RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota is one of ten states that do not offer any state-funded early childhood education programs, and officials say that won’t change - even though an initiative offered in five preschools in Rapid City has shown to help low-income students improve their language skills.
Researchers have argued that similar programs prepare children to learn in kindergarten.
The program in Rapid City known as Starting Strong is privately funded and only covers 60 low-income children - half 3-year-olds, the others 4-year-olds, the Rapid City Journal (https://bit.ly/1jWjgJX ) reported Sunday. The program is added to the approximately 450 children covered by the federal Head Start program.
Students in Starting Strong get about 450 hours of group learning, including activities to work on counting and language. Families beneath the 200 percent of the federal poverty line - or an annual income of $46,100 for a family of four - can qualify.
“All of the children improved in language development across the board,” said Kim Booth, who coordinates the program through the organization Early Childhood Connections. “I think that’s just from being in a program where people are speaking to them. They’re just getting bombarded with language.”
The National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University said early childhood education saves money in various ways, including preventing some students from repeating grades and not needing special education, the newspaper reported.
But the administration of Gov. Dennis Daugaard believes that the state needs to focus on existing education programs instead of funding new efforts.
“The governor believes that if new funds are available, it is a higher priority to increase funding to current state programs, such as K-12 and higher education, than to create a new state program,” spokesman Tony Venhuizen told the newspaper in an email.
Daugaard is up for re-election this year. Lora Hubbel, a former state legislator, is running in the Republican primary against Daugaard. She also opposes funding early childhood programs.
“What starts out as a ’I’m here from the government and I’m here to help …’ invariably ends up as onerous,” Hubbel said in an email.
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Information from: Rapid City Journal, https://www.rapidcityjournal.com
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