A Publication of the National Institute for Early Education ResearchJanuary/February 2005 Volume 3, No. 1

NIEER

Preschool Finance: Are “Sin Taxes” the Answer?

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Big Success Story:Nurse Home Visits

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FUNDED BY

m a t t e r s

Everyone wants to besure children are learning inpreschool. That’s why assess-ment and accountability areso critical to any preschoolprogram. Yet, Florida’s recentdecision to use a new ‘readi-ness screen’ as a tool for bothassessment and accountabilityof its fledgling preschool effortis misguided. Worse, it vio-lates the cardinal rule of earlyeducators that says, “First,Do No Harm.”

It’s important for policy-makers to recognize that cre-ating reliable tools for assess-ing programs and children’sprogress is no easy task, evenfor well-established preschooleducation programs. The science of preschool assess-ment is still in its infancy. Sois Florida’s fledgling univer-sal pre-K program, makingthe task all the more difficult.

For starters, evidenceshows that 3- to 5-year-oldsare notoriously difficult totest accurately, since theirskills develop in fits andstarts. That means it is riskyto use any single assessmentof children as a measure of a program’s success. It’s alsohard to figure out how mucha preschool program contri-butes to a child’s scores. Howmuch is due to what happenedin an educational setting andhow much to interactions athome or elsewhere?

That’s why organizationslike the National Associationfor the Education of YoungChildren (NAEYC) pay somuch attention to this issue.It’s also why NIEER and the High/Scope EducationalResearch Foundation recentlyjointly issued a policy brief,Preschool Assessment: A Guide

to Developing a BalancedApproach, to provide someguidance on what is knownso far. The existing researchindicates the path Florida haschosen is fraught with danger—for the children and thepreschool effort.

Florida policymakers haveproposed taking what appearsto be a simple approach toassessment and accountability:Give a test (any test) at kinder-garten entry, and assume thatthe child’s performance onthe test is related to his or herexperience in the preschoolprogram. Then, fund only theprograms that produce manychildren with high scores, andcut the funds for the others.

Research demonstratesthat this simple approach islikely to give policy makersand parents the wronganswers. It unfairly tarnishesprograms that accept the chil-dren with the greatest needs.We can also expect that it willunnecessarily worry manyparents whose children getlow, but invalid, scores.

Florida’s policymakershave unwittingly adopted aflawed approach to account-ability for their new univer-sal preschool program. Asthe article on page 7 pointsout, early educators arealready protesting the newapproach. Florida can createa better assessment andaccountability system forpreschool education.

First, assessment tools

must match up with the goalsof the preschool programs.The state must have soundevidence that the tools canmeasure progress towardthose goals. Educators havealready come up with somegood ways to assess progressin literacy, for example.

Second, assessment mustbe given at entry to preschoolas well as entry to kindergar-ten, in order to provide apicture of real progress orlack of it. Third, the statemust use evaluation designsand statistical methods thatsort out the effects of thepreschool from effects offamily and community.Fourth, state officials shouldinclude direct assessment ofclassroom instruction as partof the evaluation, since stud-ies show such observation tobe more informative thanchanges in children’s testscores alone.

Finally—and this is key—the state must explain toparents the limitations of asingle test score for the child,so they don’t panic. If thetests indicate a possibleproblem in learning, then the children should receive a more in-depth assessmentto find out what, if anything,needs to be done to put themon the path to success.

W. Steven BarnettDirector, NIEER

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National Institute for

Early Education Research

120 Albany Street, Suite 500

New Brunswick, NJ 08901

732-932-4350

Fax: 732-932-4360

www.nieer.org

The National Institute for Early Education Research supports early childhood education initiatives

by providing objective, nonpartisan information based on research. NIEER is one component of

a larger early education initiative designed, funded and managed by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

W. Steven Barnett, Director

Carol Shipp, Deputy Director

Pat Ainsworth, Communications Director

Mary Meagher, Communications Assistant

Betty Holcomb, Editor

Sandy Ogilvie, Art Director

© 2005 National Institute for Early Education Research

Send comments, opinions, and news to editor@nieer.org.

Address Changes: Please include mailing panel on page 12when requesting address changes.

NIEER is a unit of Rutgers University

NIEER

F R O M T H E D I R E C T O R ’ S C H A I R

Florida Screen Falls Short

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These days, it’s hard tofind an expert who doesn’tsee the value of early educa-tion. Even economists at the Federal Reserve—mostrecently the Cleveland FederalReserve—are trumpeting thepower of public preschool toboost children’s success inschool and beyond.

Yet, there’s still one stub-born obstacle—the one thatlies at the center of most public programs—funding it. With many states facingdeficits, finding money topay for preschool programsis harder than ever.

