Michigan Fact Sheet

Quick two-page fact sheet

Preventing Crime with Pre-Kindergarten: A Critical Investment in Michigan's Safety

Early Education News

Michigan's law enforcement leaders work everyday to put dangerous, violent criminals behind bars. From years on the front line fighting crime, police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors know that we can beat back crime with a commitment to investing in preschool such as the Michigan School Readiness Program, Head Start and educational childcare that keep kids from becoming criminals in the first place. The evidence is clear. Quality preschool readies kids to learn, reinforces respect and responsibility for others and reduces behavior problems that can spiral out of control. Research confirms that at-risk children left out of quality preschool are five times more likely to grow up to become criminals by age 27 than children in preschool. Quality preschool also saves $17 for every $1 invested. Yet, due to underfunding, only 1 in 3 four-year-olds and 1 in 7 three-year-olds are served by Head Start and the state-funded preschool program.

The Michigan School Readiness Program (MSRP) seeks to reach at-risk children who are not served by Head Start. Children who attend MSRP are more likely to succeed in school, perform better on math and reading achievement tests, are less likely to need special education services, and are more likely to graduate from high school on time. However, underfunding is forcing providers to reevaluate whether they can continue MSRP programs. There has been no increase in the per-slot allotment for MSRP in six years.

Children will only reap the benefits of early childhood education and care if they are in high quality programs with adequately trained staff. The National Institute for Early Education Research evaluated ten benchmarks of high quality state-funded preschool programs and concluded that Michigan met only four of the ten quality standards. Any reduction in current standards would further jeopardize children.

Reports

All Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Michigan reports on Pre-K, early education, child care and Head Start:

"Michigan's most powerful weapon against crime is the investment we make in high-quality preschool programs that teach kids the values and skills to become good citizens instead of criminals. "

-Ella Bully Cummings, Detroit Chief of Police

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• Head Start narrows the literary skills gap by nearly half between children in poverty and all U.S. children.
• Eight out of 10 kindergarten teachers polled say that poorly prepared kids that didn't attend pre-kindergarten negatively impact well-prepared kids.