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Rep. Sean Faircloth, D-Bangor, 12/07/2007

Maine has 24,000 total child-care slots in licensed child care.

Of those total child care slots, 5,000 are in sites that hold current quality certificates.

There are about 8,000 children in Maine who are between younger than 2 years of age and Maine has 6,000 licensed child-care slots for these children.

There aren't even statistics on how many of these children are in "quality certificate" slots.

This doesn't mean providers without quality certificates are bad. It does mean that Maine doesn't adequately measure this important investment.

We don't plan how to meet the challenges of providing quality early childhood care. We don't prioritize it. And we don't invest in it significantly -- despite overwhelming evidence that this is the best investment.

Consider this: According to a Rutgers University study, savings to society from two years of high-quality preschool education to poor children averages $88,000 per child after welfare, reduced crime, taxes and other savings are included.

Although 85 percent of brain development happens in the first three years, investment in school-age education is seven times greater ($5,410 per child) than during the early years ($740 per child.).

And consider this: Department of Labor statistics show the average Maine child-care worker is paid less than the average Maine pedicurist.

Aerobics instructors? Paid more than child-care workers.

Maine animal trainers. Paid almost twice as much as the average Maine child-care worker.

Of 697 occupations catalogued by Maine's Department of Labor, 595 are paid more than child-care workers.

Doctors -- key to our individual survival -- are paid accordingly.

Sparking brain growth through quality early education is essential to economic progress. We can't pay child-care workers as much as doctors, but we must consider their importance more seriously.

Maine government is criticized for not approaching issues from a long-term perspective. In light of the issues raised by our lack of comprehensive investment in early childhood, a 2007 law created the Commission to Develop a Strategic Priorities Plan for Maine's Young Children to take a strategic approach to early childhood issues (rather than a piecemeal approach), then return with legislation for the 2008 session. Members of the commission took a business-like approach to our task.

We found several state-connected organizations doing good work regarding early childhood. The commission believes more coordination and streamlining is possible. We concluded that powerful evidence from business leaders and economists supports investment in early childhood, but we want more Maine data, a business plan and a coordinated voice for early childhood issues with less duplication.

This will lead to a public-private partnership, saving taxpayers money longterm.

We're not the only ones who believe this. So does Nobel Laureate in economics James Heckman, who says, "Investments in high-quality early education programs have the highest rate of return of any social investment."

Heckman -- all the experts -- conclude we're neglecting our best investment.

That's fiscally imprudent. National data are clear: early childhood offers a top return on investment, and will save Maine taxpayers money.

The average businessperson won't invest based on national trends. They want a Maine-based business plan. The Commission to Develop a Strategic Priorities Plan for Maine's Young Children decided -- unanimously -- that if we want businesses, and Maine's Legislature, to invest significantly, and choose among the many options to invest (child-care tax credits, child-care subsidies, Head Start funding, home visitation), we need more Maine-based data and longterm assessment.

Our commission unanimously proposes to create a business plan for early childhood investment. Our immediate proposal is to coordinate current early childhood efforts in a Children's Growth Council, combined with a Child Advocate, to gather hard economic data, oversee a needs assessment, and develop a research-based analysis of the effectiveness of our investments.

We examined $20 million worth early childhood proposals -- all with excellent national data in support. We decided not to go forward with those ideas, but rather have them simply considered in the context of a broader business plan.

In the short term, we strategically decided to invest $750,000 in:

1) A business plan for early childhood

2) Scholarships to help child-care providers learn best practices. If you care about government saving money, this is the right investment.

We on the commission believe our proposed early childhood business plan will spark major, focused investment by business and government. This unanimous proposal also creates a long-envisioned children's budget -- a key planning tool.

Do you believe in fiscal conservatism? Our commission does. So does billionaire businessman George Kaiser, who spoke to the Governor's Summit on Early Childhood, emphasizing early childhood as the smartest business investment to reduce government costs. Economists and Federal Reserve Bankers agree.

We must unite for the sake of Maine's economy. We must unite for the sake of Maine's children. Our commission (business, labor, academics, childcare providers, Democrats and Republicans) stands united. We believe in the return on this investment.

Rep. Sean Faircloth, D-Bangor, is co-chairman of the Commission to Develop a Strategic Priorities Plan for Maine's Young Children. Rep. Meredith Strang Burgess, R-Cumberland, and Rep. Donna Finley, R-Skowhegan, are members of the commission, which will issue its unanimous report to the Legislature for consideration in January.

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