Image via Michigan Radio
What do Michigan CEOs, a Republican senator, and $140M have in common? That was the question recently posed by Michigan Radio’s State of Opportunity in a recent story.
The answer? Preschool.
In Michigan, the business community is starting to take note of the importance of investing in early education as a means to grow their future workforce.
Sean Welsh PNC Bank’s Regional President for Western Michigan, knows full well the impact education has on our future workforce, “We want our kids to come out of the educational system at whatever stage, whether it’s with a quality high school degree or quality university degree or a quality community college degree, so that we have a workforce that can produce things, that can create ideas, that can be a creative to our economy.”
The answer, says Welsh, starts with ensuring that all children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn.
Not only is this”the right thing to do,” but for a bank president like Welsh, the numbers are extremely compelling. For every $1.00 invested in early education, taxpayers save $7.00 in the long run due to lower rates of grade retention, special education and crime, among other things.
Such a Return on Investment is music to a CEOs ear, which is why Michigan has successfully recruited 200 employers to support a lobbying effort to advocate that they state increase their investment in early education.
Their main legislative champion is Roger Kahn, a Republican Senator from Saginaw and Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who is proposing a $140 million increase in Michigan’s early education funding. While Kahn feels confident it will happen, the result is still unknown.
One thing that’s certain, according to Michigan’s Office of Great Start’s, Susan Broman, having CEOs and business leaders championing early education is “a huge deal and incredibly powerful.”
Listen to or read the full story here.
See what you can do to support Virginia’s future workforce here.