Invest in pre-kindergarten

The Greenwood (Miss.) Commonwealth: Whether Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds stays in Mississippi or lands the president’s job at the University of Nebraska, one thing is certain. His career as a teacher and administrator in public education jobs spanning kindergarten through the university system gives him a unique insight into the challenges facing this state, where average achievement in education is about the worst in the nation.

During a speech in Jackson the other day, Bounds called for more investment in pre-kindergarten, early childhood education, higher salaries for university professors and more need-based scholarships.

Some lawmakers take the position that early childhood education is the responsibility of parents, and it is. But the hard truth is that too many parents in this state — many of them unwed mothers who, themselves, are uneducated — are either incapable or unwilling to accept that responsibility.

Mississippi for generations has not concentrated on getting kids off to a good start in school at the expense of having to spend too much on remediation. As Bounds pointed out, the lack of educational attainment is an anchor holding back economic development as well as quality of life in Mississippi.