To The Editor:
Foundations are ready to invest in improving educational outcomes for young children. And in these times, leveraging foundation investments gives the state tremendously more bang for its taxpayer buck.
The state needs to step up and match these dollars.
A state investment of $165,000 a year would leverage a total of $4 million over four years to replicate a highly cost-effective Connecticut program for early identification of high-risk young children, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
In addition, in the next biennium the state’s investment of $1.45 million could result in over $1.7 million in funding from the William Caspar Memorial Fund and other partnering foundations.
Here are the details. Two of these investment opportunities build on the state’s two-year partnership with the Caspar Fund, which supports improvements in early childhood education and the development of parent leadership.
Across Connecticut, 23 communities are focused on making the most of limited resources for children from birth through age eight, to prepare them for school success. The communities need support to continue building this foundation. Parent leadership is a critical cornerstone for a system that works for very young children and their families and stabilizes communities.
Another investment, by the Caspar Fund and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, would improve literacy for our most at-risk young students for children from birth through age eight. The program would pursue a two-generation strategy with full participation of parents and the community, as well as instructional improvement in the K-12 system. This initiative would allow us to figure out what really works, and influence how future resources are invested when the economy improves.
We ask that the state works with us to make the most of limited public and private dollars. Together, we can do some things that we cannot do alone. Together, right now, we can help improve the futures of young children to become a strong foundation for our communities and our state.
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David M. Nee
Executive Director
William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund
