Original Source | Mail Tribune
By Lyn Hennion, Sunday June 7, 2009

How I wish I could send Oregon's legislators two articles - and how I wish they would have time to read them as they are embroiled in the difficult budget decisions in front of them.

One is the recent Mail Tribune front-page story "Babies and Boomers" which touched on the critical importance of early childhood development.

The other is a paper written by two leaders of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis that says, in part, "Careful academic research demonstrates that tax dollars spent on early-childhood development provide extraordinary returns "¦ ranging from $3 to $17 for every dollar invested. This implies an annual rate of return, adjusted for inflation, of between 7 percent and 18 percent."

Short of having the articles in front of them, I hope that our legislators will just hold a couple of simple truths in mind as they decide whether to adopt proposed funding cuts for Oregon Head Start Prekindergarten - the state's cost-effective preschool program for 3- and 4-year-olds living in poverty.

• Children growing up now cannot wait for Oregon's economy to rebound.
• Head Start saves taxpayers money and closes the achievement gap.

These facts are vitally important. Today's preschool-aged children are just beginning to live out their life stories. How these stories unfold, particularly for Oregon's most vulnerable children, will depend in no small part on decisions made by the Legislature in the next few weeks.

I know the financial constraints legislators face are daunting. But I also know the cost to taxpayers of not investing in the lives of young at-risk children. Research conducted by the Children's Institute in 2006 shows that for every eligible child not enrolled in Head Start, Oregon incurs a net loss of at least $30,000, mostly in the form of higher costs for K-12 and prisons, and lost tax revenue.

Besides being among the most effective and least expensive strategies for reducing crime, Head Start and its companion program for infants and toddlers, Early Head Start, greatly reduce the need for expensive remedial education in K-12. Pre-K is the "feeder system" for K-12. If the Legislature is serious about getting more value out of each dollar invested in K-12, then we, as a state, must do a better job of preparing children for success in school.

At the Oregon Community Foundation, we have awarded millions of dollars in grants in early childhood and "ready to learn" programs here in Southern Oregon and throughout the state, including the "Babies and Boomers" project. We believe the longitudinal studies, economic analyses and recent developments in brain science that all point to changing the trajectory of a child's life at the earliest possible point, when it's least expensive and most effective, and to do it in a way that supports parents' involvement in their child's education.

Playing catch-up is far less effective and more expensive, which is why the Legislature increased funding for Head Start in 2007, and why it must continue - not cut - that funding, especially in this budget crisis. The need is greater today than it was in 2007, and the case for investing in early education programs is even stronger.

We cannot defer the cost of educating our children when times are tough. Legislators: Please continue investing in Head Start and, in addition, create the first state-federal, birth-to-5 early education partnership with an investment of $1 million in Early Head Start. Both programs are wise investments now and will look even better in 20 years.

Lyn Hennion lives at Buncom, serves on the board of The Oregon Community Foundation and is a member of Oregon's Ready for School Leaders Panel. Contact her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .