Letter to the Legislature
September 26, 1998
I have received a
response from Ms Zukoski, Executive Director of the
Governor's Commission on Early Learning, to my letter to her of August 24,
1998, in which I requested that the Commission invite Dr John Bruer as a guest
of the commission. Ms Zukoski states that she has downloaded the articles written
by Dr Bruer. She states that she
understands "Dr Bruer's point that developing
'brain based' curricula may be taking the scientific evidence a step too
far."
That is not Dr Bruer's
main point. What Dr Bruer is
stating, very specifically, speaks directly to the charge of the Governor's
Commission on Early Learning:
What Dr Bruer states, specifically, is
that there is NO evidence that early childhood brain development (outside
physical trauma) is based upon early childhood experiences. Dr Bruer speaks to this very
specifically in both his papers. He
debunks the three myths upon which the early childhood brain development/early
childhood experiences contention is based, that ...
1. "enriched early childhood environments causes synapses to
multiply rapidly,"
2. "more synapses means more brainpower," and
3. "the plateau period of high synaptic
density and high brain metabolism is the optimal period for learning."
In a Reuter's press release, dated
November 10, 1997, Dr Bruer synopsizes his papers by stating,
Stories stressing
that children's experiences during their early years of life will ultimately
determine their scholastic ability, their future career paths, and their
ability to form loving relationships have little basis in neuroscience.
What this means is that the very
foundation upon which the Governor's Commission on Early Learning has been
established, is blatantly false. That is why no one, not even the Governor's
Office, has been able to provide the scientifically validated research to prove
otherwise.
While I can appreciate Mr Reiner's anxieties over his childhood, I also have to
question his motives and his admission that the whole idea for the I Am Your
Child campaign came from his sessions with his psychiatrist. That hardly
establishes him as an expert in the field. The only thing that has given him
venue is the amount of money he has to pour into his endeavor and the amount of
publicity he has been given by the media. Neither negates the bottom-line fact
that his assertion, as well as that of Governor Locke in his press release of
June 4, 1998 — that ...
Science has now
proven the first three years of life are critical to a child's learning and
development ... Because these earliest stages set the stage for the rest of
that child's life, parents and care-givers need to know how to make the most of
those learning opportunities.
— have not been proven by
reliable methods of scientific proof and discovery, and therefore, are not the
foundation upon which to build the work of a commission.
The Governor's Commission on Early
Learning has budgeted $300,000 taxpayer dollars in pursuit of the Governor's
objectives. His objectives, however, are not based on sound research, only on
contentions and assumptions.
One can only assume, in what has been
presented here, that the charge of the Governor's Commission on Early Learning
is not in the best interests of the children of this state; rather they are
founded in a political agenda that expresses itself in the words of Rob Reiner
at the February 4, 1997, NGA conference,
They [the people of
the US] are going to ask for... government coming into your home and telling
you how to raise your children ... Then we as policy makers ... can say okay,
these are the programs we can lay out for you ... I think there will be
eventually a critical mass. It is just a matter of time.
...the right kind of nurturing [of the child] ...... it does not
necessarily have to be the mother or the father.
...the only way this is going to work is if there is a partnership
between the federal government, state government, local communities, and the business
world and the foundation world.
That agenda is being accomplished in
Washington State via the Governor's Commission on Early Learning.
Lynn M Stuter
7th District
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