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Early education delivers strong economic returns
Op-Ed
By Bob Faith and Susan DeVenny
Contributing Writers
The world’s most successful economies are characterized by a highly educated workforce.
That is why education and workforce development remain critical components in South Carolina’s strategy for a stronger economy, ensuring our workers are better prepared to step into the high-paying, knowledge-based jobs that will improve our state’s standard of living and quality of life.
In a changing economy, developing the skills of an increasingly global workforce is critical to the Palmetto State’s continued success.
Not only must we create jobs and generate capital investment in South Carolina today, but we must also take the long view toward developing the human capital needed to increase South Carolina’s ability to compete in the future.
As Harvard’s Michael Porter told state business leaders two years ago, raising our per capita income, currently at 82.5% of the national average, is “a marathon, not a sprint.” In the short and long term, then, education must remain a priority in our state.
Educational achievement leads to better job preparedness for our citizens and an increase in our state’s ability to meet future labor force demands.
Investing in our human capital and educating tomorrow’s leaders breed economic success for those being educated and for the state overall.
With an increasing need to reexamine education structures to fit with the new economy, business leaders are turning their attention to high quality early education for our youngest learners. Brain research is compelling: 90% of a child’s academic and life potential is formed by age 4.
Nurturing and early learning—the purview of families with support from public, private and faith-based child development providers—have a profound impact on students’ school readiness, K-12 success and, ultimately, our state’s future workforce and economic strength.
Although its economic development rewards are great, early childhood education is rarely viewed in economic development terms. But it should be.
The economic return on investment from quality early childhood care and education is extraordinary.
The oft-cited Perry preschool intervention (high-quality preschool and parent-support, serving 123 low-income 3- and 4-year-old students in Michigan during the early 1960s) was recently studied by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis to discern lasting individual and economic benefits (Rolnick, 2005). Analysts place the 40-year return on $1 invested in the Perry project at $17.07 (both public and private).
The real return? Better-educated workers, reduced school remediation and dropout rates, lower crime and higher wages—all of which can help South Carolina attract world-class companies and quality jobs to fuel our future economy.
Carefully focused investments in quality early childhood education can yield huge benefits to individuals and the state. “Ready children” become early readers and math-proficient learners, high school graduates, tomorrow’s knowledge-based economy workers. Increased school readiness is increasingly a competitive advantage to states.
No one agency or organization can support the provision of quality early care and education services to support the families of more than 334,000 South Carolina children under age 6, nor is there any one-size-fits-all solution.
Effective collaboration among current providers is key to leveraging quality—blending needed resources from state, community, public and private sources.
Through increased coordination between public and private entities, we envision a state whose goal is high-quality early childhood programs for all children with redoubled efforts toward targeting intensive, research-based interventions for the children whose medical, environmental or special needs demand greater public resources and support.
High-quality care and early education for all of South Carolina’s children yields direct positive benefits for our state’s economic competitiveness.
Kindergarten children prepared for a successful education bring greater potential for personal and academic achievement and a proven trajectory of results.
Our long-term commitment to young learners builds an end to South Carolina’s economic “leaky bucket:” a high quality, future workforce to fill high-paying jobs and drive economic development gains in South Carolina.
In the end, preparing our children for school has a positive impact on tomorrow’s workers and tomorrow’s economy, making it a wise economic development strategy for the state.
Bob Faith is the S.C. Secretary of Commerce. Susan DeVenny is the director of S.C. First Steps.
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