Didn't want to hijack Andy's thread on pre-school in California, but it got me thinking about a radio interview I heard a few weeks ago (it could have even been months...my life is so f---ed up right now who knows) on Franken's show. The guest was a high ranking member of the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis. He was commissioned to study the costs of early childhood development programs and found that a program much richer (and more expensive) than the one we currently have will actually yield a positive public return in the form of decreased welfare payments, decrease in crime, etc. The program would be expensive to implement at the front end but the long-term benefits, he posited, were enourmously positive. He suggests in his study that for every $1 invested in the program, the public would see a $7+ return on that investment (again, in the long-term.)
The program (as memory serves) starts pre-natal and includes education for the parents.
Just thought this would be a little food for thought for everyone on this fine Wednesday morning.
Link to the study (or at least the first one I could find using google)