Will Vt. subsidize child care? The big return on investing in kids
The Vermont Business Roundtable, along with VBSR and others, released a report, Vermont’s Early Care and Learning Dividend, which details the return on investment that Vt stands to gain by increasing public investments in high-quality early care and learning programs. The report found that investing in a high-quality, affordable early care and learning system would yield net benefits to Vermont’s economy of $22 million a year. These benefits would continue to accrue over the working lifetime of the children receiving that care, totaling $1.3 billion over the next 60 years. This equates to a return of $3.08 for every dollar invested. Gov. Phil Scott has expressed support for investing in child are, but has proposed funding it by taking money from K-12 education, which the Legislature has nixed. Has the governor punted on child care? What’s the future for early childhood education in Vermont?
Robyn Freedner Maguire, Lisa Ventriss & Kelly Klein, Campaign Director, Let’s Grow Kids; President, Vermont Business Roundtable; Owner and CEO, of Groennfell Meadery, Colchester, respectively
