EDITOR: Early childhood education is undervalued. Nationally, only two out of five eligible children were in preschool despite the fact that a child’s brain is mostly developed by age five. The Colorado Preschool Program can only serve 40% of eligible children because our state does not adequately fund early education.
As a University of Denver Student Ambassador for Save the Children Action Network, I advocate for early learning. This election, I call on voters to support Proposition EE, which would secure universal preschool for every four year old in the state by using revenue from a new tax on vaping, and increased tobacco taxes. Research has found that teens vape more than twice the national average in Colorado, causing long-lasting health impacts in our state.
This ballot will be voted on in this year’s election and I hope you will support it. As someone who is half-deaf, I greatly benefited from the preschool program I attended in Aurora. Early learning programs can help identify specific learning challenges and needs early on, offering kids like me early interventions and a better chance to succeed in school. Research also finds that kids with a preschool education are likely to have better reading skills and graduate high school. I hope that all kids in Colorado have the opportunity to succeed.
The development and safety of kids are at risk and I believe your support in this measure will tremendously help them.
— Daniel Cieraszynski, via letters@sentinelcolorado.com