Investing in our children’s future

The results of a recent online Argus-Courier poll reflect a disturbing mentality that has largely impeded the creation of universal preschool for all children in this country. Respondents were overwhelmingly opposed to using taxpayer money to make preschool as free and readily available as kindergarten and other public education. Many questioned why their tax dollars should be spent to “baby-sit” other people’s children.

The problem with this kind of shortsighted thinking, which is mirrored in the tea party-dominated Congress, is that it ignores extensive data showing that quality early childhood education programs can save many billions of taxpayer dollars in costly government services down the road.

Numerous studies over the last 50 years have shown that a $1 investment in quality preschool programs saves taxpayers more than $7 in costs associated with incarceration, health services, welfare and treatment for substance abuse, among a myriad of other public services.

According to a Center for Public Education study involving low-income children, 67 percent who went to preschool tested ready for kindergarten versus 28 percent who didn’t. Of those that attended preschool, 77 percent graduated high school compared with 60 percent for those that didn’t. As adults, the preschool attendees were more likely to be employed, earn higher wages, own a home and raise their own children. They were also much less likely to be arrested or imprisoned.

While such studies clearly show the strong link between preschool and achievement later in life, other studies confirm that the converse is true. Students without an early childhood education are more likely to drop out of school, require welfare support, need treatment for substance abuse and become incarcerated.

Those who argue that universal preschool is an unwise use of tax money, and that preschool should only be available to children whose parents are able to afford the $10,000 a year cost, will no doubt also bemoan the high cost of supporting adults on social services. How sadly tragic that our country’s failure to invest in children before problems emerge results in extraordinarily higher costs later on.

It is important to realize, then, that preschool is a relatively cheap investment to boost early learners and set them on an education path that will lead to a successful career and the ability to avoid becoming a burden on society.

According to a documentary film, “The Raising of America,” among the richest 29 nations on the planet, American children’s well-being is ranked at just 26th. Childcare here is 16th in affordability and 22nd in quality. Whereas America in 1970 had the highest high school and college graduations rates in the world, today we’ve dropped to 15th in college graduation rates and 21st in high school graduation rates.

Making early childhood education available to all children would change these numbers to the good, while reaping lasting social and economic benefits as well.

But despite the proven worth of universal preschool, it is still not available to most children. Only a quarter of all four-year-olds in the U.S. are enrolled in state-financed preschool. Some states, like Oklahoma, have universal public preschool, and are helping model the way. In California, low-income families must rely on subsidies to help make private preschool affordable, but many are simply shut out.

Here in Petaluma, a coalition of leaders in education and public health are working to increase access to early childhood education, particularly for lower-income families that might struggle to afford the cost of preschool or other similar programs. Among those efforts is an expansion of a scholarship program funded by First 5 Sonoma County for lower-income families that might earn too much for state assistance, as well as plans for a new North Bay Children’s Center-run preschool at the Valley Vista Elementary School campus to open later this year.

Yet despite these efforts, 25 percent of students entering kindergarten in Petaluma’s largest district have no early education experience at all. Changing that will take the entire community’s support as well as a change of mindset in Sacramento and Washington.

Preschool should not be a privilege enjoyed by those whose parents can afford it. Early childhood education has been proven to benefit all of society, and it needs to be available to all children.