Early Education Simply Good Business

The measure by which we judge which investments are worthwhile as a citizenry is how much time we spend, energy we expel, and the amount of resources we dedicate in the hope of future benefits. It should be axiomatic that investment in early childhood education is sound policy and will yield far reaching economic returns. Unfortunately our underfunded preschool programs and the limited resources provided to early childhood education say otherwise.

Leading research suggests that early education investments are simply good business. Nobel Prize-winner and famed economist James Heckman has shown that investments in high-quality early childhood education have returns of seven to ten percent for every dollar spent. Art Rolnick and Rob Grunewald of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank published a paper comparing education investments to other state investments and concluded that early education investments yield a return that far exceeds the return on most public economic development projects.

This research isn’t lost on the rest of the world. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Japan enrolls nearly all of its 4 –year- olds in preschool. Just a decade ago  the United Kingdom pledged to provide universal preschool to every child between the ages of 3 and 5 and now enrolls at least 97 percent of its 4- year- olds in preschool. The National Institute for Early Education Research wrote that for the 2012-2013 school year, US pre-K enrollment was at 28 percent for 4 year-olds across all states. Research further revealed that if enrollment growth remains stagnated at its current rate, it would take 75 years for states to reach 50 percent enrollment for 4-year-olds, and 150 years to reach 70 percent enrollment. In contrast, by 2020, China will increase preschool enrollment by 50 percent, providing access to over 70% of its children; and by 2018, India will raise the percent of children who are ready for school from 26 to 60.

The US simply doesn’t invest enough in early childhood education. In fact, as a percentage of the GDP, the United States invests 0.4 percent of our GDP in preschool. In comparison, China spend 3.28 percent of their GDP on preschool, while smaller countries like Denmark, Spain, and Israel each spend 0.9 percent. OECD also found that the United States ranks behind most of the other countries in global ranking. Comparing the top 39 most affluent countries, the US is 26th in preschool participation of 4 year olds, 24th in preschool participation for 3 year olds, and 21st in total investment in early childhood education relative to country wealth.

These numbers are important because countries like Japan for instance outperformed the United States by more than 40 points on the most recent international test for fourth grade math. These numbers are of particular importance when we look at the local impact. The new PSSA test for Pennsylvania revealed an across the board drop in proficiency standards. Opponents of the new common core based PSSA test surmised that the test is not a good indicator of future successes in education but certainly those numbers tell some of the story. The common core standards have roots in international educational best practices and what we have found is when we invest early the returns are profound.

Against that backdrop the silence in Harrisburg is deafening as the Commonwealth sits embroiled in a budget impasse. Likewise, the Federal Government continues to kick the can down the road with continuing resolutions on appropriations. School districts and those not for profit agencies serving children collectively wonder aloud whether we will invest our time, expel our energy and invest our resources in what should be self evident- that investment in early education is simply good business.

Editorial by Michael A. Walker, Esq, CEO/President of CSC

Appeared in the Morning Call October 11, 2015