Gilroy
– More than two-thirds of publicly funded preschools in Santa
Clara County have waiting lists, making young children more likely
to turn to crime and less likely to graduate from high school on
time, according to a report released Tuesday.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – More than two-thirds of publicly funded preschools in Santa Clara County have waiting lists, making young children more likely to turn to crime and less likely to graduate from high school on time, according to a report released Tuesday.
The report found that 68 percent of the county’s federal- and state-funded preschools have waiting lists, including preschools in Gilroy.
Statewide, 76 percent of preschools have waiting lists.
A survey of 2,000 preschools in the state by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California, the law enforcement-led group that issued the report, found that 326,758 low-income 3- to 5-year-olds who qualify for subsidized preschool find there is no room.
Police representatives pointed to research linking a lack of preschool to higher instances of criminal activity in supporting more state, federal and local funding for programs for young children.
Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle, president of the State Sheriff’s Association, said the survey results were “shocking.”
“Early preschool training and education is really the key to success,” Doyle said during a Monday teleconference. “And it shouldn’t just be an option – it should be something that we as a society demand, and demand that it be funded.”
The report, called Public Safety Can’t Wait, also pointed to research showing that kids who attend preschool are better prepared for academic success and, therefore, less likely to become criminals later in life.
In one study completed over a span of 40 years in Michigan, 3- and 4-year-olds were randomly selected to participate in preschool.
By age 40, those who did not attend the preschool were twice as likely to become career criminals, twice as likely to be arrested for three or more violent crimes, and four times more likely to be arrested for drug felonies.
Research also shows a cost-savings to taxpayers when more children attend preschool.
