The Future Looks Bright for Cambridge’s Children

This one goes out to all the preschoolers and the high school graduates. A couple weeks ago, Cambridge Public Schools announced a program that will soon offer universal pre-K to all Cambridge four-year-olds. Two days later, Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui previewed her plan to fund free community college for all Cambridge residents.

These laudable developments brighten the outlook of education in Cambridge.

Early education gleams with benefits that all children deserve. Preschool nurtures a life-long drive for educational attainment in its attendees that encourages future high school graduation, college enrollment, and civic engagement. By reducing existing gaps in school readiness, universal pre-K helps children impeded by structural inequities in education or ill-equipped family environments to acquire the skills that will set them up for transformative academic success.

As these motivated four-year-olds become young adults in search of higher education, accessible community colleges shine just as brilliantly. Community colleges provide upward mobility for more students than do elite institutions like our own. Making these schools free further lowers barriers of entry to the dazzling benefits of education; according to the Bureau of Economics, tuition-free community colleges increased degree completions by 20 percent.

Unfortunately, Cambridge’s win remains emblematic of America’s loss.

It is hardly difficult, and in fact whispers at classism, for such programs to be successful in a city as wealthy and Democratic-leaning as Cambridge. But every child should be able to go to preschool and every adult to community college, no matter the demographics of their home. Coming up on the one-year anniversary of the last time we spoke on accessible education, we are disheartened that Congress is still stalled on the matter, stagnating the nation’s educational progress.

Nevertheless, we glow with pride seeing Cantabrigian community leaders move to improve the city’s public schooling. We commend Mayor Siddiqui — a graduate of Cambridge Public Schools who credits her own CPS experience for shaping her into the advocate she is today — for giving back to her greater community. We extend our praises to Harvard as well, for its contributions in developing the universal pre-K program — a rare, radiant occasion of our institution exemplifying the citizen leadership it so often professes.

Investment in universal pre-K and college is a high-yield investment into future generations of children and young adults. We’re delighted to see Cambridge take steps to bring this future to light, and hope for the nation to follow.

This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.

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