Tennessee Eyes Billions in Early Education Funds

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - They are not young adults cynically categorized by aging "Baby Boomers" as representing succeeding generations of "X, Y or Z."

Instead, the increasing number of incarcerated black males eighteen years old and under, in Tennessee and across the nation, makes them in the eyes of society "Generation Lost."

Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell observed on Monday, "We're seeing juveniles come into our adult system that a year or two ago were being handled in the juvenile system with all the services that were required to deal with that juvenile behavior."

While local law enforcement agencies are stuck with the responsibility and the higher costs of arranging for rehabilitation programs for youth who've already crossed over to criminal activities, the group Fight Crime/Invest in Kids has been at work for twelve years trying to save the next generation of underprivileged kids from even thinking about embracing a criminal career. They're optimistic the state is in position to take advantage of President Obama's aggressive efforts in Congress to reward states with established programs that identify and give at-risk kids a safe and healthy start in life from birth to Pre-K education.

State Director Mark Rogers says "That would provide a billion dollars a year to the states for ten years for high quality early learning. It's called the Early Learning Challenge Fund… If it passes, that billion dollars isn't going to go proportionately. It's going to go to states based on competitive proposals."

Among the programs the state already has in place are thriving successes in early education through Headstart and Pre-K areas, with a national study citing Tennessee as meeting nine of the ten standards for high quality Pre-K.

Rogers says of the success, "It's being able to be in small groups, like 20 or less, and identifying problems that an individual child may have which are not serious problems. But, if you wait until the child is in the first, second or third grade then suddenly it's a big problem."

Rogers says his organization is taking its message to another audience, forming a new group called Shepherding the Next Generation.

Rogers explains, "The idea is have pastors to do what we have law enforcement successfully doing now which is to make the case to policy-makers, to legislators, to administrators, that these are the things we need to do and here's what the evidence shows works best."

Meanwhile, Tennessee is among those awaiting a final congressional decision that could go a long way toward making the next generation the last of the lost.

Rogers concludes, "Show us what you want to do and the best stuff gets the money. Tennessee is so well placed to clean up on this."