Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SOUTH SALT LAKE - Child advocates and educators are trying to make a case that the best bang for our education buck comes before kids even reach school age.
Woodrow Wilson Elementary offers preschool programs, a summer tutoring program and extended day kindergarten to teach students at a young age how to read.
"It gives us a chance to make the gap between the achievers and non-achievers," said all day kindergarten teacher Carma Ewer."It just gives us a chance to make that gap smaller."
A recent report by the advocacy group Voices for American Children states that while parents are their childrens' first teacher. Public dollars greatly reinforce what goes on at home.
They point to research that shows 85 percent of a child's brain develops by the time they're four, but only 4 percent of our education dollars go to children that age.
"Every dollar we spend on those kids of things makes the dollar we spend on education in the classroom even better and more valuable," said Marsha Webster, a counselor at Woodrow Wilson.
Woodrow Wilson has a partnership with the United Way that provides a learning center at the school. It not only helps early learners, but offers english and computer classes for their parents.
E-mail: dwimmer@ksl.com