That’s why a growingnumber of states, from Cali-fornia to Georgia, are turningto sin taxes to fund earlyeducation. “In an anti-taxenvironment, sin taxes are farmore palatable to the generalpublic,” says Bert Waisanen,fiscal analyst for the NationalCouncil of State Legislatures.“Slapping a tax on tobaccocan be seen as an anti-smok-ing policy, instead of just anew tax. That’s a whole loteasier to sell these days.”

It’s a practice as old aspoliticians, and a winningstrategy in small doses. Excisetaxes on luxury items, suchas furs and yachts, have longplayed a small role in fund-ing government budgets. But these days, sin taxes,especially those on tobaccoand alcohol—along with rev-enues from gaming—areplaying an ever-larger role in paying for early education.California’s First Five pro-gram derives nearly all its

funds—more than $3 billionso far—from a tax on ciga-rettes earmarked specificallyfor public preschool andchild health programs. Morethan 30 other states have alsoraised taxes on tobacco, withsome of the money similarlydirected to early childhoodprograms. Arkansas turnedto a tax on beer to expand itspreschool program.

“Tobacco is clearly themost popular ‘sin’ to betaxed,” says Waisanen, “butit’s definitely not the onlyone. We see proposals fortaxing adult entertainment,cosmetic surgery that’s notmedically necessary, andeven soda and espresso.”

The last two on the menu—soda and espresso coffee—have both been proposed in

Washington state; one of themany states strapped for cashto pay for public educationand one of a handful that stillhas no income tax. Oakland,California’s Mayor JerryBrown proposed taxing junkfood, including chocolate.

Many states have turnedto lotteries and gambling tofund early education, withGeorgia leading the way. Thatstate got its universal publicpreschool initiative off theground by launching its lottery, which also pays for college scholarships.

A growing number ofpolicy analysts are beginningto ask just how well these sintaxes work. Policy papersfrom Connecticut to Illinois,Washington, D.C. to Wash-ington State, explore the

strengths and weaknesses ofthis approach.

Key QuestionsThe authors of several recentreports have serious reserva-tions. “Any kind of revenueraising done by a state shouldmeet basic principles of goodtax policy,” says Ann Courter,director of budget and taxpolicy at Voices for IllinoisChildren. “It should be equi-table, adequate and stable.”

Sin taxes may fail all threeof these tests, according tosome analysts. For starters,they are regressive, fallinghardest on working class andlow-income people. “Cigaretteand alcohol taxes are the samefor everyone, but they consume

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Tobacco, Gambling, Beer and Wine Are Easy Targets, But Critics Are Beginning to Question Whether Such Taxes Are a Reliable Source of Revenue—Or Even Fair

More States Find Virtue In ‘Sin Taxes’,New Way to Pay for Early Education

A new tax on beer in Arkansas helped rev up activists and expand the state’s public preschool movement at a criticalmoment a few years ago. Californians embraced new taxes on cigarettes to pay for early education.

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Leon Panetta, who servedas chief of staff to PresidentClinton, now chairs the boardof the Center for NationalPolicy, a nonprofit, nonparti-san organization dedicated to raising awareness, debateand discussion on criticalnational policy issues. Thisfall, CNP joined the call for a bigger investment in high-quality public preschool,with the release of its report,Early Child Care and Educa-tion: The Need for a NationalPolicy. This spring, CNP plansto host a forum on CapitolHill on that topic. We askedPanetta about the effort.

Q. Why has CNP chosen tolook at the issue of pre-school now?A. The Center for NationalPolicy focuses on key ques-tions of national interestwhere policy lags behindexpert opinion—where wecan play a role in advancingideas that are important forthe country’s future. That’sdefinitely the case here. Asyou know well, there is nowplenty of evidence showinghow much difference theright kind of preschool expe-rience makes, especially forpoor kids. The quality of oursociety and the productivityof our economy increasinglywill be determined by whetherwe make these early invest-ments. But at the nationallevel, the commitment justisn’t there.

Q. So, why is policy laggingin this area?A. The main reason is that

Congress and the Presidenthave other priorities rightnow—terrorism, Iraq, SocialSecurity and Medicare, thedeficit—all huge problems.It’s tough to make the pointthat, even in the face of thesedifficult current challenges,we need to find ways to investin our children, in our futureas a nation. What we do ordon’t do in this area willdetermine a lot about theeconomic productivity of thiscountry 20 to 50 years fromnow. It’s not an easy case tomake, unfortunately, althoughit seems obvious.

Q. What makes it so hard,exactly? Is it a funding question? A. Well, it is about money,sure. Whether you blame taxcuts or the economy or thewar on terror, the surplus islong gone, and discretionarydomestic spending is under

the knife. But there is alsopolitics, and partisanship.There are those who want tofocus on pre-K, or who thinkemphasis should be placedon 0 to 3, for example. Thereare debates about educationalprogramming vs. social serv-ices. And, of course, there aresome who believe the federalgovernment shouldn’t bedealing with this issue at all,that it’s better left to parents,or churches, or at most, localgovernment.

