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Alabama's top business leaders attend pre-k forum
2012-03-27
On March 6, more than sixty business leaders and policy makers attended a Montgomery pre-k policy forum convened by the Business Council of Alabama and ASRA. At the event, economist Steve Barnett of the National Institute for Early Education Research explained why every $1 invested in high-quality pre-k saves taxpayers up to $7.
Pre-k results in savings by reducing the need for remedial and special education, welfare, and criminal justice services, according to a vast and well-documented body of research.
While the costs of fully funding pre-k in Alabama might seem steep, Dr. Barnett helped the leaders gathered at the forum understand that the costs of not investing in pre-k are even higher: an estimated $2 billion! Simply put, Alabama can’t afford not to invest in pre-k.
Barnett’s presentation caught the eye of Alabama’s new Superintendent of Education, Dr. Tommy Bice, who wrote about it in his recent newsletter.
Click here for Barnett's power point presentation.
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