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REPORT: Savings Outpace Expense of Expanding Early Education in Mass

By Cyndi Roy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

BOSTON, JAN. 11, 2005…..Significantly expanding access to pre-school in Massachusetts would cost more than half a billion dollars, but could generate new tax revenue for the state while saving hundreds of millions of dollars in existing spending on anti-crime, education and child welfare programs, according to a new report commissioned by early education advocates.

The study conducted by economist Clive Belfield of Columbia University and Queens College says that by expanding two-year, state-funded pre-school to all 3-year-olds in Massachusetts, the state will recognize major savings in other areas of state spending, such as special education costs.

For every $578 million the state spends, it will see an 18 percent return, or $102 million annually, according to the report “An Economic Analysis of Investments in Early Childhood Education in Massachusetts.”

“The bottom line is this an investment,” Belfield told members of the Early Education Advisory Committee at a meeting Tuesday. There are roughly 91,000 3-year-olds in Massachusetts.

The report identified the greatest returns as savings associated with higher academic achievement rates and reductions in government spending on anti-crime and child health and welfare programs. In total, the report estimates early education would produce a cost savings to the state’s school system of about $205 million annually. The main reduction would be in special education.

“Giving pre-kindergarten to students who may be on the border of needing special education could save significant money,” Belfield said.
Additionally, the report contends that beginning a child’s education at age three instead of the kindergarten age of 5 or 6 can greatly reduce behavioral problems. The impact of better attitudes, improved behavior, and lower absenteeism rates “are strong and have consequences for the operation of a school, and its budget and expenditures,” the report says.
Providing universal pre-school would also free up about $288 million in anti-crime spending, the report concludes. Children who attend pre-school have lower dropout rates, and are therefore are more likely to avoid crime, Belfield said.

In addition to savings in government spending, Massachusetts would also see new revenue generated by investing in universal pre-school, the report says. In the short term, the state would generate an estimated $16.65 million in tax revenue from parents who are able to return to work while their children are in school. Longer term, the tax benefit would reach $115 million when former pre-schoolers enter the job market.

Attendees at Tuesday’s forum acknowledged that the predicted cost laid out in the study is not likely to be readily approved by lawmakers, but said having evidence of savings elsewhere would make it easier to reach the goal of providing pre-school to all children.
“ We didn’t come in saying we wanted all this money at once,” said Kathleen Kelley, president of the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers. “But more than any state, the economic returns of sending our kids to pre-school will be enormous.”

Rep. Patricia Haddad (D-Somerset), co-chair of the Legislature’s Early Education and Care Advisory Committee, said the state cannot afford to spend the money the report suggests immediately, but said she hopes the state will be able to spend some money in the fiscal 2006 budget.

“In a nutshell, this is a huge amount of money,” she said. “On the other hand, if we can continue to substantiate a return on our investment, maybe we can convince people to make that initial investment. It won’t be the whole amount, and it won’t be this year, but we can start making small investments with larger ones to follow when the economy improves.”

The report is being released as the Legislature begins debate on legislation that would phase in universal pre-school by 2012 under the new Department of Early Education and Care slated to being operating this July.
Gov. Mitt Romney has voiced his support for early ed reform, but recently cautioned that the new department could cost the state significant money, and said he wants more control of the department to fall under the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

Belfield’s report is based on a series of smaller, already-published studies on pre-kindergarten programs. Unlike some of the reports, Belfield’s does not look at the advantages of early education on children or society as a whole, and instead focuses strictly on the financial impact to the state.

Early education “is a good thing for kids, but this is a capitalist society,” said Mara Aspinall, president of Genzyme Genetics and co-chairwoman of the Early Education for All Advisory Committee. “A key part of convincing those that say we don’t have the money is convincing them that this is an investment.”

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