Election Day – Tuesday, November 6 — is fast approaching, and we want to make sure that candidates include young children and families in their education agendas. On this last Friday before Election Day, I pose a wrap-up question:

A compelling body of research tells us that high-quality early education is one of the most cost-effective investments we can make in our children’s future, our state’s future and our nation’s future. Research also tells us that children’s ability to read proficiently by the end of third grade strongly predicts their chances of success in school and beyond. With the path to literacy beginning at birth, the two issues are inextricably linked. Will you put a stake in the ground and commit to investing the resources and supporting the policies that will ensure that children have access to high-quality early education and become proficient readers by the end of third grade?

For more questions, check out “Eight questions about young children to ask candidates” that I suggest in a post on MassMoms.com, on the (Worcester) Telegram & Gazette website.

Finally, vote on Tuesday, November 6. In Massachusetts, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Massachusetts voters, click here for the location of your polling place.

(The regular Friday “In Quotes” feature returns next week.)

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Election Day 2012 – Tuesday, November 6 — is four weeks away. That means four more weeks to put young children on candidates’ agendas. An Early Ed Watch post from Lisa Guernsey offers three reasons why the issue is important:

“The potential for childcare to boost parents’ ability to climb the job ladder and strengthen the economy, the tight connection between strong early learning experiences and children’s later success in school and the urgent need to counter the pernicious effects of worsening child poverty in this country.”

It’s part of a Q-and-A in the Newark Star-Ledger in which Guernsey also calls for increased funding to increase professional development, reduce staff turnover and give more children access to early education. See also this summary of a recent New America Foundation event, “Speaking Up: What the Presidential Candidates Should be Saying about Child Care and Early Learning.”

In more election news, check out the election toolkit from the First Five Years Fund. The toolkit includes an early learning fact sheet, voter message cards, sample social media posts and a template for candidate letters. “I’m looking for a candidate,” says one message card, “who is committed to investing in quality early childhood development— from birth to age 5 —which has been proven to prevent the achievement gap and provide a strong foundation for helping all children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn and succeed in school, college, career and life.”

And, as readers of this blog know from previous posts, we have an Election 2012 question of the week every Friday, an Election 2012 page on our website,  and “Eight questions about young children to ask candidates” that I suggest on MassMoms.com.

Finally, a reminder to Massachusetts residents. If you have not yet registered to vote you still have time. To cast a ballot on November 6, you must register to vote by Wednesday, October 17.

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Election Day is fast approaching, and we want to make sure that candidates include young children and families in their education agendas. So, from now until the Friday before Election Day, I will run a question of the week to ask candidates running for state and federal office. The regular Friday “In Quotes” feature will return after Election Day.

Also, check out the Election 2012 page on our website. It provides tips for voters on how to focus attention on high-quality early education and reading proficiency this campaign season and information for candidates interested in becoming champions for young children.

Here is this week’s question:

High-quality early education is one of the few educational strategies with a demonstrated positive impact on children’s learning and life outcomes. Its many benefits, particularly for children from low-income families, include improved early literacy and numeracy skills and social-emotional development, as well as reduced special education and grade retention, increased high school graduation and college attendance. Its longer-term benefits include higher earnings, reduced need for public assistance and better health. Yet too many children do not have access to high-quality early education. What will you do to improve the quality of early learning settings and increase children’s access to high-quality early education and care?

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Election Day is fast approaching, and we want to make sure that candidates include young children and families in their education agendas. So, from now until the Friday before Election Day, I will run a question of the week to ask candidates running for state and federal office. The regular Friday “In Quotes” feature will return after Election Day.

Also, check out the Election 2012 page on our website. It provides tips for voters on how to focus attention on high-quality early education and reading proficiency this campaign season and information for candidates interested in becoming champions for young children.

Here is this week’s question:

Leading economists – including Nobel Prize winner James Heckman and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke – say investing in high-quality early education is both cost effective and critical for our long-term economic viability. What will you do to make sure we invest the public dollars needed to ensure that all children have access to high-quality early education?

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