Children who attended a public pre-K school program had greater success throughout their K-12 career, including graduating at a higher rate, according to a first-of-its-kind study that followed more than 500 Michigan children for 14 years. That study, to be discussed today at a meeting of the State Board of Education, provides fuel to growing […]
Child care in Michigan
Stories about what happens to kids with care before kindergarten begins.
Posted inTalent & Education
Businesses endorse preschool expansion
To the 100 business leaders who signed the Michigan Early Childhood Business Plan, the choice is simple: Pay a little now, or pay a lot later. And so they gathered on the porch of the Grand Hotel Wednesday at the Mackinac Policy Conference to call for publicly funded preschool for 38,000 eligible 4-year-old children currently […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Spend a little on kids now, save a lot later
Call it common sense, call it common knowledge, but now it has a number attached: $40,000. Or $100,000. The first number is the amount the state of Michigan saves on every child who arrives at kindergarten “ready to learn,” that is, with an adequate preschool or similar early-childhood experience. The six-figure sum is what the […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan, learn the lessons of early childhood
There are two approaches to justify initiatives in public policy: arguing from assertions of morality and reasoning from return on investment. The former method is by far the most common in today’s discourse. It’s relatively easy to do and comforting, as well, to wrap one’s preferences in the gauzy warmth of moral principles. And in some […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Early childhood efforts need more than office equipment
By Jack Kresnak/Michigan’s Children A new report on the nation’s efforts to provide quality early learning shows Michigan was one of the few states to increase preschool funding last year. The bad news: We still serve only 18 percent of 4-year-olds and no 3-year-olds, putting Michigan in the bottom half of states in accessibility to […]