Our elected officials face two major challenges: managing shrinking budgets and supporting policies that will strengthen America’s workforce and get our economy growing again. Our nation’s prosperity depends on both.

Investing in early childhood education is a fiscally responsible way to reduce deficits and produce big gains for children and taxpayers. That’s why it’s time we talk about protecting our current investments and, yes, increasing funding, in early childhood education.

In the near-term, investing in early learning can increase academic achievement and reduce costs associated with grade retention and special education services. In Pennsylvania, we spend an average of $18,000 per pupil on special education programs – that’s roughly $3 billion per year.

Over a lifetime, investments in early childhood education generate big returns for all of us. According to research by Nobel laureate economist James Heckman, it’s one of the most cost efficient approaches to increasing education, health and economic outcomes and lowering the costs of remediation and social dependence. During the course of their lives, children who experience quality early-learning programs will be healthier, more self-sufficient and less likely to enter the criminal justice system. Those real cost savings add up to as much as a 10 percent annual economic return – a solid performance in any market.

Unfortunately, it’s not clear that lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have learned this important lesson. During the lame-duck session in Congress in late December, lawmakers passed a continuing budget resolution that puts 300,000 children throughout the United States at risk of losing their Head Start, Early Head Start and Child Care participation. Here in Pennsylvania 14,000 children would lose access to these valuable programs.

These programs build the engine of cognitive and character skills that drive success in school, college, career and life. At the same time, through interactions with parents, caregivers, and their peers, young children also develop attentiveness, persistence, and teamwork – skills researchers say pay off in the future. Cutting back on these programs represents a missed opportunity not only for thousands of children, but for all of us.

We urge Congress and President Obama to right that situation in the 2011 federal budget. And here in Pennsylvania, where 36 percent of children in our cities, suburbs and rural areas are low-income, the budget decisions our lawmakers make today will determine whether these at-risk children get the early childhood education they need to be prepared for school and life.

In tough economic times, families set priorities and focus on what matters most. Our elected officials should do the same. Early Head Start, Head Start, and child care give at-risk children the early learning experiences they need for future success – and keep struggling low-income parents working today. Quick fixes to our current fiscal problems shouldn’t come at the expense of cost-efficient investments like early learning that help families now and build a foundation for economic prosperity in the future.

Shelly Yanoff is the executive director for Public Citizens for Children and Youth. Jill M. Michal is the president and CEO of United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Bucks County Courier Times – February 15, 2011 – Read article online