Saving Poor Kids

A little extra spending can close S.C. educational gap

There was one bright spot in Circuit Judge Thomas Cooper's otherwise disappointing school-finance ruling last week. In agreement with the eight impoverished school districts that brought the lawsuit, Cooper found that the state's efforts to prepare small children for success in school are woefully inadequate - so much so that they violate the S.C. Constitution.

In response, Gov. Mark Sanford called on S.C. legislators to devote more money to helping pre-kindergarten S.C. youngsters get ready for the challenges that await them in school. Great ruling. Great response.

A vast ravine separates well-educated South Carolinians and South Carolinians who are undereducated. It begins in childhood and widens with the passage of time. Many poor children arrive in kindergarten with poor vocabularies, never having been read to by their parents. They're at a competitive disadvantage to kids who come from homes where education is treasured.

Such kids have a limited chance of acquiring even the "minimally adequate" education that the state Constitution prescribes for all S.C. children. They fall behind in reading, writing, math and other critical subjects in kindergarten and never catch up. Those who don't drop out of high school graduate with diplomas that are meaningless - candidates for lifetimes of menial work.

Programs that intervene in behalf of small children from poor families can reduce and eventually eliminate this shameful ravine. Effective early-childhood education programs could ensure that many poor kids begin kindergarten with a stronger chance of learning to read - essential to a solid grounding in all other disciplines.

By spending a few million dollars per year to correct these children's skills deficits before they start school, the state prospectively could save, over time, millions upon millions of dollars in welfare, health care and criminal justice costs. Equally important, carefully targeted early-childhood education dollars help ensure that youngsters grow up to become taxpayers. Instead of becoming low-wage workers who live from hand to mouth as adults, youngsters who thrive in school as a result of early-childhood education can aspire to middle-class status - to becoming community leaders whose own kids do well developmentally from birth. It's no exaggeration to cast effective early-childhood education as a powerful economic-development tool.

Chances that the state will obey this part of Cooper's ruling without appeal seem good. Some S.C. legislative leaders already were working on improvements to early-childhood education when the ruling came down. They now have Sanford's support.

Building an effective statewide program entails spending more money - $30 million to $50 million per year, maybe more. But chances seem good that the General Assembly will pass a program in the upcoming session, even though 2006 is an election year for the governor and every member of the S.C. House. The state should have enough surplus money to create a program without increasing taxes. Every elected official from liberal to ultra-conservative should be able to agree that it makes sense to spend public money on early-childhood education - out of compassion, pragmatism or both.

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