U.S. Sen. Kit Bond says education should remain a long-term priority despite the economy. He spoke at an early childhood education event in Columbia today.

Bond talked about Parents as Teachers - a program he helped get state-funded in the 1980s. Parents as Teachers uses certified parent educators who visit homes to work with families.

Federal legislation Bond introduced this year would use $400 million to expand early education that includes home visits to 2.7 million families nationally. He also wants to work with President Obama to add Parents as Teachers to the home visitation programs funded in the 2010 budget.

But Bond did not mention that legislators in Missouri - his home state where Parents as Teachers began - cut funding to the program by 10 percent in the budget for the next fiscal year. Bond says children who have participated in Parents as Teachers are more likely to graduate and get better jobs and are less likely to commit crimes and drain the economy.

"It is critical for the long-term health of our economy, that we have well-educated young people ready to come along. A child who begins school ready to learn is less likely to have developmental delays and is less likely to do poorly in school."

Following his speech, Bond received questions from the audience. Eduardo Crespi is director of Columbia's Centro Latino, a center providing services to Latino families. Crespi says Latinos are a major part of the U.S. workforce, but children of undocumented workers cannot attend college. He asked Bond to support the DREAM Act.

According to the National Immigration Law Center, the act makes citizenship a possibility for immigrant children after going to college or serving in military.

Bond says that although the issue is controversial, he believes legislators should work to integrate Latinos into the community and provide educational opportunities to children. © Copyright 2012, KBIA