Guest columnist
Despite expected budget shortfalls, North Carolina lawmakers should avoid cuts to early education when they convene this summer to craft next year's state budget. Dollars spent to give more children access to the state's trailblazing early childhood system are among the most cost-effective investments we can make. These key investments in our youngest children set them up for long-term life success, creating the well-educated, innovative workforce that will ensure North Carolina's economy remains competitive in the long-term.
We all know that the first five years of a child's life are a critical window of opportunity. Infants and toddlers develop quickly, and experiences during those first few years are hard-wired into their brains' architecture. High quality early education serves as a lifelong foundation for learning, not only jumpstarting children's language and math skills, but also instilling such traits as curiosity, persistence, focus, aspiration, patience, and cooperation as life-long habits of learning.
Not surprisingly, many studies have shown that investments in pre-K reap big dividends in the longer term. Evaluations of North Carolina's Abecedarian preschool program, for example, found that students enrolled in the program were far less likely to repeat any K-12 grade than were children with no pre-K.
The pre-K children were also almost three times more likely to go to a four-year college than students without pre-K. More students who succeed in school, graduate and go on to college or successful careers means a stronger workforce and a more robust North Carolina economy going forward.
And these big benefits come at a very low cost. North Carolina's annual per-pupil investment in pre-K is just over half of what we spend per child on K-12 education. In fact, for every $10 spent by the state, only 4 cents goes to pre-K.
Those 4 cents are well-spent. North Carolina has long been a national leader in early education. The Smart Start program, begun here in the early 1990s, has since been emulated in states across the country. North Carolina was the first state in the nation to institute a tiered rating system for childcare providers that incentivized quality improvements. As a result of these wise investments, North Carolina is today one of only two states that meet all 10 established national benchmarks for a high-quality pre-K system.
When money gets tight, it's time to focus on what we know works. Despite its proven success, however, North Carolina lawmakers made the decision last year to cut funding to early education.
This decision went against the tide of other southern states, which by and large found ways to increase pre-K funding, despite the budget shortfalls experienced by all. In fact, since 2008, the South as a region has managed to increase pre-K enrollment by an estimated nine percent. Our neighbors have recognized the importance of these critical investments in their children's earliest years, and they have prioritized this funding. North Carolina should do the same.
Many of North Carolina's educational and economic problems stem from the fact that too many students start school already behind, never catch up, and drop out before they graduate. High school dropouts are unlikely to get good jobs and contribute to the economy and therefore end up a drain on the state's coffers. High quality early education can break this cycle, but only if it is adequately funded.
North Carolina's budget writers need to preserve early education funding for now and expand it when the economy turns around. Our state's economic future depends on it.
Times are tough right now. Investing less in our future workforce is one way to make them stay that way.
Mandy Ableidinger is director of policy and budget analysis at Action for Children North Carolina, a statewide nonpartisan, nonprofit child advocacy organization.
