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Youngest Learners Hold Key to U.S. Competitiveness, CED Asserts

While much of the attention in the national dialogue on competitiveness and innovation has focused on federal R&D investments and science and tech education, a 62-year-old independent organization of business and education leaders says our attention should be much earlier in the education process. A new report by the Committee on Economic Development (CED) asserts economic development leaders should make quality preschools a top priority. The Economic Promise of Investing in High-Quality Preschool: Using Early Education to Improve Economic Growth and the Fiscal Sustainability of States and the Nation presents a convincing case for expanding state and federal pre-kindergarten programs to encourage economic growth.

The CED has long asserted the importance of preschool programs in national and local economies. Since 2002, the organization has held nationwide forums and published several reports in conjunction with the Pew Charitable Trusts to build awareness of the benefits of high-quality preschools among business leaders. This most recent report focuses on the tangible economic returns to policies that improve the quality and accessibility of early education.

Today, 66 percent of four-year-olds are enrolled in preschool; however, many are not enrolled in high-quality programs. Fewer than one-half of state-funded programs meet the minimum quality standards set by the National Institute for Early Education Research. Children without access to high-quality preschools are at a disadvantage throughout their academic career and in the labor market, according to the CED report. The growing shortage of skilled and educated labor in the U.S. workforce means preschool funding is needed more than ever, the researchers say.

The CED report further argues that states are uniquely positioned to improve preschool quality and access and to reap the economic benefits of successful policies. Pre-K investment can yield two- to four-dollar returns for every $1 of state investment, with widespread fiscal impacts on health and welfare spending, education, crime and tax revenues. Annual rates of return on investment in early education are estimated to increase by 10 percent each year over a student’s lifetime. States are likely to benefit from much of this return because approximately 85 percent of 16-year-olds will live in the same state where they attended preschool and 65 percent to 75 percent will remain there during their prime working years, the report adds. Preschool programs also boost the long-run employment level of states by more than twice as much as traditional economic development programs.

A December 2005 Zogby poll revealed 83 percent of business leaders favor policy approaches that provide publicly-funded pre-kindergartens, but allow parents to choose the program that is right for their child. Sixty-three percent of the same business leaders favor financial support for these programs from the business community. A large majority agree that investments in effective preschool programs are necessary to maintain U.S. competitiveness.

The CED report recommends that federal, state and local governments make access to high-quality preschools a priority and consider early education an important part of economic development strategies. Current government spending on pre-K programs is nearly $10 billion, and universal access to high-quality preschool for three- and four-year-olds is expected to cost $30 billion. The report, however, argues that the financial returns more than justify the expense, and that state initiatives must augment the federal Head Start program if they are to remain competitive.

Read the complete report at: http://www.ced.org/docs/report/report_prek_econpromise.pdf

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2006. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged. Please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected.

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Governor Brian Schweitzer: The Montana economy relies on education http://www.matr.net/article-19892.html

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer stresses early education. “Education begins when you are born in Montana and it ends when you die in Montana.” http://www.matr.net/article-19863.html

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