"Preschool for All: Investing in a Productive and Just Society"

Committee for Economic Development
February 5, 2002
CED is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of more than 200 business leaders and university presidents.

Summary:

The CED's report stresses that helping all children start school ready to learn is critical to their future success and to the well-being of society as a whole.

Preschool for All sees a strong state/federal partnership as the most timely and equitable means of accomplishing the goal of universal access to preschool. States should be responsible for ensuring the availability of prekindergarten programs, while the federal and state governments should share responsibility for financing early learning.

Once fully phased-in, CED estimates that annual public expenditures would need to be at least $25 to $35 billion above current spending levels to extend access to free, part-day, part-year preschool programs to all children age 3 and up.

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