Q. All important points. So why do you see this as a federal issue? A. The major responsibilityfor education does fall onstate governments and manystates are doing a really finejob with this. But getting asteady, sustainable stream offunding for high-quality pre-school, and especially makingsure that very low-incomechildren have the benefit ofaccess to good programs andservices, calls for an overallnational strategy.

Q. What do you mean by a national strategy?A. For the country as a wholeto fully realize the benefits ofearly care and education, weneed to provide opportuni-ties for all children to get afair start, no matter whatstate they happen to live in,or their parents’ income level.That means having the rightkind of resources available inthe inner city, in rural areas,and in smaller cities andtowns as well as in upscalesuburbs and big cities. It

means a comprehensive,coordinated effort to researchwhat works, to set and enforcestandards, to blend a lot ofdifferent funding sources. Anational strategy is just that,national not federal.

Q. What’s the next step, andwho should take it? A.The community of peoplewho understand the impor-tance of early childcare andeducation have to create asense of urgency about this at the national level. And,someone has to come up witha credible funding approach.Those two elements are key.That’s why we are planning a forum, trying to move thediscussion forward.

To learn more about theCNP’s position on early edu-cation, or to download thegroup’s policy paper, visitwww.cnponline.org. n

Leon Panetta: A Powerful New Voice Joins theFight for Quality Early Care and Education

P E O P L E M A K I N G N E W S

“For the country as a

whole to fully realize

the benefits of early

care and education,

we need to provide

opportunities for all

children to get a fair

start, no matter what

state they happen to

live in, or their parents’

income level.”

newsmaker

“Smaller classes!” Thathas long been the battle cryof parents and educationreformers. The logic behindsuch advocacy makes perfectsense—children get moreone-on-one attention, teach-ers get to know students bet-ter and can better design lesson plans to meet eachchild’s needs. With moreengaging lessons and suchpersonal attention, there’sless class time spent on disci-pline and behavior problems.So it’s no surprise there’swidespread support forsmaller preschool classes, and that, as of this writing,28 states have taken action to cap group size and limitthe number of children a single teacher may supervise.

Still, policymakers wonder:What’s the right class size for3- and 4-year-olds? Is there a magic number where learn-ing is enhanced, disciplineproblems disappear andteacher effectiveness comesinto full flower?

So far, the short answer is:No one knows for sure.

But the longer answer is,smaller classes can make adifference, especially whencombined with other key ele-ments of a quality preschoolprogram, such as well-quali-fied teachers who are sensitiveto students’ needs and learn-ing styles. “Studies do showthat when groups are smaller,and staff-child ratios are lower,teachers provide more stimu-lating, responsive, warm andsupportive interactions in theclassroom,” says Steve Barnett,NIEER’s director and lead

author of the new policybrief, Class Size: What’s theBest Fit?

NIEER researchers decidedto review the research on classsize in the face of a growingdebate over how much classsize matters. Clearly, the evi-dence that preschool can makea huge difference in children’sdevelopment and learningcomes from programs thathave very small classes andhighly-trained teachers, suchas the renowned AbecedarianPreschool program.

Yet most public preschoolprograms do not have suchsmall classes—and some pol-icymakers question whethermost states can afford classesthat small. Research shows,for example, that loweringthe teacher to student ratiofrom one teacher for 11 stu-dents to one teacher for 10students can boost programcosts by 4.5 percent. “Is itworth the cost? What’s thetrade-off in costs and bene-fits? That was one of the key questions we set out toexplore,” Barnett says.

The answers were far fromconclusive. Existing research,such as the analysis of stu-dents in Tennessee’s STARprogram, show that elemen-tary students put more energyinto learning and tend to beless disruptive when class sizeis reduced. Minority studentsand those in inner-city schoolsbenefited the most. Studiesin North Carolina and Cali-fornia showed children made

small but significant gains inreading, language and math.

At the same time, however,an analysis of the data col-lected on kindergartnersacross the nation found that reductions in class sizeamong 5-year-olds had verysmall effects. In addition,some policymakers note thatother countries, most notablyFrance, have long allowed rel-atively large class sizes in theirpreschool programs, thoughthey have not researched theconsequences.

So what’s the bottomline? Virtually all researchshows some gain from reduc-ing class size, and scientistsare now trying to figure outjust why that is and if there is an optimal number—or at

least a reasonable ceiling—that should be placed on pre-school classrooms. “My takeon the evidence is that thoseseeking large improvementsin school readiness for disad-vantaged children would dowell to limit class size to 15children, while 20 may bemore appropriate for thegeneral population. Thisreally is a topic where newrandomized trials could betremendously valuable, how-ever,” says Barnett. So itmakes sense to conclude thatclass size is one element, andpossibly a critical one, inproducing gains for children.

