By SUSIE BUFFETT and MOLLY MUNGER
We’ve discovered we share something in common. We’re daughters from families where the application of sound business principles was fundamental to the corporations our fathers founded and built. Those principals are also central to the organizations we each are now privileged to lead.
Most importantly, we share a commitment to the proven benefits of a high-quality early education for children from birth to age 5. Abundant evidence demonstrates that high-quality early education provides a competitive advantage to children, narrowing the achievement gap and ensuring greater success in later life. How exciting, then, to have a president who has put early childhood at the forefront of his education reform agenda.
Even with California’s fiscal crisis, President Obama’s new education agenda and the federal stimulus fund present a unique opportunity for Los Angeles and all of California to take a leap forward in assuring a high-quality early education for the kids who need it most. But how ready is California to compete for hundreds of millions of federal dollars in Race to the Top and Early Learning Challenge grants that are forthcoming from Washington? The answer is much better than several years ago, but there’s still intense work needed if California is to succeed.
In Los Angeles County, fewer than half of all 4-year-olds have access to any preschool at all and only a fraction are enrolled in high-quality programs that produce lasting results.
Commitment from L.A. leaders, including its business leaders, will be critical to maintaining California’s positive momentum. Home to nearly one-third of California’s low-income children, with a larger population than all but eight states, Los Angeles County will be eligible for a significant share of the new federal resources. L.A.’s success in accessing these funds will be a key determinant of how well California does overall in the race for funding.
Leading the way
L.A. business leadership can help Los Angeles, and with it all of California. Leaders can and should stay informed about early education issues and support high-quality early education programs offered by both the K-12 system and by community-based organizations. It is more important than ever for their voices to be heard in support of California’s efforts to improve and expand early education in Los Angeles County.
Fortunately, an event recently showed the promise of California’s ability to succeed in competing for new federal opportunities for early learning, birth to 5. Early childhood advocates, K-12 representatives, business and labor leaders, and state child development agency directors many from Los Angeles gathered in Sacramento to share recommendations and come to agreement about the future direction of California’s early learning system. This process, which is a result of 18 months’ of collaborative work, has been nicknamed “the Water Cooler.”
As leaders who have supported this unique collaboration, we offer our continued support and invite an even broader circle of partners to become engaged. With strong, innovative and competitive applications from California, we could be much closer to the day when all of California’s children who need it most have access to quality early education worthy of a state that values education, economic growth and a vibrant civil society.
As Obama challenged the nation March 10, “Even as we invest in early childhood education, let’s raise the bar for early learning programs that fall short. That’s why I’m issuing a challenge to our states: Develop a cutting-edge plan to raise the quality of your early learning programs; show us how you’ll work to ensure that children are better prepared for success by the time they enter kindergarten.”
Our organizations stand ready to help L.A.’s and California’s leaders do just that.
Susie Buffett is the chairwoman of the Buffett Early Childhood Fund. Molly Munger is the co-director of the Advancement Project, a civil rights law, policy and communications “action tank” based in Los Angeles.
