Monthly Archives: April 2011

Early childhood education versus other policy issues: the need for local action

Posted on April 29, 2011 by

A previous post argued that improving early childhood education in the United States deserved recognition as a major issue, alongside other major issues such as global warming. The argument was that improving early childhood education in the United States would … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, National vs. state vs. local | 1 Comment

How important is “early childhood education” as an issue, compared to other policy issues?

Posted on April 28, 2011 by

It could be argued that “early childhood education in the United States” is far less important than many other policy issues. The world faces major environmental issues such as global warming. Third World poverty is far more intense and oppressive … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs | 1 Comment

How states vary in recent trends in access to pre-k

Posted on April 27, 2011 by

As mentioned in a previous post, the recent NIEER Yearbook shows that pre-K funding declined slightly in real (inflation-adjusted) dollars from fiscal year 2008-2009 to 2009-2010. Overall access to pre-K was also relatively stable. For example, overall U.S. enrollment in … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs

State pre-k funding trends

Posted on April 26, 2011 by

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) today released its annual Yearbook on “The State of Preschool”. The headline for this study is that for the first time since NIEER began tracking state pre-K spending and enrollment trends in … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs | 1 Comment

Increasing effective teaching in preschool

Posted on April 25, 2011 by

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) recently published a useful policy brief on how to increase the quality of teachers in preschool. The policy brief is entitled “Degrees in Context:  Asking the Right Questions about Preparing Skilled and … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs

The economic development benefits of reducing the earnings penalty of mental illness

Posted on April 22, 2011 by

In chapter 12 of Investing in Kids, I consider a wide variety of improvements in a state’s human capital, and their potential economic development benefits for a state economy. One human capital improvement I consider is reducing the earnings penalty … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic development

Preserving programs versus making needed investments

Posted on April 21, 2011 by

Irene Sage, at the blog “Eye on Early Education” of the Massachusetts-based Strategies for Children, has a useful post summarizing recent federal funding trends for early childhood programs.  Another useful recent post on recent federal funding decisions is by Laura … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, National vs. state vs. local

Why “100% sales factor apportionment” is relevant to state policy debates over business tax cuts vs. public investments in early childhood programs

Posted on April 20, 2011 by

An important issue in state policy debates is the relative effectiveness, in boosting state economic development, of these two alternatives: cuts in state corporate taxes; investments in productive public services such as early childhood programs. A crucial point is that … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Incentive design issues

More devilish details about educational investments versus business tax cuts

Posted on April 19, 2011 by

A previous post responded to a question from an early childhood and education program advocate, who is trying to convince state legislators and their staff that educational investments compare favorably with business tax cuts. Their question was: “Do we have … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs, Economic development, Incentive design issues

Business taxes vs. human capital investments as economic development programs

Posted on April 18, 2011 by

I recently received a question from an advocate for early childhood education and other education programs. This question arises from this advocate’s interactions with state government legislative staff. These staff persons are judging these educational investments by their effects on … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Early childhood programs, Economic development | 1 Comment