We testified in favor of a bill that would expand preschool and make it available to the most at - risk students in 17 districts and another bill that would establish an early childhood innovation loan pilot program to spur
private investment in early childhood education.
As continued talks of school funding reform dominate budget negotiations, there is a real opportunity to advance a spending plan that supports what many researchers, teachers, parents, advocates and policymakers have known —
investment in early childhood education works.
«Every child deserves a strong foundation for a successful future, and this report provides more concrete, compelling evidence that
investments in early childhood education pay dividends for decades,» said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Professor Heckman and his co-authors Sneha Elango, Jorge Luis Garcia and Andres Hojman provide clarity in Early Childhood Education, a new working paper that makes sense of a number of seemly conflicting research studies on the effectiveness of
public investment in early childhood education.
Proponents for public
investment in early childhood education have relied on the work of Nobel Laureate James Heckman, whose studies have shown the positive results of early childhood investments, based on higher earnings, less crime, and lower unemployment among adults who had been enrolled in high - quality preschool programs as children.
Although the policymaker's challenge is to figure out how to expand access to such programs while preserving quality, evidence suggests that
investment in early childhood education has the potential to significantly address disparities that arise from family disadvantage.
But if we are to build on those, and on growing momentum for
investments in early childhood education, wraparound services, and systems to develop and support educators, we must seize this moment, not blow it!
In fact, Heckman's work demonstrates that
investments in early childhood education have a higher return on investment than the stock market.
Learn more about why PA MUST increase
its investment in early childhood education.
Investments in early childhood education and literacy programs have long - term benefits for society as a whole, Smith said, and not just individual students.
Still, 70 percent of voters have expressed support in surveys for
investments in early childhood education, and in the face of gridlock in the U.S. Congress, states are coming up with their own innovative solutions.
Duncan also pressed states to increase
their investments in early childhood education and advocated for health and mentorship programs that provide for the comprehensive needs of students.
Coupled with a $ 65 million expansion last year, Michigan has now more than doubled
its investment in early childhood education, in the belief that reaching kids early is the best way to improve academic achievement.
The Obama administration has rallied for a universal pre-K program and has allocated a $ 1 billion
investment in early childhood education, PBS wrote.
In fact, Heckman's work demonstrates that
investments in early childhood education have a higher return on investment than the stock market.
While most countries — including the United Kingdom, Mexico, and China — have pledged larger
investments in early childhood education, the United States is scaling back its programs.
In Fall 2013, the city of Chicago announced a three - year $ 36 million
investment in early childhood education to give more than 2,300 additional children aged zero to five access to high - quality early learning programs and associated wrap - around services.
An analysis released today by the White House Council of Economic Advisers describes the economic returns to
investments in early childhood education, including increased parental earnings and employment in the short - term, reduced need for remedial education and later public school expenditures, as well as long - term outcomes such as increased educational attainment, increased earnings, improved health, and decreased involvement with the criminal justice system.