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Promise 5: Children will enter school ready to learn

High quality early care and education opportunities have significant and long-lasting benefits for children, namely language, motor and social skills development. These programs can also ameliorate the collective effects of poverty, manifested in poor school performance. It is in the best interest of all in the District that the city provides sufficient funding, service coordination and consistency and equity across the early care and education system.

The new administration and City Council can take decisive action in their first 100 days to keep the “school readiness” promise by

• Making high quality early care and education the rule, not the exception.



• As of February 2006, 25% of 342 child development facilities were accredited, one indicator of quality.



• Ensuring that children who have public health insurance receive all required well-child screens and treatment as necessary.



• Fewer than 60% of eligible children and youth received well-child screenings in FY 2005 and only 37% were referred for corrective treatment.



• Fewer than 20% of children and youth received dental screens in FY 2005.



• Proposing a budget that fully funds high-quality early learning.



• Implementing the 3- and 4-year-old standards across all early learning programs and ensuring that funding is sufficient to accomplish this.

These recommendations are achievable. To date, DC Action for Children has done its part to support the fulfillment of this promise by successfully advocating for

• Increased funding for early care and education. Advocacy resulted in an increase of more than $40 million over the past few years.



• Committing Local funds for quality initiatives.

* Mayoral candidates are excluded from registering for the 5 Promises to Kids Campaign.