PRE-SCHOOL CATCHUP

July 1, 2003

JULY 1, 2003 Smart Start Georgia aims to correct deficiencies.

More than 70 percent of Georgia's fourth graders are not reading at their grade level.

"These kids just didn't get to the fourth grade and fall behind," said Sharen Hausmann. "They started school losing."

Hausmann, director of Smart Start Georgia, told a conference of the state's collaborative partners Monday that those kids lacked proper pre-school preparation.

"It's like building a building without a foundation," she said.

Smart Start Georgia is a public/private partnership aimed at improving early care and education -- to have all of Georgia's children ready to succeed in school by the time they reach kindergarten.

Some 200 state officials, business leaders, service providers and educators gathered at the Savannah Marriott Riverfront to roll out Smart Start.

That conference ends today.

Chatham, Bryan and Effingham counties join 11 other counties in the state participating in the program.

The United Way of the Coastal Empire will administer $425,000 in Smart Start funds this year through 25 licensed child care providers in the tri-county area.

State officials contend that investing in children of low-income families pays off at a higher rate than for more affluent children.

The Children's Defense Fund, a Washington, D.C. based private, nonprofit advocate for children, conducted the study that found that more than 70 percent of Georgia's fourth graders are reading below their grade level.

Other studies show those children are starting kindergarten two years behind their classmates, Hausmann said.

"How do you expect them to make that up?"

Gaye Smith, executive director of the state's Family Connections Partnership, said her experience is that collaborative efforts within individual counties pay off.

"The only way to improve is to do it one county at a time, one community at a time," Smith told the group. 

â?? This article posted with permission from the Savannah Morning News.