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We're eager to share our first infographic, and it couldn't be for a better campaign: MinneMinds.
In 2011, we helped advocate for the statewide expansion of Parent Aware – a rating system to gauge the quality of our state’s early education and care programs; it's rolling out as we speak and will be fully statewide in 2015. Now that families are starting to find the best program for their kids, it's imperative that we help offer low-income kids the access to high-quality pre-K.
Consider that only 2 percent of our 4-year-olds are enrolled in state-funded pre-K, compared to 28 percent nationally. This pre-K access gap makes Minnesota’s low-income kids less likely to arrive to kindergarten fully ready to learn (unfortunately, too many of these kids never catch up to their classmates).
To begin closing the gap, MinneMinds advocates that our state invest $185 million in early education and care scholarships for all 3- and 4-year-olds living at/below 185 percent of poverty.
Check out the MinneMinds infographic to learn about the problem and the solution.
This is one investment worth making.