Every once in a while you run across something so self-evident and compelling it is hard to imagine anyone finding grounds to disagree. In a time of great polarization, wouldn't it be nice to find something everyone can agree upon. The evidence documenting the educational, social and economic benefits of quality pre-kindergarten school programs is abundantly convincing. This seems like an issue Republicans and Democrats can embrace together. I find that encouraging.
Let's start with the economic benefits. Cost-benefit studies measuring the effect of pre-K education find the return on investment to be no less than $6 for every dollar invested. A study by Entergy says the return is $9.21 per dollar. Other studies find up to $16 saved for every $1 invested. The differences seem to be how widely each study measured the benefits.
Long-term studies measuring the annual rates of return for preschool investments calculate it to be 7 to 20 percent per year. That's a good investment.
Children who experience quality pre-K come to school ready to learn rather than already behind. School systems have less need for expensive special education costs and grade repetition. Classrooms are more productive because teachers don't have to spend as much time helping students keep up. If you ignore all of the other benefits of early childhood education, research shows the cost savings to the school system alone comes close to covering the cost of providing pre-school.
Pre-K students have higher graduation rates. Students who receive quality pre-K are more likely to have better jobs and to produce more income tax revenue. Pre-K reduces the likelihood these children will need to access social programs such as welfare or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps).
Pre-K offers low-income parents a safe, free source of child-care, allowing the parents to work and reducing the family's likelihood of dependency on social programs.
Children who have access to pre-K are less likely to commit crimes, which lowers costs for expensive systems for incarceration or rehabilitation and lowers the costs of policing and courts.
Children in pre-K learn soft skills that are valuable in life and in the workplace. They learn how to resolve conflicts, how to negotiate, and how to talk things out. These are social skills that some children may not learn at home. Quality pre-school gives children the tools to succeed even when they may be surrounded by a dysfunctional and chaotic home environment. In school the children learn character and social skills like perseverance and self-control.
The schools themselves are small economic engines. Pre-schools hire people into good jobs. A school is a small business with expenses for supplies, food, books, toys and services like electricity and water. All of that helps generate economic activity.
A child's early years are also the most critical years for human brain development. The brain connections are richest and most flexible prior to first grade. If we wait until age five or six to teach our kids, we are losing the brain's most efficient time for learning. The longer we wait to teach, the more behind some children will fall and the slower their subsequent improvement will be.
A child who does not have access to educational stimulation in the preschool years will be behind the other children who do. They suffer from an unfair gap that puts them behind before they have begun. It is a gap that is almost impossible to close once a child reaches first grade. Being behind can be demoralizing and can create lifelong negative impacts. Long-term studies show that quality pre-K creates large and lasting benefits for a lifetime.
And that's the most compelling argument. It's not just about money; it's about our children. It's about the priceless potential of human life.
Children are dependent upon us. At-risk children and children living in poverty are especially dependent upon us because their families may lack resources to help them thrive. Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas have rates of children living in poverty much higher than the national average.
It is a moral imperative that we give all of our children the opportunity to thrive. Yes, the economic cost-benefits of quality pre-K are stunningly compelling, but the personal, human and moral imperative is even more compelling.
Here's a place for Democrats and Republicans to join hands and work together. It makes business-economic sense. It makes social and moral sense. Give every child the benefit of quality pre-K education. It's the best investment I can think of.
Commentary on 11/03/2015