1. Providers and ReadySetSoar have long known the need for, and benefits of, Preschool
Your advocacy and work are paying off
The time is right (nationally, at the state and locally)
Our leaders are taking up the challenge
Mayor Whaley announced the City of Learners in her first State of the City speech in 2014
Commissioner Debbie Lieberman and the Montgomery County Commission created a Preschool Promise task force
But it will take all of us!
Think about where we can tell our story
Consider how you can help
Readiness Summit
03/4/2016

2. How can we come together as a community so that every child gets to attend 1 year of affordable, high quality Preschool?
As Ellen shared the community leaders and educators came together from around Montgomery County to answer this question

3. The Solution was a Preschool Promise.
Thanks to Kettering City Schools, City of Kettering, City of Moraine and Montgomery County we did a two year pilot we

4. Thanks to Kettering City Schools, City of Kettering, City of Moraine and Montgomery County we did a two year pilot where we focused on primarily helping low income (In the first year) and then low-middle income families (in the second year) find and pay for preschool
Lessons Learned
Preschool Promise must truly be for all (Parameters were too strict)
Important to remove as many barriers as possible for families to participate
Just doing tuition assistance is not enough to provide preschool

5. The Big Vision
All Montgomery County Children are ready for kindergarten and have the foundation needed for success in school and life.
Over the past year we have had a group of community leaders – a combination of elected officials, business leaders, early childhood practitioners, and funders meeting to create recommendations for a County wide Preschool Promise.
Our overall big vision is that all children in the County are ready for kindergarten.
We believe preschool plays an important role in better preparing our children.
We know Preschool doesn’t solve all the problems – but it is an important strategy along with other supports for families in the years from birth to kindergarten.

6. The Gap
About 25-30% of our 4-year-olds do not attend Preschool at all, and of those who do, less than half are in high-quality
The problem is that 25-30% of our children do not attend Preschool at all, and then of those who do, the majority are not in high quality programs
So the need is two-fold –
We need to help more children attend preschool
We need to improve the Quality of the Preschools

7. The Big Preschool Goal
Double the number of children who attend a high quality Preschool in the next 10 years, moving from 35% to 70%
And that led our committee to develop The Big Goal of:
Doubling the number of children attend high quality preschool over the next 10 years from 35% to 70%
Our committee has worked the last seven months to develop a Preschool Promise model that would accomplish this goal, and next we will explain the pillars we used to shape the recommendations.

8. Right now we are in the second year of our Preschool Promise Pilot in Kettering, and thanks to the generous support from the City of Dayton, Montgomery County, Dayton Public Schools we will be bringing Preschool Promise next to the City of Dayton - specifically NW Dayton
We will focus on three pillars
Pat will tell you more about Educating the commuity
Expansion is the heart beat of the preschool promise. As we set the goal earlier we need to expand the opportunities
Assisting families in paying for and finding high quality preschool

9. This is a summary of the message that we are sharing in the community

10. Thank you for having me here today.
I’m excited to be with you and to talk about the Power of Preschool.
This is an issue that’s important to me because …
All of us care about our kids, their future and about Montgomery County’s future.

11. How does Preschool pay off today?
Children who attend high quality Preschool are more ready for kindergarten
How does Preschool pay off today?
It’s common sense.
Children who attend Preschool are more ready for kindergarten.
Compelling studies from Denver, Cleveland, San Francisco, Tulsa and our own local research ALL have found that children who attend Preschool are more ready for kindergarten.
They’re more ready to start learning to read and they’re more ready to tackle early math. They’ve learned the importance of waiting their turn. They’ve had to practice working in groups and collaborating on projects. They’ve started to learn to work hard… to persist and not give up because a task was hard.
Being ready to learn matters.

