Arkansas’s Department of Education, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation allied themselves to put forth a set of recommendations to move Arkansas’s education system ‘ForwARd.’ Their very first recommendation is high quality pre-K and their very first sentence sums up why quality pre-K is so very important:

“High-quality pre-K is crucial to preparing children to succeed.”

High-quality pre-K is crucial.

High-quality pre-K, in other words, is essential for our kids. We know that it builds synapses and gets kids ready for Kindergarten. We also know that it is essential for social and emotional development – for supplying building blocks to help our kids form strong relationships, understand structures and build soft skills. High-quality pre-K is crucial.

And, they know that high-quality pre-K is not free. High-quality pre-K means high-quality teachers with high quality professional development. It means quality materials and facilities. This is where the ForwARd  recommendations really pack their punch:  ForwARd recommends an increase of $70 to $100M for our existing pre-k program (that has seen only one small one-time increase in 8 years) and an additional $20M to $80M to serve all eligible kids.

Let’s make this recommendation a reality. It’s crucial for our kids.