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The Game-Changing Potential of Universal Preschool

In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama called for universal preschool. It sounds expensive, but if done right it could save taxpayers money and dramatically improve academic performance.

The AppleTree Institute develops curriculum and teacher training for three- and four-year-olds and runs a Washington, D.C. charter school. The school–in essence a lab school for AppleTree’s R&D efforts–started with 36 students in 2004 and now serves 640 children at seven campuses across the city. Its students mostly come from backgrounds marked by broken homes, grinding poverty and absent parents.

So how does the program save money? The answer is special education–or in this case, the absence of it. Effective early childhood education reduces the need for highly expensive special ed, and the savings redound almost immediately to a school district. In effect, preschool can pay for itself.

Posted By Charles Chieppo

Full Story: http://www.governing.com/blogs/bfc/col-universal-preschool-appletree-washington-dc.html

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