OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2015
GUEST COLUMN
Founded in 1873
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
Early childhood development
is a great and smart investment
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
By DAN GAFFNEY
For The Daily Astorian
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager
We need a nuanced
solution from Salem
C
hildren who receive quality
early childhood develop-
ment have much better educa-
tion, employment, social and
health outcomes as adults.
7KH YDVW PDMRULW\ RI UHVHDUFK
shows this to be especially true for
disadvantaged children.
Unfortu-
nately, some of
this good news
has been ques-
tioned with the
recent coverage
of a study done
hen the Oregon Legislature convenes a 2016 short session, at Vanderbilt
University on
lawmakers will confront various proposals to raise the min- T e n n e s s e e ’ s
imum wage. And voters next November could confront multiple Voluntary Pre-
Dan
k i n d e rg a r t e n
Gaffney
minimum wage increase ballot measures.
Program. It is
The reality of the Legislature’s
Sen. Courtney’s skepticism disappointing that one of our local
coming minimum wage discus- is well founded. While many television stations failed to look very
sion carries at least two elements. Portland employers would have lit- deeply into the story and made the
Vanderbilt study the focus of their
Thanks to a 2002 ballot initiative, WOHRUQRGLI¿FXOW\KDQGOLQJDODUJH news coverage a couple of weeks
Oregon has a minimum wage that wage hike, such a boost would ago.
The Vanderbilt study points out
is the second highest in the nation. push many small and mid-sized
that children who attend preschool
,W LV LQGH[HG WR ULVH ZLWK LQÀDWLRQ businesses in smaller economies to were much better off when entering
Secondly, any discussion of abruptly the margin of survival and perhaps kindergarten. Yet there was a decline
in achievement when children were
hiking the minimum wage to $13.50 failure.
or $15 must reckon with Oregon’s
State Sen. Betsy Johnson recent- LQ¿UVWDQGVHFRQGJUDGHV
What the study failed to point
two economies: that in Portland and ly led legislators on a trip around out was that there are no standards
that in the rest of the state.
Oregon. She says: “From Ontario for Tennessee’s Prekindergarten
Last week’s issue of Willamette to Roseburg to Astoria, I’ve talked Program and therefore no align-
Week reported that Senate President to people who say $15 is crippling. ment with the standards found in
K-12 schools. So even though Ten-
Peter Courtney is leery of a one- I don’t think we have anticipated all nessee has good intentions, they
VL]H¿WVDOO DSSURDFK WR D PDMRU of the unforeseen consequences. I have not gone far enough yet in
providing consistently high-quali-
minimum wage hike. Courtney am still absorbing information.”
prekindergarten experiences and
recognizes there is a gulf between
Gov. Kate Brown’s press aide ty
aligning them with their K-12 pro-
Portland’s economy, which is one Kristen Grainger says: “The main grams.
What has happened is that their
of the hottest in the nation, and point she’s trying to make is she
primary
grade (K-3) teachers face a
the rest of Oregon, much of which wants to make sure that it meets
growing challenge with classrooms
has not recovered from the Great the needs of rural Oregon and small ¿OHGZLWKFKLOGUHQZKRKDYHDZLGH
Recession. “If we increase the businesses and in Portland. She has range of social, behavioral and aca-
wage, I want to see a minimum been careful to stay away from a demic skills.
It is reassuring to know that Or-
ZDJH WKDW KDV D ÀRRU²OHVV WKDQ dollar amount.”
egon has adopted good prekinder-
$13.50,” said Courtney. “Portland
A nuanced solution from the garten standards, Head Start Early
should be allowed to go big time, Legislature would be a good thing. Learning Outcomes. Oregon leaders
but I can’t have a very big mini- That would give Oregonians a are expecting to release a document
aligns these standards to Ore-
PXPDFURVVWKHVWDWH,W¶OOMXVWFUXVK landmark in the ballot initiative that
gon’s K-12 standards, the Common
Portland and rural Oregon are touched
differently by big minimum wage hike
W
smaller communities.”
B
campaigns we an expect.
Tribes eye escape
from high waters
etween a long-threatened
tsunami and gradual sea-level
rise, Washington state coastal tribes
are feeling antsy.
In 2012, Congress voted to pro-
vide high land so the Quileute Tribe
on the Olympic Peninsula could
relocate its town of La Push away
IURP WKH 3DFL¿F 2FHDQ VKRUHOLQH
The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe
LQ3DFL¿F&RXQW\VWLOOKDVKRXVLQJ
and other infrastructure near sea
level in Tokeland, but has con-
VWUXFWHGDPDMRUHYDFXDWLRQFHQWHU
on a nearby hill.
