FLORIDA: A fast growing number of states, from Alabama to Oregon, are investing in high quality preschool education programs with the goal of making sure as many children in their states are reading at grade level by the end of third grade. That’s the magic moment, experts say. Third graders who are confident readers will likely go on to perform well in school and graduate
. But kids still struggling to read by then typically start to fall behind become vulnerable to dropping out of school and are more likely to become expensive burdens to the state as social welfare candidates or worse. Why is this business column? Because, frankly, Florida stinks at preparing its youngsters to read by the third grade despite boasting a high rate of enrollment of 4-year olds in its Voluntary Prekindergarten, or VPK, Education Program. Keep up that lousy job and guess what Florida will be stuck with an under-educated workforce ill-prepared for the demanding critical thinking, communication and math skills that the business community wants but will increasingly insist on 21june 2015