To download the report,visit www.nieer.org/docs/index.php?Doc1D=105. n

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NIEER Policy Paper Argues Small Classes Produce More Benefits, But Debate Lingers

Pre-K Class Size: What’s the Best Fit forthe Nation’s 3- and 4-Year Olds?

NIEER SPECIAL REPORT

Most high-quality programs withproven results keep class size low.

P R E S C H O O L N E W S F R O M A C R O S S T H E N A T I O Nin the trenches

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For years, parents, pedia-tricians and teachers haveworried that sweet drinksserved in preschool—includ-ing fruit drinks and sodas—might be a big problem, con-tributing to the epidemic inchildhood obesity.

A new study of nearly11,000 low-income childrenin Missouri concludes thatsweet drinks are a likely vil-lain in obesity for childrenwho are already overweight.“Reducing sweets consump-tion might be one strategy to manage the weight of pre-school children,” the scientistsreported in the February 2005issue of Pediatrics. That reduc-tion includes sweet drinks.The Academy currently rec-ommends preschool child-ren have no more than 4 to 6 ounces of juice per day.

The study found that sweetdrinks are not a big factor forchildren of average weight,but that finding is unlikely toquell concerns about sweetdrinks and unhealthy snackfoods served to children inpreschool and beyond. Thegrowing problem of child-hood obesity has spurrededucators, parents and healthprofessionals across the nationto join together to call for aban on junk food advertisingto kids, creating more healthyfood choices in schools andearly education programs, andexpanding public educationabout the long-term healthrisks for obese children, suchas diabetes and heart disease.

The Strategic Alliance toPrevent Childhood Obesityin California, for example,presses for more nutritious

breakfasts in Head Start andpublic schools, as well ashealthy choices for foodstamp and Women, Infantand Children programs.

A growing number ofearly education consultants,including the High/ScopeEducational Research Found-ation in Michigan, have alsodeveloped effective trainingprograms for preschoolteachers who want to reducechildhood obesity. The High/Scope approach promotes an

“active” learning approach,which keeps children mov-ing, burning calories andhoning their physical abili-ties, throughout the day.

To learn more, visit theCalifornia Food Advocateswebsite at www.cfpa.net.

For information on theHigh/Scope curriculum, call734-485-2000 and ask forinformation on the founda-tion’s Education ThroughMovement: Building theFoundation program. n

Do Sweet Drinks in Pre-KLead to Obesity? Study SaysThey Can Be Big Culprit

It’s Lift-Off for Pre-K Now: New Group with Ambitious AgendaNo one ever accused Libby

Doggett of thinking small.The well-regarded early edu-cation expert recently liftedthe wraps from Pre-K Now,

the new advocacy organiza-tion with a big agenda shedirects. As its name implies,the new Washington-basedadvocacy group, formerly the Trust for Early Education(TEE), is all about supportinghigh-quality pre-K for all 3-and 4-year-olds. Doggett’smission—and it’s a big one—is to support the growingnumber of state-based cam-paigns with meaningful out-reach, not just in the form offunding, but also with infor-mation and hands-on skills,to help them succeed.

“Getting pre-K for all

children isn’t easy and it usu-ally doesn’t happen without afight.” Doggett says, addingthat the new group also knowsone size doesn’t fit all. Eachstate requires its own strategy.“We have to choose targetsof opportunity because thestates vary a great deal in theirstage of development as faras readiness for pre-K for allis concerned. Some are in themiddle of the fight and othersare just laying the founda-tion,” she says.

The organization, fundedby The Pew Charitable Trusts,will offer some grantees a

new tool—state-of-the-artadvocacy software that helpsactivists create sophisticatedoutreach and fundraisingcampaigns, much like theones used in recent nationalelections. “Some states arechoosing to use their grantsto buy this software,” saysDede Dunevant, Pre-K Now’sspokeswoman. “It’s quiteexpensive, but a wonderfulnew tool to add to the arsenalin some states.”

Pre-K Now has a newwebsite, complete with pre-Kquality and availability maps.Visit www.pre-know.org. n

A C R O S S T H E N A T I O N

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Pediatricians can—andshould—play a central role

in making sure every child in America has access to high-quality early education,including preschool.

That’s the new word fromthe American Academy ofPediatrics. AAP’s special com-mittee on early care and edu-cation released the statementthis winter, after reviewingthe scientific evidence onbrain development and the

power of early experiences toshape life-long learning andbehavior.

