Pre-school prep yields returns

The evidence is overwhelming that investing in early childhood education for low-income children would enhance Connecticut’s economic efficiency, according to the latest issue of  The Connecticut Economy, published by the Economics Department in CLAS.

Arthur W. Wright, professor emeritus of economics, called pre-school preparation “that rare bird, a win-win public policy initiative.”

“Investing big in early childhood education would greatly enhance economic efficiency, yielding higher returns than spending on buildings, equipment, or ‘catch-up’ efforts like enriching inner-city elementary and high schools,” Wright wrote the magazine’s latest issue.

An investment of less than $100 million by the state would close the gap in early childhood education, Wright said at the magazine’s summer release press conference.

Early intervention improves cognitive and social skills, improving a child’s success in school and preparation for the workforce, he noted.

The need for a highly skilled workforce is a major issue for Connecticut’s businesses, said Peter M. Gioia, vice president and economist for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), which hosted the magazine’s press conference in Hartford.

The CBIA supports affordable, accessible early childhood education and access to all-day kindergarten, said Gioia. Raising student proficiency is “vital to the State of Connecticut if you’re going to have high quality businesses.”

A combination of early intervention through pre-school education and later intervention at adolescence can more than double high school graduation rates, economists’ studies have shown, Wright said.

“Into the bargain, society would also reap higher future incomes for today’s disadvantaged children, making for a more equitable distribution of income,” Wright wrote.