Stadiums vs. early childhood education: When do the kids get their turn? | Commentary | MPR News
Why do you think the “Occupy Wall Street” movement is growing around the country? The movement is fundamentally a protest against this type of power politics that favors the very rich. Over the past 10 years, public funding of quality early childhood education and child care has declined. And the decline has come despite overwhelming research that shows extraordinary returns from high-quality early education for our most at-risk children.
So when do the children get their turn? When do we get to invest $650 million to ensure that all children start school healthy and ready to learn?
I suspect the answer will be that the kids will have to wait at least another decade, and even then professional sports will likely trump the kids. Even though they are a better investment, kids have no leverage with our public officials. They cannot threaten to leave. They do not vote. Their problems are invisible to most of us. Their parents have little if any political or financial clout to lobby effectively.
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