KHI NEWS SERVICE
TOPEKA, June 25
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is scheduled to testify to a joint congressional committee on Wednesday about the economic benefits of quality child care and early education.
The Kansas Democrat is one of four tentatively scheduled witnesses at the hearing of the Joint Economic Committee at 11 a.m. EDT in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building.
“When she testifies at the joint committee, she”ll be focused on how investment in early childhood education closes the achievement gap and leads to real savings in the long-run,” said Sebelius spokesperson Nicole Corcoran. “Children who start off school behind their peers are more likely to stay behind throughout their school lives and into adulthood and never reach their full potential.
This costs states money in terms of spending on remedial classes and programs, which are less effective and cost-efficient than early learning efforts. Children who receive instruction from an early age do better in school and in life than those who do not. More investment in early education means fewer juvenile offenders, fewer Americans on public assistance and a more nimble workforce.”
Corcoran said that in the “absence of full federal support, states, like Kansas are stepping up.”
Presiding over the hearing are U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. and U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa.
Others tentatively scheduled to testify are:
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James Heckman, a Nobel Prize-winning professor of economics from the University of Chicago;
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Harriet Dichter, deputy secretary, Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning; and
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Douglas Besharov, director of the American Enterprise Institute”s Social and Individual Responsibility Project.