12. Why is being ready so important?
Children who are ‘ready for kindergarten’ are 50% more likely to read on grade-level in 3rd grade
Children who read well in 3rd grade are 4 times less likely to drop out
Why is being ready so important? Teachers will tell you that they can tell which children have had the benefit of Preschool.
That benefit also shows especially in their later reading scores.
Reading scores in 3rd grade, not shockingly, are an especially accurate predictor of whether a student will go on to graduate.
If a child can’t read in 3rd grade, it’s hardly surprising that the or she is at risk of dropping out.
Source: America’s Promise Alliance, Annie E. Casey Foundation

13. Families benefit from PRESCHOOL
As we share the message in the community, we often find ourselves talking about how preschool is also powerful for families.
They are able to send their children to a high quality preschool
Often opens the doors for them to return to the work force
As we shared in the video, cost is a major concern for families and some elect not to work because the cost of preschool is more expensive than some of our local universities
Families benefit from PRESCHOOL

14. How does Preschool pay off tomorrow?
High quality preschool is when children start learning important life-long habits High quality preschool is the first step in preparing students to succeed in school and ultimately on the job
How does Preschool pay off tomorrow?
Preschool isn’t just about helping children today. It also pays off tomorrow.
As a community, we can’t compete for good-paying and secure jobs if we don’t have the educated workers that employers want and, frankly, are demanding.
Preschool is when children start learning important life-long habits that matter first in school and later at work.
It’s the first step in preparing students to succeed in school and ultimately on the job.

15. We can’t compete if we don’t have an educated workforce
By 2018, almost 2 out of every 3 jobs will require a college degree or credential
The world has changed on all of us.
Just working hard isn’t enough to get a job that leads to a middle-class life.
By 2018, economists (at Georgetown University) estimate that almost 2 out of every 3 jobs will require some kind of post-high school education. That could be a 4-year or 2-year degree or a credential certifying that a young person has a skill.
Employers go where there’s talent and where they can recruit qualified workers.

16. We can’t wait to teach children
To grow the workforce employers need, we have to start when children are young
If we want to build a pipeline of talent and ensure all children are successful, we can’t wait to teach children.
Talk to employers, and they’ll tell you that having enough educated workers is a huge concern for them, especially in a global economy. They also want workers to have the “soft skills” that Preschool emphasizes – so children will be ready for kindergarten and beyond.
If we want our children to be able to compete, we have to make sure they start school on track.

17. What’s our challenge in Montgomery County?
Almost 2/3 of our kids are not ready to learn when they start kindergarten They’re behind before they start
NOT ready
How many Montgomery County children DON’T start school ready to learn … fully ready for kindergarten? A stunning 2/3.
When you start out behind in school, you have to work harder and run faster … or the achievement gap just compounds.
It doesn’t take long for children who started out a little behind to be tremendously behind.

18. Ensure all children in Montgomery County can attend high-quality preschool
The Solution

19. What can you do? Send your child to a high quality Preschool
Learn more about the Power of Preschool in our community
Tell your family and friends about the Power of Preschool
Let elected officials know that you support a Montgomery County Preschool Promise

20. Take the Preschool Power Pledge
I believe that all children deserve to start school ready to learn. Ensuring that every child begins school on track academically and socially is one of the best investments we can make — as parents, employers and citizens. Montgomery County’s competitiveness depends on our children getting a first-class education, starting when they are young. Count me in to support a Preschool Promise that would ensure all children have access to at least one year of affordable high quality preschool. I pledge to: __Keep learning about the Power of Preschool __Share what I am learning with others By signing this pledge, I agree to get s with quick updates about expanding high quality preschool opportunities in Montgomery County and ideas for how I can show my support for investing in our children.
We hope you’ll take the Preschool Promise Pledge. And that you’ll ask your friends to do so as well.
We need to get the word out that every child benefits from Preschool and that every child deserves the advantage of attending one year of high quality affordable Preschool.

21. How can you learn more? Go to LearntoEarnDayton.org
Take the Preschool Pledge and get updates
Finally, we hope you’ll stay in touch.
Taking the Pledge will get you on our list.
Please also visit the Learn to Earn website for updates about all of the work that’s going on around creating a Montgomery County Preschool Promise and about other important education initiatives.
Preschool is not a silver bullet, but it is an ESSENTIAL start in ensuring our children’s success. It’s effects are powerful for individual children and it is critical for our community’s economic competitiveness.
Thank you for having me today, and I’m happy to answer your questions.