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Austerity cuts in kids' education graded F
By Riane Eisler |
May 5, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
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WE'RE being told that fiscal responsibility requires big cuts in education, nutrition, and health care for millions of children. This shortsighted and uncaring thinking is not only a nightmare for those directly affected; it is an imminent threat to America's economic future.
We have to let our policy makers know that fiscal responsibility requires caring economic policies. Here's why.
Experts agree that a nation's most important asset is what economists call "high-quality human capital," and the years from 0 to 5 are critical for education.
Studies have long shown that education investment is the most cost-effective investment a nation can make.
A substantial body of research shows that high-quality pre-K education prepares children to succeed in school and enroll in college or career training. It further shows that this not only prevents the enormous financial costs of remedial work, delinquency, crime, and other problems, but also leads to better jobs, higher incomes, and greater contributions to our tax base and our economy.
Yet the State of Preschool 2011 study found that rather than increasing our national investment in these essential programs, real spending on state pre-K education declined by about 15 percent in the past 10 years. This means that spending per child nationally is US$715 lower than even the 2001-2002 level.
"A decline of this magnitude should serve as a wake-up call for parents and policy leaders about how well we are preparing today's preschoolers to succeed in school and later find good jobs in a competitive market," Steve Barnett, director of the nonpartisan National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University, warned.
We must see to it that our policy makers heed this warning. They need to know about this report.
They also need to know about the need for new economic measures that are more accurate and inclusive than the much-touted GDP or Gross Domestic Product: measures such as the Social Wealth indicators now being developed.
When GDP keeps rising at the same time that joblessness is dangerously high and child care and educational budgets are slashed, it is clear that we urgently need better measurements that give policy makers and the public a more accurate picture of the true economic health of the country and our citizens, of what really counts for long-term national economic competitiveness.
Social Wealth indicators show the enormous economic value of care and education for children. They identify low-cost, high-value investments for developing our people's capacities - our human capital - so that our country can achieve a healthy economy, a better quality of life, and a strong democracy through caring business and government policies and practices across the board.
Riane Eisler is president of the Center for Partnership Studies and the best-selling author of "The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future" and "The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics." Copyright: American Forum.
We have to let our policy makers know that fiscal responsibility requires caring economic policies. Here's why.
Experts agree that a nation's most important asset is what economists call "high-quality human capital," and the years from 0 to 5 are critical for education.
Studies have long shown that education investment is the most cost-effective investment a nation can make.
A substantial body of research shows that high-quality pre-K education prepares children to succeed in school and enroll in college or career training. It further shows that this not only prevents the enormous financial costs of remedial work, delinquency, crime, and other problems, but also leads to better jobs, higher incomes, and greater contributions to our tax base and our economy.
Yet the State of Preschool 2011 study found that rather than increasing our national investment in these essential programs, real spending on state pre-K education declined by about 15 percent in the past 10 years. This means that spending per child nationally is US$715 lower than even the 2001-2002 level.
"A decline of this magnitude should serve as a wake-up call for parents and policy leaders about how well we are preparing today's preschoolers to succeed in school and later find good jobs in a competitive market," Steve Barnett, director of the nonpartisan National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University, warned.
We must see to it that our policy makers heed this warning. They need to know about this report.
They also need to know about the need for new economic measures that are more accurate and inclusive than the much-touted GDP or Gross Domestic Product: measures such as the Social Wealth indicators now being developed.
When GDP keeps rising at the same time that joblessness is dangerously high and child care and educational budgets are slashed, it is clear that we urgently need better measurements that give policy makers and the public a more accurate picture of the true economic health of the country and our citizens, of what really counts for long-term national economic competitiveness.
Social Wealth indicators show the enormous economic value of care and education for children. They identify low-cost, high-value investments for developing our people's capacities - our human capital - so that our country can achieve a healthy economy, a better quality of life, and a strong democracy through caring business and government policies and practices across the board.
Riane Eisler is president of the Center for Partnership Studies and the best-selling author of "The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future" and "The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics." Copyright: American Forum.
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