Report: State preschool programs save millions in long run

Karen Bouffard / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Lansing -- Michigan taxpayers saved about $1.15 billion annually through investments in early childhood programs over the past 25 years, according to a study released today by the Early Childhood Investment Corp.

State School Superintendent Mike Flanagan said the results underscore Michigan's need to focus on school readiness for preschoolers.

Wilder Research of St. Paul, Minn., studied the amount saved each year because children who attend preschool are less likely to repeat grades, require extra academic services, or end up in the juvenile justice system or adult prisons. Plus, children who attend early childhood programs tend to hold higher-paying jobs as adults.

The study was commissioned by the Early Childhood Investment Corp., a public nonprofit that coordinates the state's early childhood programs, in the wake of cuts to preschool programs and mounting pressure for school districts to slash early childhood programs. The $25,000 cost of the study was paid by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

"We spend about a billion dollars a grade, and we don't spend it where you get the biggest bang for the buck and the greatest brain development for the kids," Flanagan said at a press conference. "There is an economic cost for failing to prepare kids for school."

About $7.5 million was cut from the current budget for the Great Start Readiness Program, which dovetails with the federal Head Start program to provide preschool for about 47,000 low income 4-year-olds annually.

Lawmakers allocated about $87 million to early childhood programs, but they also made the program discretionary, enabling school districts to divert early childhood money to other needs.

"About 10 percent of Michigan pre-K programs this year went away because (the funding) was discretionary," said Judy Samelson, CEO of the Early Childhood Investment Corp.

The study was released as lawmakers prepare to begin work on the 2010-11 budget. Gov. Jennifer Granholm is expected to announce her proposed budget in February.

Rep. Tim Melton, chairman of the House Education Committee, said he does not support allowing districts flexibility in how to spend their early childhood dollars. He said early childhood will be a major focus for his committee this year.

"If it's meant for early childhood, that's what it should be spent on," Melton said. "Giving them discretion to spend it on other things doesn't make sense."

Matt Marsden, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, said additional cuts to childhood programs won't be necessary if the economic plan proposed by Bishop last week is adopted.

Bishop called for steep cuts to Medicaid, spending limits on school districts and a pay cut for state workers that would require a constitutional amendment that Republicans hope to get on the August ballot. The proposed package would save $2.24 billion to $2.6 billion, including about $2 billion in the state budget year that starts Oct. 1.

"I think the reforms the Senate majority leader unveiled last week would create enough savings that we would not have to resort to additional cuts," Marsden said. "We would avoid having to further cut areas like early childhood and K-12."

Paul Anton, chief economist with Wilder Research, said the report drew on about 60 studies on the impacts of early childhood programs. His analysis determined that, among other savings, school districts avoided spending about $221 million in 2009 because children who attended preschool did not repeat grades or require special education. Taxpayers saved $584 million through reduced government spending for things such as criminal justice and social services, and increased tax revenues.

"The Michigan economy (also) benefits because of the increased earning of ... those who had early childhood education and who didn't drop out of school," Anton said.

The estimated annual cost of expanding the Great Start School Readiness Program to all eligible children would be $236 million. According to the study, that cost is less than half of the annual educational, social and economic benefits that would eventually be realized through this additional investment in Michigan's future.

Samelson of the Early Childhood Investment Corp., said she is too realistic to expect lawmakers to increase preschool funding by that amount. But she hopes they will consider preschool's positive economic impact when deciding where to slash.

"Don't make pre-K discretionary, (and) give back the $7 million," Samelson said.

kbouffard@detnews.com (517) 371-3660