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Why Romney should invest in childhood programs

By John A. Lippitt
Monday, December 27, 2004

GOVERNOR ROMNEY is wrong when he says that preschool programs have no lasting effects and that Massachusetts could get more for its money by investing in older children ("Governor outlines his education goals," City & Region, Dec. 21).

Two recent publications by prominent economists say the opposite: Early childhood programs do have long-term effects and higher rates of return than most other investments.

Art Rolnick, senior vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, has published a paper, with Rob Grunewald, titled "Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a High Public Return." They state that "early childhood development, or ECD, is grossly underfunded . . . If properly funded and managed, investment in ECD yields an extraordinary return, far exceeding the return on most investments, private or public."

James Heckman, Nobel Prize-winning economist at the University of Chicago, has published a paper, with Dimitriy Masterov, titled "The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children." They write, "At current levels of investment, American society over-invests in public job training and formal education and under-invests in early education." They go on to note, "Early interventions reduce crimes, promote high school graduation and college attendance, reduce grade repetition and special education costs, and help prevent teenage births. They raise achievement as measured by test scores . . . they are cost effective. Estimated rates of return are . . . remarkably high." They back these statements up with reams of data and economic analyses.

I strongly suggest that Governor Romney obtain these two publications (among others), that are available on the Internet, and read them. Once he does, he'll understand that funding early childhood programs is the best investment he can make.

JOHN A. LIPPITT Early Childhood Policy Researcher Heller School for Social Policy and Management
Brandeis University

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