The AAP now urges allpediatricians to actively workto win more high-qualityearly education and care bysupporting local and nationalgroups calling for better fund-ing, higher standards andimproved access to high-qual-ity services. The new policy

urges doctors to think of edu-cation as a process that startsat birth. “To focus only onthe education of childrenbeginning with kindergartenis to ignore the science ofearly development and denythe importance of early expe-riences,” the AAP concludes.To download the full policystatement, visit www.healthychildcare.org. n

When Florida GovernorJeb Bush signed legislationcreating that state’s new pre-Kprogram, there wasn’t muchcheering from educationadvocates. The final compro-mise provides a three-hourday during the school year or a 300-hour summer pro-gram, falling far short ofwhat educators and advo-cates had championed whenthey helped pass a constitu-tional amendment to requirea statewide preschool pro-gram open to all 4-year-olds.

Many elements of a qual-ity program are absent—suchas qualified teachers and thelevel of funding needed tosustain a statewide initiativethat could truly boost chil-dren’s learning. “This was notperfect legislation,” DavidLawrence, Jr., president ofthe Early Childhood Initi-ative Foundation, conceded.Still, Lawrence and otherchampions of public pre-Kvowed to fight on for more

funds and better standards. The fight ahead now

promises to be a heated one.On top of the quality issue,early educators are nowalarmed by a little-noticed,but troubling provision inthe new law. That provisioninjects high-stakes testinginto the pre-K program byrequiring all public preschoolgraduates be tested withinthe first month of kinder-garten, using a new readiness“screen.” Details of the screenhave yet to be spelled out, butthe law is clear on one point:If a certain percentage ofchildren from a particularprogram fail the screen, thatprogram winds up on proba-tion for up to two years, withthe possibility of losing allstate pre-K funds.

That policy is “one of themost disturbing componentsof the newly enacted Floridalegislation,” said the NationalAssociation for the Educationof Young Children. While

NAEYC promotes accounta-bility and appropriate assess-ment in early education,tying the new screen to fund-ing for providers, as Florida’slaw does, creates potentialproblems for children, teach-ers and policymakers.

Given the difficulties ofassessing young childrenaccurately, there are concernsthat children will not be reli-ably assessed. “Researchersagree that children at thisage are very variable and thatchildren’s screens or outcomeassessments are not in them-selves indicators of a pro-vider’s quality,” NAEYC said.

Moreover, the screenmakes no effort to measureprogress, since it has no simi-lar, earlier test for compari-son. Thus, the one-time testwill mostly reflect the effectsof children’s experiencesprior to attending preschool—not the gains from goingto preschool. Nor is there yeta provision to account for

differences in the populationserved by different programs,such as the number of low-income and non-English-speaking children served by a particular provider. SharonGoffman, spokeswoman forthe state department of edu-cation, told Preschool Mattersthe details of the screen arenot yet final. “The situationis still very fluid, and thereadiness screen is one of thethings that we know we haveto work on with the field.”

Many early educators certainly hope so. “Account-ability is a good thing, but itmust also be fair and accu-rate,” said Mark Ginsberg,NAEYC’s executive director.Accountability must comehand in hand with high stan-dards, multiple measures andsufficient resources to helpchildren and programs getthere.” n

Florida’s New Public Pre-KScreening Test Raises Alarm; It’s A ‘Disturbing’ Provision, Early Educators Say

PediatricsGroup Pushesfor High-Quality EarlyEducation

>> CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

a larger percentage of a low-income person’s income,”says Zach Schiller, director of research at Ohio PolicyMatters. “So they are notprogressive at all. I think it isreprehensible for us to simplyimpose the most regressivetaxes without consideringones that would be fairer formost Ohioans.”

In most cases, such taxesalso fail to produce enoughmoney to sustain large-scalesocial programs, such as pub-lic preschool for all children.“The beer tax proved to be a good thing in Arkansas interms of energizing peopleand bringing attention to theissue, but it still constitutes a very small amount of thetotal revenue it takes to sup-port our preschool program,”says Rich Huddleston, direc-tor of Arkansas Advocates forChildren and Families.

Finally, taxes on beer, cig-arettes, adult entertainmentand gaming do not producea stable source of funding,one that preschool programscan count on from year toyear. “The whole idea of atax on cigarettes is to dis-courage smoking, and that’sthe logic of most ‘sin’ taxes,”says Waisanen from NCSL.“So that means that policy-makers expect the revenuesto dwindle over time.”

So why are sin taxes gain-ing so much favor? Why is thenumber of proposals not only

growing, but growing morediverse?

The answer appears to befor a number of reasons thatmake good political sense forthose wishing to gain a foot-hold in or expand early child-hood programs.

The Winning ImpactSin taxes can produce a gusherin revenues at first, which canhelp launch an ambitious newpreschool program.

California’s new 50-cents-a-pack tax on cigarettes, forexample, passed by votersseveral years ago, has gener-ated nearly $4 billion so far,all of it earmarked for earlychildhood health and educa-tion programs. As a result,Los Angeles County received$600 million to create univer-sal preschool for 4-year-oldsin Los Angeles county—all153,000 of them. “It’s a dreamcome true,” says Beth Lowe,long-time advocate of early

education and vice chair ofthe local commission over-seeing the program. Shecalled the expansion “themost exciting thing I’ve everbeen involved in.”

