Michigan’s investments in preschool and other programs that help prepare children for success in school are paying off at a rate of more than $1 billion a year.

That’s according to a new report commissioned by the Early Childhood Investment Corporation and conducted by Minnesota-based Wilder Research.

The study looked at the return on investment for the money the state spent on school readiness programs over the last 25 years.   It found that in 2009, the cost savings and additional tax revenue associated with that investment is an estimated $1.15 billion.

Where does that money come from?  Reduced spending on special education and grade repetition in K-12 schools, fewer children entering the juvenile justice system, reduced spending on welfare and unemployment, and a reduction in crime all are significant factors.

A February 4 editorial in the Grand Rapids Press (“Michigan should make preschool the priority”) says preschool works because “it helps end generational cycles of poverty and lack of education.  It puts at-risk children on a path to success.  Without it, children who come from poor or under-educated families face overwhelming odds against staying in school and getting a good job, or worse—staying out of prison.”

The report also concluded that the annual cost of expanding the Great Start Readiness Program, a state-funded preschool program for 4-year-olds with educational risk factors, to all eligible children is at most $236 million annually.  It went on to say that is “less than half of the annual educational, social, and economic benefits that would eventually be realized through this additional investment in Michigan’s future.”

Click here to read an Executive Summary of the Wilder Report.

Click here to read the February 4 Grand Rapids Press editorial.