Houston Law Enforcement: “Improved Pre-K Would Provide a Head Start on Crime Prevention"
Mar 12th 2009
HOUSTON -- Houston Chief of Police Harold Hurtt and Chief William Harness of the Conroe I.S.D. sounded a call for Texas lawmakers to make substantial improvements to the state's pre-kindergarten program, citing research that links access to quality early childhood education to a reduction in crime.
To read a copy of the report, click here.
At a news conference at Carter G. Woodson Middle School on Thursday, the police chiefs released a report showing that high-quality early childhood education increases school success, prevents crime and violence and saves taxpayer dollars.
"By getting kids off to the right start early in life, we can dramatically reduce the odds that they will end up in the criminal justice system. I would much rather focus time, energy and scarce resources on young children than confront hardened criminals later on," Hurtt said.
Long-term studies of high-quality preschools have shown that they significantly reduce later crime among at-risk children. In a landmark 40-year study, researchers found that children who did not attend a high-quality Michigan preschool were five times more likely to become chronic offenders by age 27 than similar children who did attend the program. The at-risk kids who did attend were also 44 percent more likely to graduate from high school than those who did not participate.
Children who lack early learning experiences are also more likely to abuse illegal drugs and become dependent on welfare. High-quality early education significantly reduces short-term costs to school systems by reducing the number of children who require special education or who repeat grades. A study of Chicago's Child-Parent-Centers showed that it cut crime, special education and welfare costs so effectively that it saved the public $10 for every single dollar invested.
"As someone who works closely with the school system, I know that it can be a costly failure when kids fall behind academically," Harness said. "This report shows that giving kids an introduction to learning at an early age gives them the right tools to succeed in school and steers them away from a life of crime."
While Texas has made strides toward providing more young children with early education opportunities, more than 40 percent of children in the state are not enrolled in state pre-kindergarten, the federally-funded Head Start program or special education preschool.
The bipartisan proposal, S.B. 21 and H.B. 130, currently pending in both the Texas House and Senate, would make several key improvements to the quality of the state's pre-kindergarten system-specifically decreasing class size, enhancing pre-literacy curriculum and extending the program from a half-day to a full-day.
Each of these reforms will significantly increase the quality of the state's pre-kindergarten program and improve academic performance among children who attend. Research shows that, by the end of kindergarten, at-risk children who attended full-day pre-k had higher verbal and math test scores than similar children who attended half-day classes.
Hurtt and Harness represent FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS, an anti-crime organization of 5,000 chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and violence survivors, including 180 in the Lone Star State, who advocate for policies proven through research to prevent crime and violence.
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