Pay now or pay later

A new report from the Economic Policy Institute and signed by a host of well-known education researchers and journalists makes the argument for a “broader and bolder” approach to education policy (click here for the report and here for the background papers). The education blogs are a little excited, though the sentiments seem to divide along predictable lines.

Richard Rothstein’s influence is particularly strong (as I posted earlier, I think that this is a good thing). Similar to much previous work at EPI, this report argues for pulling multiple policy levers, including health and welfare, immigration, and education policy—to improve student outcomes. Of particular interest is a reference to a book by economist Robert Lynch (2007) which argued that every dollar spent on high-quality early childhood education returns between two to three dollars directly to the government (via savings on welfare, criminal behavior and incarceration, and increased tax revenues). The total monetary returns to society may be as high as 12:1. This does not take into account the non-monetary returns, such as those that come from living in a more peaceful, creative, well-educated, and safe community.

How much influence will this report have? Probably none. We are a debtor society, preferring in general to pay for things later rather than sooner. Yet perhaps conservatives might one day be persuaded that the fastest road to small government is by spending tax money in such a way that eliminates the need for big government. Early childhood education ought to span several ideological positions, since it reduces our reliance on welfare programs, grows the pool of human capital, and slows the growing criminal justice industry.