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Pre-k for all
Editorial
The Cape Cod Times, July 12, 2007

Arguably, the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, when France sold 530 million acres west of the Mississippi to the U.S. for about 3 cents an acre, represented our nation's greatest investment.

The second greatest investment may well have been the purchase of the Alaska territory for $7.2 million from Russia in 1867.

The third? Perhaps the land-grant legislation of 1862, which granted federally controlled land to states for the purpose of building or expanding institutions of higher learning.

The fourth: the G.I. Bill, signed into law in 1944 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. By the time the Servicemembers' Readjustment Act of 1944 ended in July 1956, 7.8 million World War II veterans had participated in an education or training program.

Obviously, our nation's "greatest investments" are subject to debate, but for argument's sake, we'd like to predict what could possibly be our country's next greatest investment:
Early childhood education — from birth to kindergarten.

After all, the human brain develops more rapidly between birth and age 5 than during any other subsequent period.

And according to several studies, children who participate in high-quality early childhood programs develop better language skills, score higher in school-readiness tests, and have better social skills and fewer behavioral problems once they enter school than those who do not have the benefit of pre-K services.

Furthermore, this is more than an education issue; it's an economic and social one as well.
Business leaders and economists are increasingly linking early education with our country's economic competitiveness.

"Early childhood education does not cost — it pays," said Daniel Rose, a real estate developer in New York City. Rose quoted a new study, titled "Dollars and Sense: A Review of Economic Analyses of Pre-K," which found significant savings in everything from reduced special ed, welfare and prison costs to increased productivity.

"Behind the numbers about costs and benefits and the discussions about GDP and economic development, studies...illustrate what educators and parents have known for years — that children who participate in pre-k do better academically, physically, and socially throughout their lives," the study found.

"In the end, we all live in a safer, more productive, and more educated society... . An investment in high-quality pre-k for all is an investment in the future of us all."

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