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"Westar Energy employees will be in Wichita on Wednesday to help low-income residents apply for assistance in paying their utility bills."

"A report from October 2012 is only the most recent of a long line of studies that show fleeting cognitive gains from Head Start. The rigorously designed study adds that there is little difference in the domains of social-emotional, health and parenting practices' between third-graders who attended a Head Start program and those who did not. The most severe critics object that Head Start has turned into nothing more than a massive jobs program for adults."

"There is no question that the tax-subsidized program has helped at least some low-income children move into private schools that their parents could never have afforded. However, there is also no question that the program has been and continues to be abused."

"Obama's emphasis on high quality is important. Preschool intervention programs vary in quality. But, at their best, they help children make the most of their early learning years at a time when their learning and study habits are being formed. One recent federal evaluation of Head Start, which is aimed at low-income preschoolers, found parents benefited, too, by learning to use appropriate discipline techniques and learning to spend more time reading to their children."

"Moreover, Obama's push for universal preschool acknowledges something that N.C. lawmakers should take note of: The kind of quality preschool that North Carolina has been providing is an economic tool. It is not only a lure for businesses, but increases the tax-paying base and saves the state money long-term. Research shows low-income students benefit significantly. They succeed better academically, graduate from high school more often and are more economically productive later in life."

"The most famous and frequently cited program was conducted at Perry Elementary School in Ypsilanti, Mich., during the 1960s, where the teachers focused on a creative process in which low-income children were encouraged to plan, initiate and discuss their learning activities. In addition to teaching the children for 2.5 hours during the school day, the teachers regularly visited their homes to reinforce the lessons and forge partnership with parents. Followed into adulthood, the Perry students were found to have lower dropout and arrest rates and higher incomes than those who had not attended preschool."

"Preschool advocates, who have weathered five years of dispiriting state budget cuts, have responded ecstatically to President Barack Obama's initiative for universal preschool for 4-year-olds, a major surge in federal involvement in education. And with a blueprint already in the works for a statewide preschool plan, California may be well positioned to begin offering preschool to the estimated 125,000 4-year-olds from low-income families who can't afford to enroll."

"Quality really matters. That's been pretty well documented. I would argue Perry, which has been most thoroughly evaluated, is extensive. In terms of the return on investment, per dollar return, the annual return for what you'd get on a bond or some kind of fixed income, you would have a rate that was 6-10 percent per year, which is extremely high. So even though it costs something, it's about the return is to society and to the individuals."

"Obama wants to guarantee preschool at age 4 for all children from poor and working-class backgrounds. He also wants to support local initiatives to provide education for middle-class children of the same age, as well as for infants and toddlers from low-income families. Administration officials said the proposals were based on extensive economic research showing the importance of early childhood education and a growing recognition that the United States is falling behind in providing an adequate education for its youngest citizens."

"For families at or below 200 percent of poverty, the White House is proposing a cost-sharing program between the federal government and all 50 states. Proponents believe that provision, and the proposal as a whole, will level the playing field for low-income students."

"Alabama is one of only five states whose preschool program received top marks based on an assessment of its quality standards by the National Institute for Early Education Research, but only 6 percent of 4-year-olds there are enrolled in a state-financed preschool. To receive state money in Alabama, a preschool must employ teachers with bachelor's degrees in early childhood education or child development, keep class sizes under 20 children, and follow a state-approved curriculum. The Obama administration is proposing similar standards for its federal matching program."

"More precisely, 22 percent of adult Americans are functionally innumerate' a word that sums up the inability to do math problems like the word illiterate' describes lack of reading and writing skills. These millions of innumerate people don't have the basic math skills for most modern jobs, including the low-level jobs open to people without college degrees."