million. By contrast, state spending on a handful of programs aimed at educating low-income pre-school children has stayed flat, at about $50 million."
-Dan Haar, Spending on Kids: A Business Argument, Hartford Courant, January 25, 2004 |
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"Early childhood development programs are rarely portrayed as economic development initiatives, and we think that is a mistake…in the future any proposed economic development list should have early childhood development at the top. The return on investment from early childhood development is extraordinary, resulting in better working public schools, more educated workers and less crime."
-Art Rolnick and Rob Grunewald, "Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a High Public Return," Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, March 2003 |
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Only 25% of Connecticut’s Hispanic and black students performed at the 4th grade mastery level on the 2002 CT Mastery Tests as compared with 70% of white students. Boys scored lower than girls, and while 61% of all 6th graders met the state goal in math, only 33% of low-income students did so…Closing the achievement gap is the issue of the decade."
-Commissioner Ted Sergi, CT State Department of Eduation, Hartford Courant, October 2002 |
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"Children who start school behind their peers are unlikely to catch up. Children who enter kindergarten with limited words…are the most likely to develop later reading difficulties and require remedial education."
-Committee on Economic Development, 2002 |
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"School readiness produces a higher quality education and greater achievement for individuals students. Effective preschool readiness programs improve total school performance, lead to broad-based achievement gains, and reduce long-term remediation and special education expenese."
-SACIA, The Business Council, 2002 |
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"The human capital of a nation is a primary determinant of its strength. Only if the United States invests wisely in its human resources will it be able to maintain its place in a global economy where human creativity and human skill are increasingly more important than raw materials or physical infrastructure."
-Securing the Future: Investing in Children from Birth to College, 2002 |
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"If Connecticut wishes to remain competitive, there is no room for our children to fail. An early childhood focus offers positive long term results with a cost savings. The Business Advisory Council recommends increased preschool programs for three- and four-year olds and full-day kindergarten for all children who need optimal learning environments while their parents are working."
-Peoples Bank CEO David Carson, 1992 |
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"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
-The Rev. Martin Luther King, 1963 |
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