In yesterday’s New York Times, Nicholas Kristoff proposes that Occupy Wall Street needs to evolve to Occupy the Classroom. He writes:
Most of the proposed remedies involve changes in taxes and regulations, and they would help. But the single step that would do the most to reduce inequality has nothing to do with finance at all. It’s an expansion of early childhood education.
He quotes Kathleen McCartney, the dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education who says, “This is where inequality starts.”
He quotes Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman who says, “Schooling after the second grade plays only a minor role in creating or reducing gaps.”
He concludes, “the question isn’t whether we can afford early childhood education, but whether we can afford not to provide it. We can pay for prisons or we can pay, less, for early childhood education to help build a fairer and more equitable nation.”
Economists, the Federal Reserve Chairman, military leaders, law enforcement, business leaders, and many others are recognizing that early childhood education is paramount to our country’s future. Yet many states have cut back on these investments, a move that will surely cost us more later.
UPDATE: Tim Bartik, economist and author of Investing in Kids, delves into the question, “How much can early childhood education do to reduce income inequality?” Read his blog post and find out the answer!
