Fully fund all-day kindergarten

Our Children. First and foremost, its about our children. There are numerous studies that show that full-day kindergarten gives children the best start possible for their educational careers.

Community and State. Several school districts already are using taxpayer dollars to fund full-day kindergarten. Or they ask parents to pay additional fees (What does Owensboro do?). Fully funding all-day kindergarten would free up tax dollars for schools to put toward other goals or put money back in the pockets of our parents.

Business. A quality education is obviously the first step in creating a current and future workforce for our community. But funding full-day kindergarten would also go a long way to address the workforce issues we are dealing with today. The lack of affordable childcare is one of the main reasons our people have cited for not returning to the workforce. Providing a stable, all day, learning environment for our children would go a long way to allowing their parents to reenter the workforce.

The evidence strongly supports investments in early education as the most effective way to spend public money — not just education investments, but ANY public investment. That is a value proposition that should appeal to business leaders, parents, communities, and all taxpayers. Funding all-day kindergarten is a win-win.