Public Health Management Corporation to help bring 6th Annual PennsylvaniaOne Book, Every Young Child to Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (March 8, 2011) – Reading is essential for scholastic achievement and Pennsylvania’s economy. Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) supports this concept through participation in the Pennsylvania One Book, Every Young Child literacy program on March 29, 2011—a state-wide campaign to highlight the importance of early literacy development in preschoolers ages 3 to 6 through a single, shared reading experience.

PHMC will join with others across the state to read this year’s book selection, Whose Shoes? A Shoe for Every Job by Stephen R. Swinburne. Throughout the month of March, early childhood education centers participating in PHMC-managed Keystone STARS and Out-of-School-Time programs will pledge to read this book to an anticipated 5,000 children throughout its sites in Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

In the process, PHMC seeks to draw attention to the importance of investing in early childhood education and out-of-school time programs. “These investments jump-start the economy through the creation of new jobs, increase sales for Pennsylvania businesses and build the skills of our future workforce,” said Jennifer Friedman, PHMC’s director of Southeast Regional Key for the Pennsylvania Early Learning Keys to Quality initiative.

Full investment in early childhood education would create $2.4 billion in additional sales in Pennsylvania’s economy outside of early childhood education and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. For every ten jobs created in the early childcare and education sector, three jobs are created outside the sector in Pennsylvania’s economy. Research shows that investments in early learning provide a significant, immediate boost for local businesses and help build stronger communities over the long term.¹

High-quality early childhood education is a critical factor in the development of the 21st century skills that businesses require in the workforce. Research studies demonstrate that children who participate in high-quality early learning do better on a range of outcomes including overall test scores, high school graduation rates and employment rates.²

¹http://cdn.americasedge.org/clips/PAearlyed-economic-analysis-report-2.pdf

²http://cdn.americasedge.org/clips/PAearlyed-economic-analysis-report-2.pdf