In this time of state budget crisis, it’s all to easy to just look at the spending column. Most certainly, funding early childhood education costs the state money. However, a true understanding of the valueĀ of this expense broadens the picture … and might cause penny pinchers to think twice.
Connecticut Voices for Children recently released a policy brief that helps reframe the conversation. It stacks short-term budget savings against the long-term impact on the economy of high-quality, sustained education for preschool children.
Liberty Bank Foundation is proud to be a member of the Connecticut Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, which funded this policy brief.Ā Ā The report usesĀ Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman’s figure of $7.30 generated for every dollar spent to early educationĀ as a jumping off point, and concludes that short-sightedness could add up to a long-term economic loss for the state of $10 billion.
As our public servants struggle to assemble a budget that works for everyone, we hope they’ll keep our littlest citizens in mind.