Pre-kindergarten "gave the children a taste of what was coming," declares S. Sufrin, a kindergarten teacher at Arlington Elementary/Middle School in Northwest Baltimore. ("New assessments show half of Maryland's students ready for kindergarten," May 20)
Children and parents throughout the state already have a taste of the benefits quality pre-K provides.
Nearly 5,000 Baltimore City Public Schools students are enrolled in pre-Kindergarten. About 59 percent of the city's kindergarten students whose school-readiness skills were recently measured have attended pre-kindergarten. Those students were the second-highest performers, after students who attended private pre-schools.
Grants to stimulate innovation and expand access to high-quality early childhood education were provided statewide under the Pre-Kindergarten Expansion Act of 2014. A master plan to address the critical shortage in the early childhood education workforce — of qualified professional teachers and child care providers — will be developed under legislation that we introduced this past General Assembly session.
Five-year-olds in Baltimore are entering kindergarten with skill levels comparable to their peers in surrounding counties. Keeping these children on track and on par with peers through their academic careers will pay enormous dividends down the line. Thus, sustaining and expanding pre-K and other high quality early education opportunities is essential.
In a recent editorial ("Ready for Kindergarten," May 23) The Sun's editorial board wrote that Gov. Larry Hogan "could lead a conversation on how we prioritize our educational spending to determine whether more of it should go where it can make the most difference."
We look forward to working with the Hogan administration and our General Assembly colleagues in examining how quality pre-K can make that difference for all of our children.
Sen. Bill Ferguson and Del. Samuel I. "Sandy" Rosenberg, Baltimore
The writers, both Democrats, represent District 46 in the Maryland Senate and District 41 in the Maryland House of Delegates.