I wish I had a
dollar for every time a well-meaning friend or supporter has said “No one could
be against feeding hungry kids.” It’s true but fails to address the real
issue which is that while everyone is for feeding a hungry child, not everyone
is for helping to prevent a child from being hungry in the first place.
The latter would be more cost effective, but takes more than food, and gets
politically complicated.
That may be
beginning to change. Here’s some good news: childhood hunger is not the only
issue that generates bipartisan support. Early childhood education is
another. Our colleagues at Save The Children, and their sister
organization, Save The Children Action Network led by Mark Shriver, last week
released new public opinion research from five battleground states showing
extraordinary levels of bipartisan support for investing in pre-K. @ http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/253162-early-education-could-be-key-to-winning-campaigns
87% of
Republicans, 94% of Democrats, and 89% of Independents agree that the years 0-5
are important for the learning and development of a child. And 63% believe that
public education should start at the age of 4 and be offered for free to all
children. The researchers assert: “For voters, the importance of investing in early childhood and
allocating tax dollars to our youngest learners is a settled issue. The next
step is harnessing the political will to make expanding access and improving
quality a reality.”
This bi-partisan
support is similar to what we’ve found for our No Kid Hungry campaign, which
itself has such critical impact on a child being ready to learn. Childhood hunger and early learning may be
logical companion issues worthy of joint effort. School meals are
one vital way of ensuring that children are ready to learn and succeed, but
only one. Kids need more.
The new polling
shows a common sense commitment to invest for the future and willingness to
sacrifice if necessary to do so. “Sacrifice” is not a word you’ll hear from any
of the 2016 presidential candidates. It was last used by Jimmy Carter in
the late 1970’s and hasn’t been even whispered since. So once again, citizens
and nonprofits must lead, and wait for the politicians to follow.