Arkansas’ new 3 percenttax on every six-pack of beer,enacted by state lawmakers in2001, produced a more mod-

est but still notable impacton preschool in that state,raising about $14 million ayear. “That funds only a frac-tion of the program, but itcame at an important time,when it was hard to findmoney for expansion,” saysTerry Baker, a lobbyist andearly education provider inArkansas. “And to be honest,consumers of beer have noteven noticed they have anew tax.”

John Burbank, executivedirector of the EconomicOpportunity Institute dis-misses the argument thatrevenues from cigarette taxeswill diminish any time soon.“I wish they would, but thereality is that adults adjust to the new cost and keep onsmoking. So it’s proved a stable source of revenues,” he says. “The hope is that the teens will never becomesmokers, so it’s true that in40 years, we may have to come

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Critics Are Beginning to Question Whether They Are a Reliable Source of Revenue

Why States Find Virtue In Sin Taxes asa Way to Pay for Early Education

Even though sin taxes are not ideal,some policymakers see them as akey strategy in advancing earlychildhood education.

Many states have

turned to lotteries and

gambling to fund early

education, with Georgia

leading the way. That

state got its universal

preschool initiative off

the ground by launch-

ing its lottery, which

also pays for

college scholarships.

up with another source of rev-enue. But by then, you hopethere’s enough popular sup-port for early childhood pro-grams to keep them funded.”

He also contends that ifproperly crafted, a sin tax canbe a rather progressive one,which puts the burden onthose who can easily affordit. Indeed, his institute led acampaign several years run-ning to win a new tax onespresso drinks, a levy thatwould have fallen primarilyon middle- and upper-incomeconsumers who can afford tospend $2.50 for a latte. “Wefelt that another few pennieswas not going to hurt theirbudgets, nor were we askingfor a tax on an essential com-modity, such as gasoline orfood. This was truly progres-sive in nature.”

So what’s the consensus onsin taxes? “I don’t think youcan rule them all out, withouttaking a careful look at eachone, the way it might work

and the way it can address a need and a public good,”says Burbank. Huddleston inArkansas argues that the beer

tax there helped rally supportfor early education at a criti-cal moment. “That new rev-enue gave us a boost, newenergy and helped us make a crucial expansion. Withoutit, I’m not so sure we couldhave maintained the energy it has taken to win a larger

expansion of our preschoolprogram.”

That underscores anemerging view as policymakersand educators move forward.“Now that we have a goodprogram in place, there’swidespread support for it,both among the public andin the legislature. It’s my feel-ing that we could now get thevotes to keep the programgoing, even if we lose thebeer tax,” says Huddleston.Indeed, a number of forceshave now emerged to fuel anexpansion of public pre-K inArkansas. A state SupremeCourt decision, combinedwith growing public senti-ment and widespread sup-port among parents, led law-makers there to approve $40million for preschool last year—and many expect another$40 million this winter. “Myfeeling is that even thoughthese sin taxes are not ideal,and you always hope to havea progressive tax, like an

income tax, sometimes thiskind of strategy can be cru-cial in advancing the pro-gram,” he says.

Several policy papers byearly childhood advocatesnow address the pros andcons of sin taxes, including:“Sin Taxes: What Are They & What Are the Benefits and Harms From ImposingThem?” Connecticut VoicesFor Children, www.ctkidslink.org; “Beware the QuickFix—Bet on ComprehensiveTax Reform, Not GamingExpansion,” Voices for IllinoisChildren, Budget and TaxPolicy Initiative, www.voices4kids.org. “Cigarette TaxIncreases: Cautions andConsiderations,” Iris J. Lav,Center on Budget and PolicyPriorities, www.cbpp.org.Also see, “Nick Johnson Tele-conference, October 27,2004,” a roundtable withstate officials on tax and revenue issues, also at www.cbpp.org. n

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Sin taxes often fail to

produce enough money

to sustain large-scale

social programs, such as

public preschool for all

children. Taxes on beer,

cigarettes, adult enter-

tainment and gaming

may not be a stable

source of funding.

States Boost Cigarette Taxes

* Increase occurs over two-year period.Source: Lav, Iris, “Cigarette Tax Increases: Cautions and Considerations.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2002. Full report available at www.cbpp.org.

CT IL IN KS* LA NY MD NE NJ OH PA VT* RI UT

In 2002, nearly a third of the states—14 to be exact—slapped new taxes on cigarettes, as illustrated below. In other states,such as California, an existing tax on cigarettes continued to generate money for early childhood services. Yet many expertsare now debating the wisdom of such ‘sin’ taxes.

