In a year where talk of jobs and the economy are taking center stage in almost every campaign, a coalition of folks from all walks of life have banded together to get the candidates talking about another important issue: kids.
First Steps PA was formed this summer to get the gubernatorial candidates to focus on early childhood education, and its impact not just on kids' future, but on the very things that are grabbing all the headlines this year: jobs and the economy.
The group includes seniors, education and public safety advocates as well as backers of the military, and has launched an aggressive voter registration and education drive across the state.
"A lot of us have worked together on advocacy issues for children and families for a long time," said Terry Casey, president of the Pennsylvania Child Care Association, which represents about 2,000 regulated child care centers across the state. "But this year, we knew there was going to be a change in the administration, and we wanted to raise the visibility of our issues."
In terms of numbers, First Steps PA has some muscle: The more than 1,375 groups that make up the First Steps PA Campaign employ more than 29,000 staff and work with nearly 346,000 parents. That could translate into quite a few votes for either Republican Tom Corbett or Democrat Dan Onorato (First Steps PA is not endorsing a specific candidate).
And their argument is simple: with all the talk about being careful where dwindling tax dollars are spent, it is wiser to invest in kids at the beginning of their lives rather than pay higher social costs throughout a lifetime, including welfare and prisons costs and lost revenue through reduced consumer spending and fewer taxes.
"Our goal is to make sure the candidates know how important early learning is, how important it is to have parents be part of the process and how important it is to maintain existing programs, like pre-K," said Casey. "Because, sometimes, we get so busy with life that we forget what is important."