Recently, the Quinault Indian
Nation in Grays Harbor County is
considering abandoning its histori-
cal village of Taholah due to ongo-
ing problems with ocean encroach-
ment. Located at the mouth of the
Quinault River, the town depends
on a 2,000-foot-long sea wall to
shield it from damaging surf. But
the tribal government led by tribal
council President Fawn Sharp had
to declare a state of emergency after
VWRUPGULYHQZDYHVÀRRGHGSDUWRI
Taholah in March 2014.
Now, National Public Radio’s
KUOW reports, “The Quinault
tribe has developed a $60 million
plan to move the entire village of
Taholah uphill and out of harm’s
way. That will mean moving the
school, the courthouse, the police
station and the homes of 700 tribal
members a safer distance from the
HQFURDFKLQJ3DFL¿F´86WD[SD\-
ers will be asked to foot part of the
bill.
This has spurred Sharp to ac-
tively participate in international
Daily Astorian/File Photo
Jaycie Browning turns her tassle during the graduating ceremony for
the Lil’ Sprouts prekindergarten class, a city of Astoria program at the
Robert Gray School in 2014.
attitudes about school
Core State Standards,
The
and less absenteeism
in the spring.
into the eighth grade.
In Clatsop County,
positive
The positive gains are
ZH ¿QG DOO ¿YH VFKRRO
districts working with
gains are evident in cognitive
abilities,
executive
child care and pre-
function and social
school providers to evident in
skills.
align strategies and
Furthermore Pro-
curricula so we don’t cognitive
fessor
James Heck-
have the situation that
abilities,
man, a Nobel Prize
occurred in Tennessee.
winning economist,
Oregon has noted pos- executive
has over 35 years of
itive effects in states
function
like North Carolina,
data that indicates that
Georgia,
Arkansas,
people who attended a
Massachusetts
and and social
high-quality preschool
New Jersey. Oregon is
have 25 percent greater
skills.
implementing a sys-
HDUQLQJV VLJQL¿FDQWO\
tem to help preschools
IHZHU FULPLQDO MXVWLFH
and parents know how preschools issues and better physical health as
are doing on meeting the preschool adults. He stated there is actually a
standards. The Quality Rating and 7 to 10 percent per year return on in-
Improvement System is being intro- vestments.
duced throughout Oregon so we can
That seems like a pretty smart in-
determine how well individual pre- vestment for a community to make.
schools are doing.
Who in Clatsop County is interest-
It is expected that by providing ed?
high-quality early childhood ex-
Dan Gaffney is a retired Clatsop
periences and aligning them with County school administrator who
K-12 expectations that Oregon can coordinates Clatsop Kinder Ready,
have long-lasting positive results. the county prekindergarten through
The states that have aligned systems Grade 3 consortium. For more infor-
have seen persistent educational mation consult its website at www.
gains, better retention rates, better ClatsopKR.com.
Mizzou, Yale and free speech
Nicholas Christakis. “Be
come voices that sometimes
quiet!” she screams at him.
leave other people feeling
“It is not about creating an
aggrieved or wounded.
intellectual space!”
On both counts we fall
n university campuses across
A student wrote an op-
far
short.
the country, from Mizzou to
climate talks. Sharp told KUOW
ed about “the very real
We’ve also seen Wesley-
she’s “heartened by the increasing Yale, we have two noble forces an students cut funding for
hurt” that minority stu-
dents feel, adding: “I don’t
the student newspaper after
presence of representatives from colliding with explosive force.
it
ran
an
op-ed
criticizing
the
want to debate. I want to
One
is
a
concern
for
minority
or
island nations and other develop-
Black Lives Matter move-
talk about my pain.” That
marginalized
students
and
faculty
ing countries at the international
ment.
At
Mount
Holyoke,
prompted savage commen-
Nicholas
climate gatherings in recent years. members, who are often left feeling students canceled a produc-
tary online. “Is Yale letting
Kristof
in 8-year-olds?” one person
Indigenous peoples around the as outsiders in ways that damage ev- tion of “The Vagina Mono-
eryone’s education.
logues”
because
they
felt
it
excluded
asked
on
Twitter.
world are often on the front lines of
The Wall Street Journal editorial
At the University of Missouri, a transgender women. Protests led to
climate change, despite the fact that black professor, Cynthia Frisby, wrote, the withdrawal of Condoleezza Rice page denounced “Yale’s Little Robe-
they contribute the smallest amount “I have been called the N-word too as commencement speaker at Rutgers spierres.” It followed up Wednesday
and Christine Lagarde at Smith.
with another editorial, warning that the
of greenhouse gases to the atmo- many times to count.”
This is sensitivity but also intoler- PC mindset “threatens to undermine
7KHSUREOHPLVQRWMXVWUDFLVWVZKR
sphere.”
use epithets but also administrators ance, and it is disproportionately an or destroy universities as a place of
It is generally true that the who seem to acquiesce.
instinct on the left.
learning.”
