The Joint Budget Committee of the Arkansas General Assembly recently rejected an increase in state funding for the Arkansas Better Chance pre-K program for fiscal year 2016. This marks the eighth straight year without an increase, a cut once inflation is considered.

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) is working hard to ensure the Arkansas Legislature includes a critical cost-of-living increase for pre-K programs when it finalizes the state budget for fiscal year 2016 during the 2015 session.  Without that increase of $16 million, pre-K centers will face tough choices about whether they serve fewer kids, reduce quality, lose good teachers who haven’t had raises, or even shut their doors.

Pre-K is a proven strategy for insuring that children enter kindergarten ready to learn. Research shows that 80 percent of all brain development happens before children start kindergarten. According to the National Institute for Early Education Research, positive effects were found at the end of first and second grade for language, math, and literacy, and at the end of third grade for literacy. They also found that children who attended ABC pre-K were less likely to have been retained by the end of third grade.

Children who read successfully by the end of the third grade are more likely to graduate from high school. Children with low grades in elementary school are more likely to drop-out of school early. Pre-K has many other benefits that reduce costs including reducing the need for costly special education, increasing the likelihood of better health outcomes, and reducing involvement in the criminal justice system.

We are encouraged by the statement of Governor-Elect Asa Hutchinson on KNWA-TV when asked about the Arkansas Better Chance program. Hutchinson said, “I want to continue to support the existing program up to 200 percent of poverty to help those that need it the most and so I am committed to increasing the funding.” Forward thinking leadership like this, if supported by the Arkansas legislature in 2015, will make sure that Arkansas takes this important first step to building a first class workforce that can better compete in the global economy and promote economic opportunities and incomes for all Arkansans.