Total Learning said better than Head Start

From Connecticut Post

BRIDGEPORT — Some of U.S Rep. Jim Himes’ youngest, poorest and most powerless constituents — kindergartners at Cesar A. Batalla school — gave him a crash course Tuesday in “Total Learning.”

Through a song and movement exercise, the students’ classroom teacher, guided them through an interdisciplinary arts portion of the curriculum that helped the youngsters hone their language skills in a subtle way. Unbeknownst to the kids, they were improving their ability to understand what they heard and to use language to express themselves.

“In order to educate our children, we have to prepare them to learn,” Himes, D-4, said. “Providing a high-quality education — and ensuring students are ready for that education — is critical to ensuring America ‘s long-term economic competitiveness.”

Himes spoke to parents and teachers who gathered at Action for Bridgeport Community Development as he announced he would be drafting a bill for a national competitive grant to fund early childhood education programs based on Bridgeport ‘s Total Learning Program, run by ABCD, Inc.

Total Learning is funded by the state Department of Education, through a $1.2 million appropriation.
With three years worth of statistical research to back up the program, an educational consultant informed Himes that Total Learning was four times more effective than Head Start at helping preschoolers and kindergartners reach benchmark reading goals for their age and grade level.

“Only half the kids in this city graduate high school,” Himes said, referring to a conversation he had with Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch. “Of the half that doesn’t, half of them — a quarter of the students here — wind up victims [of crime] or incarcerated.”

Himes called the situation “unacceptable” and said both the federal government, the state and municipalities need to do more to help students achieve.

He said he does not envision his bill as an additional expenditure, but rather a shift from one area of the budget to another. “You can pay now” for a program that benefits so many kids like this, Himes said, “or you can pay later with the cost of incarceration.”

Himes said both states and municipalities would have to contribute to the cost of the grant. Initially, it would be a “pilot program in about a dozen states,” he said, that could be expanded on from there.

He could not readily provide estimates of what the annual tab might be from the legislation.