The Daily Item
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SHAMOKIN DAM — Six of the seven candidates for state House of Representatives seats in the Valley said Tuesday they support public investment in early child education programs — initiatives that have been at risk of losing funding during successive state budget battles.
Speaking to business and community representatives who serve on the Early Learning Investment Committee of the Susquehanna River Region, the candidates demonstrated not only approval in principle, but also detailed familiarity in some instances with specifics in the array of eight programs run by the state.
“Early childhood education is one of my priorities,” said Lynda Schlegel-Culver, the Republican candidate for the 108th Legislative District, which is centered on Sunbury in Northumberland County. “This is the foundation, and I would communicate to the community, the taxpayers, that each dollar spent here returns $17 in benefits.”
Schlegel-Culver has made early education a lynch pin of her campaign and has attended conferences and forums and included her support in campaign material.
Antonio Michetti, running in the 108th as a Democrat, counted early childhood education as a part of the essential infrastructure of the state, “a proven key at the beginning of life.”
He praised the Keystone STARS program, which rates child care quality, and Pre-K Counts, a project he characterized as especially valuable in the 108th, where there is a growing population of English-as-a-second-language students and children living in poverty. He said these programs mean “children will have the necessary tools they will need.”
Quality early childhood education has gathered support from the business community in the Valley in the past two years by emphasizing the social return on investment, verified in academic and scientific studies as reduced crime, higher employment, better economic development and longer and healthier lives.
Convened by the Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way, the candidates’ forum Tuesday in the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce office building was the first appearance by candidates from three legislative districts on the subject of early childhood education.
“Investing in education is the best decision I think out government has made,” said George Zalar, the Democratic candidate in the 107th, a district that encompasses Shamokin and Mount Carmel in Northumberland County. He referred to his fourth-grade son and pre-kindergarten daughter as two constituents who have benefited from early learning. “I see myself fully funding programs in future years,” he said.
Trey Casimir, a Democrat running in the 85th, comprised of Union and most of Snyder counties, was more circumspect. Allowing that “it is important to create a culture that values learning,” he leveled with the advocacy group by saying he could not “imagine promising to spend this” or any other amount of money until he knew “more about the budgeting process.”
Erik Viker, running in the 85th as a Libertarian, said, “Clearly, this is one way we can take a dollar and get more bang for the buck down the road” because the funding goes to “reasonably proven programs.” Qualifying his support, saying that it will be based on the quality of the people who run it, Viker added, “Show me a good investment, and I can get behind it. I always remember that this is not my money. My job is to be a good steward.”
Fred Keller, the Republican running against Viker and Casimir, harkened to a promise in his campaign to “work to keep and create jobs in our area so we won’t have to buy airline tickets to visit our grandchildren.”
Keller praised the state’s Stars program, which ranks child care facilities with one to four stars based on steps they have taken to assure quality in facilities, curriculum and staff development. Relating the topic to his role as plant manager for Conestoga Wood Specialties in Beavertown. Keller told the group, “Let’s make sure we get this right because we don’t have time to do it over.”
Candidate Kurt Masser, who will face Zalar in the 107h in November, did not attend the forum.
“This is a regional concern” said moderator Keri Albright, CEO of the United Way. “Having these six candidates in the room talking about this is very promising for our families and children.”
Maria Culp, president and CEO of the Central Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce, headquartered in Milton, emphasized that early childhood education is key to economic development, a point the candidates acknowledged as especially important to rural regions of the state.
