Hector Garcia, Guest Column

Minnesota&8217;s Hispanic population is rapidly growing. With this growth, comes a responsibility to ensure that these children are afforded the best chance to succeed.

One way to give our children the best possible start is to provide them with greater opportunities in the early childhood years through the PK-3 approach.

What is PK-3? PK-3 programs raise achievement among children by offering quality early education programs that align the curriculum and instruction for children from prekindergarten through the third grade. Research has shown that the Pre-kindergarten to age 3 are the crucial years that provide the foundation for lifelong learning. Aligning the curriculum and instruction for children from prekindergarten through the third grade contributes substantially to meaningful higher levels of school readiness and achievement.

PK-3 is especially important for Hispanic children.

Hispanic children lag well behind their European-American counterparts on measures of school readiness when they start kindergarten and subsequently achieve at much lower levels in the primary grades. This pattern of lower academic achievement persists through high school and college.

In the short term, we will experience reduced special education and grade retention costs to school districts that use the PK-3 approach. In the long term, we will see decreased dropout rates, savings to the juvenile and adult justice systems, and increased earnings from participants.

Moreover, increased investments in PK-3 programs, which are proven to prepare our young children for school success, also strengthen the state&8217;s economy. Better education equals better jobs and a stronger local economy.

The good news is that the PK-3 approach is gaining strong support. A recent report by the National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics echoed the need to provide these services to the growing Hispanic populations.

Today, Hispanics now constitute one-fifth of the nation&8217;s young children (infants through eight-years-old) and are projected, to be a quarter of all young children in the United States by 2030. In 24 states, at least one in eight children in the 0-8 age group is Hispanic.

While PK-3 programs raise achievement among Hispanic children and provide better educational opportunities in the early childhood years, there is an inadequate capacity to meet demand in many Hispanic communities. Other problems exist, such as a lack of knowledge about program availability among Hispanic parents and the inability to afford prekindergarten. Lack of English also affects the ability of Hispanic parents to get information. About one-eighth of the parents do not have the documents required to enroll their children in prekindergarten. Both poor and non-poor Hispanics have long been underrepresented among children who attend some form of center-based child care and prekindergarten programs.

Studies show that PK-3 programs can improve the literacy and math skills of all children, and especially English language learners and low-income children. PK-3 strengthens children&8217;s skills to help them succeed. The PK-3 approach creates the continuity in teaching and curriculum that makes it more successful for Hispanic children to learn English. We must also encourage Hispanic college students to choose PK-3 education as a career. We must do our best to improve access to programs for Hispanic children by providing information to Hispanic parents and locating programs in neighborhoods with large concentrations of Hispanic families.

We need to substantially ensure that all children have greater access to high quality early learning programs such as PK-3. Greater opportunity needs to exist for Hispanic children from low income families, especially those who are English language learners.

All children must have access to programs like PK-3. Minnesota can make a difference in bringing all children up to academic standards. We must also continue to expand state-funded prekindergarten programs with the objective of creating voluntary universal prekindergarten and eventually move to a PK-3 curriculum.

To maintain a strong economy and become competitive internationally, we need to prepare all of our children to participate fully in today&8217;s society. We can do this if we start them off right with a quality PK-3 education.

The choice is clear. Minnesota should invest its resources in prekindergarten programs like PK-3 that are fiscally responsible and prepare the workforce of tomorrow.

Hector Garcia is the moderator of the Twin Cities Immigrant Community Roundtable and former coordinator of the Asian Hispanic African Native and New American Forum.