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WHEREAS, the vast majority of households have both parents working and thereby rely on child care in order to maintain employment and contribute to the tax base, and
WHEREAS, access to high quality pre-K gives children the opportunity to develop some of the most critical, fundamental cognitive and social skills needed to achieve their full potential in school, and
WHEREAS, pre-k strengthens our schools by ensuring all children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn, thereby reducing grade repetition and special needs costs for the district; and
WHEREAS, children with access to high-quality pre-k are less likely to commit a crime later in life, thereby defraying law enforcement costs; and
WHEREAS, these savings in academic remediation and special education costs, law enforcement costs, and public welfare costs all help to keep the local tax burden low, and
WHEREAS, every dollar invested in early education generates over $2 in immediate local economic impact and up to $17 in long-term public savings and benefit; and
WHEREAS, children who have experienced high-quality pre-k are more likely to graduate from high school, enjoy increased lifetime earnings and contribute to the tax base, and
WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Pittsburgh recognizes that currently too few of Pittsburgh's three and four year olds are able to access high-quality pre-k, and
WHEREAS, high quality pre-school and excellent K-12 schools are needed to attract young families and Pittsburgh wishes to strengthen its schools, communities, and economy.
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh supports efforts to expand access to high-quality pre-k for all three and four year old children in Pennsylvania.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Will of Council shall be circulated to the Governor and our respective county and state legislators.