{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=60342bb9-eab8-4ecf-b174-4b7263414ba6", "PRE-K: Murray Touts New Legislation Expanding Early Childhood Education", "2013-11-13", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Washington, D.C.) \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a former preschool teacher, spoke on the Senate floor about the Strong Start for America\u2019s Children Act, introduced in the Senate today, which would significantly increase access to and the quality of early learning programs that start when a child is born and last until their first day of Kindergarten. This legislation authorizes a federal program that supports individual states\u2019 efforts to educate their youngest citizens and ensures that early learning programs everywhere have quality teachers and meet high standards. It also provides states, school districts, and preschool programs the flexibility they need to meet their local children\u2019s needs.\u00a0 \r\n\u201cAs a former preschool teacher, I\u2019ve seen in my own classroom that when young children get the attention they need, they\u2019re miles ahead of their peers on the path to success,\u201d Senator Murray said.\u00a0 \u201cWhile other countries are investing billions in early education, we can\u2019t allow any American children to fall behind, so I\u2019m thrilled that members of both parties have come together to support access to quality early learning programs for every one of our kids.\u201d \r\nRead more about the Strong Start for America\u2019s Children Act. \r\nSee a full list of national organizations supporting the bill. \r\nFull text of Senator Murray\u2019s remarks, as prepared: \r\n\u201cMr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about the issue that got me into politics in the first place\u2014early childhood education.\u00a0 \r\n\u201cFirst I\u2019d like to thank my friend and colleague, Chairman Harkin, whose leadership on this critical issue is unparalleled. \r\n\u201cI\u2019d also like to thank Senators Casey and Hirono for their strong support of early childhood education. They are great partners in this work. \r\n\u201cMr. President, of the five hundred and thirty five members of Congress, each of us comes to Washington, DC with our own, unique background. \r\n\u201cWe\u2019re also a collection of military veterans, farmers, business owners, and much more.\u00a0 \r\n\u201cAs for me, I came to Congress as a mother and pre-K teacher\u2026 \r\n\u201cWhen my children were much younger I found out their wonderful preschool program was being closed down by the state. \r\n\u201cSo I bundled my children into the car and went off to the state capitol to explain to them why they just couldn\u2019t cut this program. \r\n\u201cBut when I got there the legislators told me there was nothing someone like me could do to save our preschool program. \r\n\u201cOne legislator in particular told me I was just a mom in tennis shoes\u2014and I had no chance of changing things. \r\n\u201cWell I heard what they had to say\u2014but I didn\u2019t listen. \r\n\u201cInstead, I picked up the phone and started calling other parents. \r\n\u201cAnd they called more parents from all across the state. \r\n\u201cWe wrote letters, we held rallies, and when all was said and done, the legislature kept the funding for our preschool program in the budget. \r\n\u201cI went on to teach at that preschool and then to serve on my local school board. \r\n\u201cSo, Mr. President, when I eventually came to Washington DC as a U.S. Senator, I knew firsthand that if we wanted to strengthen our economy and give our kids a brighter future, we couldn\u2019t wait until they were teenagers or adults to invest in them.\u00a0 \r\n\u201cI had seen in my own classroom that when young children get the attention they need, they\u2019re miles ahead of their peers on the path to success. \r\n\u201cI saw that my own students who had been taught to raise their hand to ask a question, or stand in line to go to recess, were the ones prepared to tackle a full curriculum in school. \r\n\u201cThat\u2019s why this week, I joined a bipartisan group of colleagues to introduce legislation that will give every American child access to high quality early education. \r\n\u201cThe Strong Start for America\u2019s Children Act aims to significantly increase access to and the quality of early learning programs that start when a child is born and last until their first day of Kindergarten. \r\n\u201cThis legislation authorizes a federal program that supports individual states\u2019 efforts to educate their youngest citizens.\u00a0 \r\n\u201cIt ensures that early learning programs everywhere have quality teachers and meet high standards, but it also provides states, school districts, and preschool programs the flexibility they need to meet their local children\u2019s needs. \r\n\u201cAnd though I approach this issue as a grandmother, a mother, and a former pre-K teacher, many of my colleagues have their own reasons to support early education. \r\n\u201cThe former law enforcement officers, lawyers and sheriffs whom I work with know that when we invest in our children at a young age, they\u2019re more likely to stay out of trouble and out of prison. \r\n\u201cThe business leaders and economists know that when we spend a dollar on a child\u2019s education in the first few years of their life, we save as much as $17 throughout their lives. \r\n\u201cOur military leaders tell me that 75% of our nation\u2019s 17-24 year olds are ineligible to serve their country, often because they\u2019re unable to pass the necessary math and reading tests. \r\n\u201cSo it\u2019s not only teachers who are fighting for pre-K.\u00a0 It\u2019s generals, sheriffs, and CEOs, too. \r\n\u201cAnd Mr. President, 50 years of research backs them up. \r\n\u201cFor example, we know that eighty percent of a person\u2019s brain development occurs before the age of five. \r\n\u201cBut while China and India is aiming to provide 70 percent of its children with three years of preschool by 2020 and India is doing the same, we don\u2019t have a national strategy to get the youngest Americans ready to learn. \r\n\u201cNobel-prize winning economist James Heckman, a well-known advocate for early learning, says that \u201cskill begets skill.\u201d \r\n\u201cMr. President, this summer, I traveled throughout my home state of Washington visiting early learning programs\u2026 \r\n\u201cAnd in Tacoma, I heard from a kindergarten teacher who told me that while some of her students are practicing writing their names on their work, others still need to learn how to hold a pencil. \r\n\u201cThose children are, even at a very early age, already playing catch-up. \r\n\u201cSo when a child who\u2019s benefitted from early education knows how to open a book and turn a page, someone can teach them to read.\u00a0 \r\n\u201cBut Mr. President, in classrooms across our country, some children are falling behind. \r\n\u201cAnd that gap between children who start school ready to succeed and those who don\u2019t has serious implications for our country\u2019s future. \r\n\u201cThough historically we\u2019ve invested in education to build a path to middle class, we\u2019re falling behind.\u00a0 \r\n\u201cWe now rank 28th globally in the proportion of 4 year olds enrolled in pre-K, and 25th in public funding for early learning. \r\n\u201cThat cannot continue. \r\n\u201cSo, Mr. President, in the coming weeks and months, we\u2019ll be working to make smart investments in our education system and move this legislation forward. \r\n\u201cOur country is in very large part the product of decisions that were made decades ago. \r\n\u201cThe decision to make public education a priority now will have an extraordinary impact on the next generation. \r\n\u201cWe are choosing, every day, between being a country that is struggling to catch up or being a country that has the knowledge and the power to continue to lead. \r\n\u201cThank you Mr. President, I yield the floor.\u201d", 1, 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