61¢

40¢ 40¢54¢

12¢

39¢

34¢30¢

70¢

31¢

69¢64¢

32¢

18¢

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America faces a grim economic future, with ever-declining wages and produc-tivity, if the U.S. does notinvest more in its youngestcitizens, Nobel prize-winningeconomist James Heckmantold business leaders and policymakers at a conferencein Washington, D.C.

“Over 20 percent of U.S.workers are functionally illiterate,” Heckman toldattendees at a daylong con-ference on the economics ofpreschool convened by theCommittee for EconomicDevelopment with supportfrom The Pew CharitableTrusts and PNC FinancialServices Group. The samepercentage of workers is“innumerate,” he added,unable to perform basic math-ematical operations. Thoserates of illiteracy are higherthan in most European coun-tries and create a “major dragon U.S. competitiveness” inthe world. Just as disturbing,under-investment in youngchildren contributes to manyother social problems, includ-ing increased crime.

Yet, he added, high-qualitypreschool education, coupledwith home visits, can stemthe tide of illiteracy and helpAmerica raise a new generation

of productive adults. Researchshows such an approach has“a strong track record” of“improving labor marketoutcomes and reducinginvolvement with crime.”

In a paper presented atthe conference, Heckmaninsisted the economic ration-ale for preschool cannot beoverstated. “The issue ofassisting children of disad-

vantaged families often hasbeen cast as a question offairness or social justice,” heand his co-author, fellow Uni-versity of Chicago researcherDimitriy Masterov, wrote.“This paper makes a differentargument. We argue that, on productivity grounds, itappears to make sound busi-ness sense to invest in youngchildren from disadvantagedenvironments.”

That’s because the U.S.needs a highly literate, tech-nologically savvy workforce.The quick and ever-acceler-ating introduction of newcomputing, for example,creates a demand for highlyskilled workers. That need isgrowing even as the Americanworkforce is aging and thenation’s birthrate is dropping.“If current trends continue,the U.S. economy will addmany fewer educated personsto the workforce in the nexttwo decades than it did in thelast two decades,” Heckmanand Masterov warn.

That trend, they say, couldspell trouble for America’seconomic and social health.

The highest birth rates areoccurring among our least-advantaged and least-educatedcitizens, which could lead toeven higher rates of illiteracyand crime. “It is especiallyproblematic that poor envi-ronments are more commonin the minority populationson which America mustdepend for the growth in itsfuture labor force,” they say.

Yet high-quality earlyeducation and interventionprograms have proved remark-ably successful in helpingyoung children learn andachieve success in school andbeyond. “Learning begetslearning and skill begets skill,”the authors note. “Earlyadvantages accumulate,” theyadd, so it is critical to investin early education to reap themost advantages for childrenand society at large. “Returnsare highest for investmentsmade at younger ages andremedial investments areoften prohibitively costly.”

For a full text of “TheProductivity Argument forInvesting in Young Children,”visit, www.ced.org. n

Heckman Argues Quality Early Ed Could Brighten America’s Economic Prospects

Nobel Laureate Economist Calls ForMajor Investment in Public Pre-K

It’s the falling birthrate, stupid! That’s the message of a provocative new book, The EmptyCradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten the World (And What To Do About It), by PhillipLongman, senior fellow at the New America Foundation and long-time writer on demo-graphics and public policy. If current trends persist, Longman argues, Europe will have thesame population in 2050 that it had a century earlier, in 1950. What to do? Longman sug-gests maximizing the potential of children we do have—policies not unfamiliar to anyoneinterested in early childhood issues, such as more support for young families and children.To learn more about Longman’s proposals, visit www.newamerica.net.

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When David Olds wentto work in an inner-city childcare center in West Baltimoreback in 1970, he was freshout of school and had noidea the experience wouldlead him to create one of thenation’s best-researched earlyintervention programs foryoung children, boostingtheir health, education andgeneral life prospects. Indeed,the now widely replicatedand demonstrably effectiveNurse-Family Partnershipwas not even an idea yet. Buthis work in those early yearsput him on the path.

“I was a product of the1960s, very idealistic and Iwanted to work with chil-dren. At the time, I thoughtwe could get all children offto a good start if we just gavethem a rich preschool experi-ence,” says Olds, professor ofpediatrics and director of thePrevention Research Centerfor Family and Child Healthat the University of ColoradoHealth Sciences Center.

Yet his personal experi-ence with the children andtheir families quickly chal-lenged that belief. “What wasclear to me pretty soon wasthat, for at least some of thechildren in my classroom,what we had to offer themwas too little and too late,”he says. At the time, what hehad to offer was a curriculumaimed at boosting cognitivedevelopment and parentgroup meetings while thechildren napped. But thiswas not enough. Many ofthe children faced dauntingchallenges, including crime

ridden neighborhoods andexposure to alcohol anddrugs. “They were severelycompromised,” he says.

