Indianapolis

Report points to need for affordable preschool

Feb 21, 2007 04:18 PM

Students at the St. Mary's Child Center.

Marty Constantine, kindergarten teacher

Rich Van Wyk/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - A report finds children as young as four and five aren't ready for school because they aren't getting the help they need at home.

The United Way report finds low income children starting kindergarten years behind their classmates.

It's lunch time at the St. Mary's Child Center, where low income youngsters learn reading, arithmetic and other school skills, even table manners.

Teachers say this is their best meal of the day and on some days, their only meal of the day.

The United Way of Central Indiana insists the state needs additional affordable preschool and day care like this. Its School Readiness report argues that a child's family environment has an enormous impact on their learning

"Those who are economically disadvantaged often start school a year or two behind in language and other skills," said Ellen Annala, United Way president.

Annala insists they may never catch up.

The report cites grim statistics: One in five of the state's preschoolers live in poverty. Forty percent of Marion County's preschoolers are raised by one parent or other adults and less than half of them receiving assistance to offset the cost of preschool.

"It is very odd to be reading all the facts and say that's my life. That's what I deal with every day," said Marty Constantine, kindergarten teacher.

Constantine is an IPS kindergarten teacher in a low-income, high-crime neighborhood. Assessment tests found three quarters of her students arrived without the basic skills most kids learn at home.

"Hold a pencil, write their first name, recognize colors, shapes, speak in complete sentences," she said.

None of them, she says, attended preschool.

The United Way hopes its report is a call to action, prompting a debate on how to meet the huge needs of Indiana's smallest students.