Chattanooga Television Reports On Our Nationwide Campaign

 

From WDEF-TV Chattanooga:

Law Enforcement Campaign Promotes Early Education to Cut Crime

Submitted by Nordia Epps on September 7, 2011 – 4:21pm. News | Crime | Education | Hamilton County News

Some local Law Enforcement officials spend the morning fighting crime…but not on the streets.

Their battlefield…the classroom.

And their weapons…books.

It’s part of an effort to spread the word that Early Education cuts crime.

And a new report has the numbers to prove it.

Law enforcement will tell you they’d much rather see kids here in the classroom…than here in jail.

Boyd Veal, Signal Mt. Police Chief says, ”It’s a blessing to be able to come in and spend time with the kids and see them actually engage in what you’re doing and know that it’s meaning something and making a little bit of a difference.”

Making a difference is what brought Signal Mountain Police Chief Boyd Veal and Hamilton County District Attorney Bill Cox to the Children’s Home Chambliss Shelter Wednesday.

They read to four year olds in the Early Learning Program.

Bill Cox, Hamilton Co. DA, “In ten years they either will or will not be entering into the criminal justice system as juveniles and 14 years they either will or will not be entering into the adult criminal justice system ”

And new numbers show just how important this type of early learning in Pre-K programs and HEAD Start can be to prevent that transition.

They come from an anti-crime group called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids.

Mark Rogers, the group’s Tennessee director says “It’s most important to do it very early.”

He cites a study that followed kids in Pre-K for 40 years.

It found they were much less likely than those who *didn’t* have early education to end up behind bars.

He says it all adds up to pay now for early education or pay much more later.

Mark Rogers, “It reduces the amount of money that needs to be spent on kids as they get older trying to catch them up. It reduces the amount of money spent on kids who get involved in crime and it produces people who have more stable lives and who are, have better incomes.”

Bottom line…he says…early education is the most effective tool for helping at-risk kids graduate and live a successful life.

This is a part of a nationwide law enforcement campaign to promote high-quality early childhood education.