Monthly Archives: May 2011

Comments on Michigan’s just enacted budget

Posted on May 31, 2011 by

The State of Michigan has just passed its 2011-2012 budget.  The Early Childhood Investment Corporation of Michigan has provided some news coverage of the implications of this budget for early childhood program. As the article’s lead says, the budget is … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs, Economic development

More on Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge

Posted on May 27, 2011 by

Sara Mead, in her blog at Education Week, has some additional useful comments on the $500 million early learning competitive grant program announced by the federal government yesterday. To elaborate on my comments yesterday, $500 million is a great deal … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs, National vs. state vs. local

Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge

Posted on May 26, 2011 by

The U.S. Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services announced yesterday a $500 million competitive grant program for state plans for early learning.  The details will be released later this summer, with states then having 6 to … Continue reading →

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

Good policy analysis requires thinking about overall effects of feasible policy options

Posted on May 25, 2011 by

A recent conversation with a reporter involved some discussion of how individuals frequently analyze the effects of public policies from a perspective that is too narrow. Good policy analysis requires looking at ALL the effects of a feasible policy package. … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Early childhood programs, Economic development

The potential for “peeksee” financing of pre-k programs

Posted on May 24, 2011 by

I have been involved with some discussions of potential new sources of financing early childhood programs. These discussions have been coordinated by the aptly-named “Early Childhood Finance Innovations” Working Group. This Working Group has been convened by the Kauffman Foundation, … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs

Michigan’s recently-enacted business tax cuts

Posted on May 23, 2011 by

Several reporters have recently asked for my opinion on the business tax cuts recently enacted in Michigan. These business tax cuts lower the main state business tax in Michigan by about $1.7 billion annually. Will these tax cuts succeed in … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Economic development | 1 Comment

A brief presentation summarizing some of my book’s key points

Posted on May 20, 2011 by

The Milton Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago has now posted my prepared remarks for my May 9, 2011 presentation on my book Investing in Kids. This presentation was to the Youth Human Capital and Economic Development Network of … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs

The special value of greater capability for local earnings

Posted on May 19, 2011 by

I’ve been reading Martha Nussbaum’s just-published book, Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. Martha Nussbaum is a well-known philosopher at the University of Chicago. She is one of the co-creators (with Nobel-prize-winning economist Amartya Sen) of what is sometimes called … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic development

An example of an economic development organization that understands that early childhood education is part of economic development

Posted on May 18, 2011 by

One of my web searches came across a recent blog post from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) about early childhood education. SMIF states its vision as follows: “Since 1986, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation has been a catalyst for economic … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development

Coordinating early care and learning

Posted on May 17, 2011 by

I received a request for my comment on Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s recent proposal to consolidate early childhood programs in one office. (This request came in response to a recent post of mine, in which I asked readers to suggest … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs