Meet Lisa Wilson. She is a single mother to a rambunctious 4 year-old. They try hard to make ends meet every month, but sometimes it just didn’t work out. Child care is a huge expense, and Lisa knew her daughter was not on track to be ready for kindergarten. Lisa felt trapped, knowing that her daughter needed to get on a better path to success. An Early Learning Scholarship changed everything.
Children from low-income families begin school, on average, 12 to 14 months behind their peers in language development and pre-reading skills. Unfortunately, many of these students never catch up to their more affluent peers.
Children who enter kindergarten already behind are less likely to graduate high school, more likely to never attend college, and more likely to be arrested for a violent crime. We know this based on an assessment of a five year-old.
Lisa’s family is just one example of how an Early Learning Scholarship can change the life of a child and their family. If Minnesota invests more in early learning, Lisa’s success won’t be so hard to find.