Mark Westrum’s recent guest column pointing out the crime reduction benefits of high-quality early education really caught our attention. What he said makes perfect sense for the safety of our communities and for reducing later very expensive corrections costs. As business leaders, we know that early learning is also good for our future workforce and Maine’s economy.

The first few years of a child’s life are a critical time in brain development to lay the foundation for all later learning. Just as in building a house, it is important that the foundation is solid and will stand the test of time. While remediation is possible, it is much more time intensive and expensive. Early learning, like pre-K, has a great return on investments. In fact, according to a report by the national business leader organization ReadyNation, an independent cost-benefit analysis of numerous studies of high-quality preschool programs show that such programs can average a net return of more than $26,000 for every child served. As bankers, that’s an investment we would make every day.

With a return on investment like this, early education should be an easy decision for policymakers. It makes fiscal sense and it’s one of the best tools available to help every child start school ready to learn, matriculate on time, and graduate from high school college- and careerready.

Like Correctional Administrator Mark Westrum, we also encourage the Governor and legislators to work together to make voluntary public PreK expansion available to more Maine students.

Bob Davis
Business Development Officer,
Mechanic Savings Bank
Glenn Hutchinson
President & CEO, Bath Savings
Institution