13abc: HOPE Toledo report shows progress but leaders say there’s more work to be done
TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - More than 80% of Toledo’s children enter kindergarten without the skills, behaviors or knowledge necessary for success, according to HOPE Toledo. It’s an organization working to help change those numbers.
On Wednesday, HOPE Toledo released its annual report.
The head of the non-profit organization says the report is encouraging and it shows plenty of life-changing progress has been made. However, he says it is also time to sound the alarm when it comes to making sure all four-year-old children in Lucas County have access to Pre-K programs. He says if the program isn’t expanded, the whole community will pay in the end.
HOPE Toledo is described as an organization working to support and ensure high-quality education from birth to career. That is done through a Pre-K program and another program called HOPE Toledo Promise that focuses on postsecondary and trade school.
Nearly 300 children have been served through the Pre-K program. The annual report shows that nearly a third of them were in the highest level of the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment.
Rev John C. Jones is the President and CEO.
“The first year, we were at about 30% with the KRA,” said Jones. “This year, we we’re at about 30.2% so we feel pretty good because the state average dropped about three percentage points and the county dropped about three percentage points. So when we look at those things, it means we are doing something right. Now, by doing this, we can also begin to build a trend in the right direction. Now the goal is getting more kids into that access.”
Jones says to accomplish that, it needs to be a public private partnership. Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz agrees.
“Every other large urban area in the state of Ohio already provides Pre-K to its four-year-olds as a matter of course,” said Kapszukiewicz. “Columbus, Akron, Dayton, Cleveland and Cincinnati -- all do. Toledo is behind when it comes to this.”
Wednesday’s event was held at All 4 Kids, one of 21 Lucas County pre-schools that have partnered with HOPE Toledo.
Camille Harris is the owner.
“We need to grab these children at infant stage and help them develop physically, socially, emotionally and cognitively, fine motor skills, so they are ready for kindergarten and beyond,” said Harris.
Experts say 90% of a child’s brain is fully developed by age five. Springfield Local Schools Superintendent Matt Geha says early investment in education can pay dividends for a lifetime.
“The world is so competitive from a job to college to whatever it might be and when you start a child in Pre-K, you give them every opportunity to keep pace with their peers. They can also be successful and provide themselves or their home with all the opportunities that come with an education.”
The focus was also on a new report from the business leader member group ReadyNation showing that Ohio’s child care crisis costs businesses, families and taxpayers almost four billion in lost earnings, productivity and revenue every year.
“We know once they are set up educationally, behaviorally, socially, emotionally, they do better throughout life,” said Jones. “Secondly, and just as important, when we can set up a family to access an early education and child care, means now mom and dad, if they so choose, can both go to work.”