Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 6, 1990                   TAG: 9007060132
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: KANSAS CITY, MO.                                LENGTH: Medium

TEACHERS UNION CALLS FOR MORE STUDENT SERVICES

The board of directors of the National Education Association approved a committee report that said public schools should be the primary provider of such early childhood services. It said they should be universal, with low or no cost to the child, and all children should have equal access.

With the exception of Head Start, most day care or preschool programs are offered by private or non-profit organizations. Head Start provides education, meals and health screening for needy youngsters ages 3 to 5, but officials said only a small percentage of eligible children is served by the program.

Public schools also are "an acknowledged socializing agent," with established systems that allow for easy handling of money, said the report, which did not contain an estimate of the cost of implementing its recommendations.

The committee said its recommendations were prompted in part by changes in American families and the labor force. It also cited changes in the demographics of poverty, increases in the preschool population and its changing ethnic composition.

"The need for education and care programs for young children is not being met," the report said. "NEA believes that early childhood programs must be available for all 3- and 4-year-olds."

By 1995, it is estimated that 80 percent of children under age 6 will have mothers working outside the home.

The number of such children is expected to increase by 9 million this year, from 14 million in 1980 to 23 million. Of this increase, 55 percent will likely live in poverty - and poverty is the most valid predictor of educational failure.