Dennis Berry: Support Ballot Issue 3A for Boulder Valley School District

I urge you to support Ballot Issue 3A from the Boulder Valley School
District.  While it will restore cuts that have already been made in the
classrooms across our district, and forestall anticipated cuts next year, it
will also increase funding for preschool education, a critical component in
addressing the achievement gap between the economically disadvantaged and
others.

The Boulder Valley School District has the largest achievement gap between
the “haves” and the “have nots” of any school district in the state.  One
third of economically disadvantaged students in the BVSD don’t graduate from
high school.  Students without a high school diploma earn less than half of
what a college graduate earns in Boulder County.  Without good jobs, they
lack health benefits, which in turn increases their need for public
assistance.

The achievement gap starts before students enter school.  In families where
parents are forced to work long hours to provide support, educational
stimulation is often lacking in early years.  Studies have shown that brain
development is most rapid in the first few years of life.  If young brains
are not stimulated early, children are behind on the day they start
kindergarten.

Early Childhood Education provides an important way to address this problem.
Some proven results of preschool education include:

-  Better school and standardized test performance
-  Greater high school graduation rates and higher education attendance
-  Less likelihood of criminal activity later in life
-  Increased earnings in adulthood

Ballot Issue 3A will provide $5 million for preschool, resulting in space
for more than 400 additional students, and full-day kindergarten for more
than 200 additional students.  This is a significant step in addressing the
achievement gap.  Giving many at-risk youth a better chance to succeed will
reap benefits for all of us in the long run.

Dennis Berry
Boulder