The Minneapolis Star-Tribune – ART ROLNICK and MIKE MEYERS
“Selling is not only about having a good product. It’s about convincing the buyer that the price is affordable. “No money down.” “Buy now and save.” “Twenty-four easy payments (and 12 miserable ones.)” So it is with selling the concept of teaching children born to poverty when they’re ages 3 and 4. Early intervention not only improves their chances of success in elementary school, but in high school and well into adulthood. Study after study — and trial after trial — prove that early-childhood education pays off. Kids learn more and are more likely to graduate and stay out of trouble. In the short run and long run, society saves both money and sorrow. Indeed, these studies show that the annual rate of return on investing in early leaning, for our most vulnerable children, can be as high as 16 percent. These kids start life with the disadvantage of low incomes and parents who often have not finished school themselves. But experience shows that these youngsters have the ability to succeed — if they’re given the chance. The biggest hurdle: finding the money to pay for schooling for at-risk children years before they see the inside of a K-12 classroom.”(more)