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Universal preschool a smart investment

Monday, March 15, 2004

As education reform sweeps the country, state legislatures are beginning to realize that one of the wisest investments they can make is as simple as ABC: start kids in school earlier.

Child psychologists and educators are gathering more evidence proving that the mind of a 3- or 4-year-old is a terrible thing to waste, prompting advocates for a universal preschool campaign to push harder for this most basic of reforms.

Study after study has shown that early childhood programs have an overwhelmingly positive impact on learning and preparing youngsters for school - and for life.

For instance, a 1999 North Carolina study that tracked 111 children from low-income families from infancy through age 21, starting in 1972, found that children in high-quality day care had higher test scores in basics like reading and math and were more likely to graduate from high school and go on to college. And the Journal of the American Medical Association reported similar findings by following 1,000 Chicago children over a 15-year period beginning in 1985.

Making preschool a prerequisite for kindergarten - and beyond will be a costly proposition, but it is an investment idea that has deservedly won many champions. Massachusetts House Speaker Thomas Finneran, known as a fiscal conservative, is among those voicing strong support for expanding early childhood education. Finneran and others grasp what is at stake. Either the commonwealth pays now, or it pays later in increased high school drop-out rates, crime and poverty.

We hope the Legislature will respond to the challenge by passing An Act Establishing Early Education for All this year. The state can't fall behind other states that are investing in future generations. The plan seeks to provide early learning opportunities for all Massachusetts preschoolers by 2010.

The lingering recession in Massachusetts has discouraged job-seekers from moving to the commonwealth and has resulted in an out-migration of potential workers.

With a diminishing labor pool, it is critical that the state work to take advantage of its human capital.

Starting kids in school earlier is a goal we must not fail to reach.

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