Early Childhood Education

Variable toll fees, HOT lanes could cut traffic congestion, We applaud Maryland's efforts to consider congestion pricing or variable tolls to help speed commutes and reduce air pollution in crowded highway corridors in the Baltimore-Washington region ("State postpones meetings on proposal for toll lanes," Jan. 24). By exploring High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes and variable tolls that could squeeze more capacity out of existing roads and give every traveler more choices, Maryland is paving the way for genuine traffic congestion relief.

REMEMBER the adage, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"? That should be paramount in the minds of lawmakers and the governor as Maryland's General Assembly convenes Wednesday for its 90-day session. State leaders could take significant steps this year in four areas that would produce major dividends down the road. But it will take foresight and political courage. Gov. Parris N. Glendening has made it clear he intends to put much of the state's excess cash into bricks and mortar -- K-12 public school construction and a massive building binge on state college campuses.

THE EVIDENCE keeps mounting: Early learning skills are absolutely critical for giving youngsters what they need to succeed in school -- and later in life. This fact should not be lost on Gov. Parris N. Glendening as he sets his budget priorities. The governor has a rare chance to seize this moment to thrust Maryland into the vanguard of states championing learning skills for very young children. By the time a child enters first grade, 90 percent of brain development has occurred. That's why it is crucial to reach these kids earlier, so they start school equipped to learn.

THE MARYLAND STATE Board of Education recently announced that it will seek to institute all-day kindergarten statewide. Though this worthwhile initiative will provide an important boost for many children and families, we should, at the same time, seize an even greater opportunity to help children succeed in school. Because of the recent convergence of two fields of research, we now know that one of the greatest influences on educational achievement is the quality of a child's experiences from birth to age 5, before he or she enters school.

College plans open house for education courses Carroll Community College will hold a Teacher Education Open House at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the 1601 Washington Road campus. Information about the college's classes in early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, and the two new Maryland Department of Education approved reading courses will be available to students seeking an education degree or teachers needing recertification. Education advisers Elizabeth Little, professor and chairwoman of arts, honors, education and academic services; Justine Parezo, assistant professor and director of the Holniker Early Learning Center; and Susan Sies, assistant professor, will be available to talk to students.

WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential hopeful Al Gore fleshed out yesterday a $50 billion preschool proposal that would provide education for three-quarters of the nation's 4-year-olds but relies heavily on state governments.Early childhood education is shaping up to be a surprisingly potent issue on the campaign trail, as more and more families have two working parents. GOP front-runner George W. Bush has veered far from Republican orthodoxy with his preschool proposal, which draws on the guidance of the U.S. Department of Education, an agency that Republicans once targeted for abolition.

Judith Elaine Hoyer, a Prince George's County school official and wife of Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, died of cancer yesterday morning at her home in Mechanicsville, St. Mary's County. She was 57.Mrs. Hoyer was coordinating supervisor of early childhood education for the public schools in Prince George's, whose former county executive, Gov. Parris N. Glendening, issued a written statement remembering her efforts."We are, of course, well aware of the many contributions ofCongressman Hoyer to this State," Mr. Glendening said of the 5th District Democrat.

WITH THE RELEASE this week of a major study of the early adolescent years, the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development has again sounded the alarm: Growing up in late-20th-century America is risky business.The Carnegie study, nine years in the making, presents some sobering statistics about those awkwardly in-between early adolescent years between 10 and 14:* One-third of 13-year-olds acknowledge that they have used illicit drugs.* Homicide rates for young people 10 to 14 years old more than doubled from 1985 to 1992, while the suicide rate and other self-destructive violence more than doubled from 1980 to 1992.

Small numbers are Eastern Christian College's pride and its sorrow.The 11 students who graduated yesterday from the tiny Bible college in Harford County will be among the last to receive degrees there.Unlike other schools in the Baltimore area, such as the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, Eastern has struggled to maintain enrollment and to recruit enough church sponsors to make ends meet almost since its inception 35 years ago.Eastern, with a student body of 40, will merge with another Christian college in Illinois next year.

Wallace Hamilton Kuralt, 86, retired social worker and father of TV newsman Charles Kuralt, died Thursday of cancer and respiratory failure in Elizabeth City, N.C. The Outer Banks resident was a strong advocate of early childhood education, and he instituted family planning services long before such programs won national acceptance.