Years ago, I wrote about an event I witnessed at a Florida gas station.  Given his appearance and his grocery cart piled high with all of his possessions, I surmised he was homeless.  He rummaged through the garbage–perhaps in search of redeemable cans or uneaten food, but much to my surprise, he chose a newspaper.  He carefully spread the paper across the top of the can and read.  I was awestruck and ashamed of myself for assuming he was a loser.

Earlier this week, a professor at The Ohio State University released her research on the value of early childhood reading.  In short, she found that children whom are read five books a day enter kindergarten with a ONE-MILLION-WORD advantage over children whom were not.  To me, this is powerful and rouses me to action.  As a 49-year career professional in public education, America needs free, universal public early childhood education.  Sooner rather than later.  It is incumbent upon all of us to insist! My God, if 60 of America’s most successful companies paid ZERO income tax this year, they can help  foot the bill.  Our future is at stake.

Wake up Washington.  Both sides of the aisle.  You ignore climate change and other societal issues, like health care, homelessness, and poverty.  I implore you to save our most valuable asset–our children.