Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Gubernatorial Candidates on Early Childhood Education

The Center for Michigan does a nice job of highlighting the educational support that both candidates for Governor, Mr. Snyder and Mr. Bernero, have for early childhood education:

"In August, both Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder and his Democratic opponent, Virg Bernero spoke in support of preschool at the Sandbox Party Convention, an event to help spread the word about the economic impact of early childhood education in the state.

“Reform Michigan’s Educational System” is Number 8 on Snyder’s 10-point plan to reinvent Michigan.

And Bernero has often said that education is economic development.

Bernero campaign spokesman Cullen Schwarz said it is now a widely accepted fact that preschool education is vital for the cognitive development of children and is a major factor in future academic success.

“Virg’s goal is to have every four-year-old in Michigan enrolled in pre-school by the end of his first term,” he said. “Michigan needs a strong pre-K program that has uniform benchmarks and quality standards to ensure that all our children are getting a jump-start on gaining the tools to succeed in a global economy.”

Snyder campaign spokesman Bill Nowling said Snyder does not yet have a specific preschool proposal, but believes the state must refocus its effort on 0-5 learning because of its proven return on investment. That will require using what Snyder calls “value for money budgeting.”

The full report can be found at:

www.thecenterformichigan.net/special-report-where-bernero-and-snyder-stand-on-early-education/

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