I’m a pro-choice
I suggest we all take a deep breath.
world’s poorest people will be That’s why Mizzou
Education
liberal
who
has
been
VWXGHQWV
²
HVSHFLDO-
The protesters at Mizzou and Yale
among those who suffer the most
invited
to
infect
evan-
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and
elsewhere make a legitimate
is about
from sea-level rise, droughts, cy- used their clout to oust
gelical Christian uni- point: Universities should work harder
clones and other symptoms of a the university system’s stretching
versities with progres- to make all students feel they are safe
sive thoughts, and to DQGEHORQJ0HPEHUVRIPLQRULWLHV²
president.
They
showed
world climate expected to become
muscles,
address Catholic uni- whether black or transgender or (on
leadership
in
trying
to
more erratic.
where I’ve many campuses) evangelical conser-
rectify a failure of lead-
and that’s versities
Although non-native residents ership.
praised condoms and YDWLYHV²VKRXOGEHDEOHWRIHHODSDUW
RI WKH 3DFL¿F 1RUWKZHVW FRDVW
control programs. of campus, not feel mocked in their
But moral voices
painful in birth
,¶P
VXUH
, GLVFRP¿WHG own community.
can
also
become
sancti-
mostly do not live with the same
many students on these
monious bullies.
The problems at Mizzou were
the
gym
¿QDQFLDOKDQGLFDSVDVWULEDOPHP-
conservative campuses, underscored on Tuesday when there
“Go, go, go,” some
bers do, our communities often do Mizzou
but it’s a tribute to them were death threats against black stu-
protesters and in the
that they were willing dents. What’s unfolding at universities
contain economically disadvan- \HOOHG DV WKH\ MRVWOHG D
lecture
to be challenged. In the LV QRW MXVW DERXW IUHH H[SUHVVLRQ EXW
student
photographer,
taged people. And all of us struggle
same spirit, liberal uni- also about a safe and nurturing envi-
Tim Tai, who was try-
hall.
to gain much attention from distant ing to document the
versities should seek ronment.
policymakers in state capitals and protests unfolding in
out pro-life social con-
&RQVLGHU DQ RI¿FH ZKHUH ERVVHV
a public space. And Melissa Click, servatives to speak.
shrug as some men hang nude cen-
Washington, D.C.
0RUH EURDGO\ DFDGHPLD ² HVSH- terfolds and leeringly speculate about
7KH PRYHV ² ERWK OLWHUDO DQG DQDVVLVWDQWSURIHVVRUZKRMRLQHGWKH
protests, is heard on a video calling for FLDOO\ WKH VRFLDO VFLHQFHV ² XQGHU- the sexual proclivities of female col-
SROLWLFDO²E\FRDVWDOWULEHVVKRXOG ³PXVFOH´WRRXVWDQRWKHUVWXGHQWMRXU- mines itself by a tilt to the left. We leagues. Free speech issue? No! That’s
help open the eyes of the dwindling nalist (she later apologized).
should cherish all kinds of diversity, a hostile work environment. And imag-
Tai represented the other noble including the presence of conserva- ine if you’re an 18-year-old for whom
number of steadfast climate-change
LQ WKHVH XSKHDYDOV ² IUHH H[- tives to infuriate us liberals and make WKLVLV\RXUKRPH²QDPHGVD\
deniers in our midst. Quinaults and IRUFH
pression. He tried to make the point, us uncomfortable. Education is about for a 19th-century pro-slavery white
other tribes have lived here long telling the crowd: “The First Amend- stretching muscles, and that’s painful supremacist.
My favorite philosopher, the late
enough to know change when they PHQWSURWHFWV\RXUULJKWWREHKHUH² in the gym and in the lecture hall.
One
of
the
wrenching
upheavals
and
mine.”
Sir
Isaiah Berlin, argued that there was
see it, and they would not be walk-
We like to caricature great moral lately has unfolded at Yale. Long- DGHHSKXPDQ\HDUQLQJWR¿QGWKH2QH
ing away from hereditary villages debates as right confronting wrong. time frustrations among minority Great Truth. In fact, he said, that’s a
in the absence of highly compelling But often, to some degree, it’s right students boiled over after adminis- dead end: Our fate is to struggle with a
WUDWRUV VHHPHG WR WKHP LQVXI¿FLHQWO\ “plurality of values,” with competing
colliding with right.
reasons.
concerned about offensive costumes truths, with trying to reconcile what
Yes,
universities
should
work
hard-
All coastal residents should
er to be inclusive. And, yes, campuses for Halloween. A widely circulated may well be irreconcilable.
band together to advocate for atten- must assure free expression, which video showed a furious student shout-
That’s unsatisfying. It’s complicat-
tion and action in this era of need.
means protecting dissonant and unwel- ing down one administrator, professor ed. It’s also life.
By NICHOLAS KRISTOF
New York Times News Service
O