At the same time, henoticed some children“seemed to be managingpretty well,” despite such difficult circumstances. “All were living in commu-nities where there was a lotof despair. There were fewopportunities for their par-ents to find productive work.Housing was terrible. Therewas little opportunity toobtain nutritious food. Therewere high rates of crime,” he recalls. “Yet some did somuch better than others.”

How to explain the dif-ferences? Olds had his ownhypothesis. “It seemed to methat a lot of the differences inhow children did was associ-ated with differences in theirparents’ resources to care forthem.”

So, he wondered, just whatinfluences human develop-ment? Could interventionwith the entire family, andmost especially the mothers,help children? Olds decidedto return to school to learnmore. “I realized I didn’t knowenough about influences onhuman development, and Iwanted to know more,” hesays.

Olds enrolled in CornellUniversity’s highly-regardedprogram in human develop-ment and studied with UrieBronfenbrenner, one of theworld’s most renownedauthorities on early develop-ment. There, Olds began tofocus more sharply on how

parents’ choices influencechildren’s development. Healso explored ways to helpthe most disadvantaged par-ents succeed and to improvelife prospects for both youngchildren and their families.

Working with a colleagueat Cornell, Olds designed anexperimental program hehoped would do just that. He and Marion Brand, anurse from Elmira, NewYork, recruited nurses tomake regular home visits topregnant women and newmothers. During the visits,the nurses could teach thewomen about the potentiallydevastating effects thatsmoking, drinking alcoholand poor diets during preg-nancy can have on a child’sdevelopment. Once the babiesarrived, the nurses could helpmoms understand the impactof the way they cared for theirchildren during the first twoyears of life.

“We believed that it washard to change behavior, but

we also thought that it mightwork if we intervened at thetime of the first pregnancy.That’s a time when mostwomen feel a profound senseof vulnerability and are eagerto get information to helptheir babies,” Olds recalls.And, he adds, first-timemothers account for about40 percent of all births—creating a huge potential for positive change.

The researchers alsobelieved that nurses might be more effective than othertypes of home visitors, suchas social workers or peers.“For parents to engage in thiskind of program, they haveto see that we are addressinga concern they have, that is,their sense of vulnerability,”Olds says. “Nurses couldaddress the issues of preg-nancy, prenatal care andmaternal health.”

The potential benefitscould be enormous. If preg-nant women and new moms CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 >>

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Nurses provided expectant and new moms with information and support thatenhanced their children’s emotional and physical health.

Boost to Pre-K Readiness

Nurse Home Visits Produce Big Gains for Kids

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could be convinced to avoidalcohol and tobacco, eat welland find productive employ-ment, their babies were morelikely to go to term, have ahealthy birth weight, be alertand healthy. The new momscould also learn the value ofpreventive visits to the pedia-trician, regular immuniza-tions, healthy eating, andnurturing interaction withtheir rapidly developingbabies.

Olds also insisted that theprogram should be evaluatedin a scientifically rigorousmanner, through random-ized testing. The motherswho got the interventionneeded to be compared withothers who did not. In theexperiment, Olds and his col-leagues, Charles Henderson,Robert Chamberlin, andRobert Tatelman, enrolledprimarily low-income whitewomen. The results wereremarkable. Participatingmothers reduced their pre-natal smoking by 25 percent,

and there were 44 percentfewer problems related to theirintake of alcohol and drugsin the 15 years after the birthof their children. They alsoincreased the time betweenpregnancies to nearly threeyears and used welfare for 30fewer months. All are indica-tors of improved health anddevelopment for children.

Still, Olds wanted a morerigorous measure of the pro-gram’s success. “I wanted to

have evidence the programeffects would stand up underintense scientific scrutiny, thatit could be replicated,” he says.“I didn’t want to promote aprogram just because we gotthose results once.”

The Nurse-Family Part-nership has since been testedthrough longitudinal, ran-domized trials in Elmira,New York; in Memphis,Tennessee; and in Denver,Colorado. The results remain

robust in all these settings,with very different types ofchildren and families, fromthe inner city to rural areas.The program helps promotehealthy decisions by mothers,contributing to children’shealth and development. The nurses’ counseling andadvice also helps stem childabuse and neglect, nurturingparenting skills among themothers. Indeed, some of the moms in the study saythe nurses become confi-dants and crucial friends inthe first two years of adjust-ment to new motherhood.

The impressive resultshave led to a growing num-ber of programs at more than 170 sites at last count,using the principles for homevisits that Olds has tested.This winter, a new nonprofitorganization, the Nurse-Family Partnership, openedits doors with the expresspurpose of spreading themodel. To learn more, visitwww.nursefamilypartnership.org. n

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discoveriesBoost to Pre-K Readiness

Nurse Home Visits Produce Big Gains for Kids

S C I E N C E N E W S Y O U C A N U S E

The Nurse-Family Partnership provides concrete, hands-on strategies to new moms