Early ed.: An investment in the Mass. workforce
The Boston Business Journal, Op-Ed by Andrea Silbert, July 3, 2008

Ensuring that Massachusetts develops and retains a skilled, educated workforce is a concern for every business leader in the commonwealth. The recently released recommendations of Gov. Deval Patrick and his Job Readiness Task Force provide a reform-oriented vision for education in the 21st century that will help meet this need. With a strong emphasis on early education, the plan strategically focuses resources where they will generate the greatest return on investment for taxpayers, providing the double benefit of training tomorrow’s leaders while helping meet the needs of today’s parents.

The plan calls for universal, high-quality pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten, beginning in high-needs districts. It also will create a task force to establish a statewide birth-to-school-age strategy to ensure the healthy development of children, particularly those from low-income families, and will establish a Commonwealth Child and Youth Readiness Cabinet, an intergovernmental agency cabinet responsible for developing and implementing a shared vision to advance the health and well-being of all children and youth.

These steps are crucial because by the age of 5, 85 percent of the brain is developed, setting the foundation for all future learning, behavior and health. At age 3, children from high-income families have vocabularies averaging 1,100 words, while middle-income kids have 750 words, and low-income children only 480. Unfortunately, these disparities often linger and increase over time. One study finds that half of the “achievement gap” between high and low-income students in the 12th grade can be attributed to disparities going back as early as first grade.

This gap has a real impact o Massachusetts’ economy, with 20,000 jobs unfilled because of a lack of qualified applicants, and each college dropout costing our state $275,000 over their lifetime. But early education provides an important solution. Research indicates that low-income children who participate in high-quality early childhood education are 40 percent less likely to need special education services or be held back a grade, 30 percent more likely to graduate from high school, and twice as likely to go to college. That helps Massachusetts taxpayers, because for every dollar spent on high-quality early education, studies have shown a cost savings of up to $7.

Gov. Patrick’s innovative plan recognizes the importance of getting kids ready to succeed in school. It’s clear that access to high-quality early education will greatly benefit our children, workforce and economy – and that’s a message that should resonate with every business leader who cares about our state’s future.

Andrea Silbert is president of the Eos Foundation and served on the Leadership Council of Gov. Patrick’s Job Readiness Taskforce, as well as the Early Education and Care subcommittee.