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You are here: Home / Market Update / Michael Hicks (Economist) — Forecasting Season Update

Michael Hicks (Economist) — Forecasting Season Update

November 30, 2014 by iMuncie.com Leave a Comment

MICHAEL HICKS: The right early education needed

Economy Update via Michael Hicks (BSU) — Article from TheStarPress

Faithful readers of this column will recall that I believe that robust public early childhood education offers significant benefits to taxpayers. My beliefs were formed the old fashioned way. I critically read nearly all the serious research on the matter and contributed some analysis myself. My conclusions were that the benefits are broad, enduring and important.

Some of my work nearly a decade ago even helped launch a statewide initiative in another state, and here in Indiana I have urged reluctant policymakers to consider early childhood education investment as a critical part of local economic development. This is an issue that all Hoosiers should think about, but this column is not about early childhood education. It is about the appropriate role of federal, state and local government.

Given my understanding of and strong support for early childhood education programs, you might suppose I think Gov. Pence mistaken in his decision to forgo some $85 million in federal support for early childhood education. I do not. Accepting this money would have been easy, popular and wrong. Here is why.

Indiana state and local government pays for education. This shifts resources from rich to poor communities and comprises well over $6 billion per year in state spending alone, or more than $5,000 per student. But quite incredibly, last year Hoosier taxpayers sent more than $1 billion to the U.S. Department of Education in the form of federal income and corporate taxes. That is about one-sixth our entire state budget being spent on public education in Indiana.

The federal Department of Education has no actual mission to educate anyone. They simply gather data and filter these dollars through a large bureaucracy and send some back to us. The returning dollars come with enormous strings attached (as anyone who has ever received a federal grant can attest). So, the federal early childhood education dollars are as likely to hamstring innovation and effective programs as promote them. Indiana is wise to view them with great caution. But that is only half the issue.

The difficult and politically unpleasant truth about early childhood education is that it largely works by intervening when families have failed. Only a small share of kids, maybe one in five, really needs this intervention, and knowing where and how to do this is part of Indiana’s current pilot programs. The real benefits aren’t academic but behavioral, and a large federal program is almost certain to miss the mark. As long as we have failing families, there will be a role for early childhood education, but not just any program.

Federal interventions into early childhood education, including the unbelievably costly Head Start Program, demonstrate no net benefits. This is because the federal government cannot effectively structure rules about intervening in families. This is quite simply not what any government does well. We must depend on churches and community groups.

It sure wasn’t popular and might well have been bad politics, but Mr. Pence made the right call with federal dollars for early childhood education.

Michael Hicks is the George and Frances Ball distinguished professor of economics and the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University.

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Filed Under: Market Update, Local News, Financing News

MUNCIE MUSINGS…

2018 Market Insights by Steve Slavin

2018 Market Insights by Steve Slavin

March 1, 2018 By STSlavin Leave a Comment

2018 Market Insights by Steve Slavin REALTOR COLDWELL BANKER LUNSFORD 2017 is behind us and I’m pleased to report it was a good year for Mid-East Central Indiana real estate activity.   I wanted to provide you a quick summary of the local and national real estate market and give you an idea of what […]

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2017 Top Producer for Mid-East Central Indiana

2017 Top Producer for Mid-East Central Indiana

January 20, 2018 By STSlavin Leave a Comment

Steve Slavin — Top Producer! Thank you all for your trust and help in making me the 2017 Highest Producing Broker in our local Board and in the surrounding 10 counties.  A special thanks goes to my wife, Staci, who allows me the time and flexibility to work this hard.  She manages the household, our boys […]

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How to Live Long-Term in a Staged Home

How to Live Long-Term in a Staged Home

January 3, 2018 By STSlavin Leave a Comment

By Laura McHolm Your home is on the market, pristine and expertly staged to get it sold. Now what? How do you still live in your home and keep it in perfect condition – especially for the unexpected showing? First and foremost, you have to change your mindset; it is not “your home” anymore. Treat the house as […]

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