Legislature must reform early learning this year

By Bradbury H. Anderson, Patrick J. Geraghty, Warren Staley and Jean Taylor

Why are executives of Minnesota businesses working with the Minnesota Legislature to improve our early education system?

Because half of Minnesota's kids aren't prepared for school, and too many never catch up. Because Minnesota can't compete in the global marketplace if we don't have an educated workforce.

We must fix this, and the place to start is early education. Because up to 90 percent of brain development happens by age 5, we need to make sure that young kids are in high-quality early education settings in those critical early years, to prepare them for success in school and life.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis estimates that investing $1 in high-quality early learning can return up to $16 to society, if the investment goes to high-quality child care providers who are successfully preparing children for kindergarten. Investing in lower-quality child care not only fails to net these high rates of return; there is actually evidence that low-quality care can harm a child's school readiness.

Quality is the key. Therefore, we are recommending that the Legislature take a number of steps in 2011 to improve the quality of Minnesota's early education offerings.

Our top priority is bringing the Parent Aware Ratings statewide. These ratings are a Consumer Reports-like rating system that focuses on best practices for school readiness. Child care providers receive from one- to four-star ratings, depending on the extent to which they are using school readiness best practices.

These Parent Aware Ratings help parents identify the child care providers that are best at preparing children for school, so they can use that information in shopping for child care.

It's important to understand that no provider is forced to be rated by Parent Aware. It's a completely voluntary system. But for those that do volunteer to be rated, we propose the Legislature provide a number of rewards.

First, anyone who volunteers to be rated is eligible for technical assistance from early education experts. These experts can help child care providers improve their early education quality and Parent Aware Rating.

Second, we are calling for a new system of early learning scholarships, to help give low income children access to highly rated providers. Those who volunteer to be rated would be rewarded with this business.

Third, we propose a "train and retain" tax credit for early education staff who further their education and training. We want to encourage and celebrate those who pursue excellence in early education, because they are key to Minnesota's future.

Finally, we recommend a new "early learners' hero" tax credit, to encourage private donations that support early education quality and access to quality. We need to reward those everyday heroes who help young kids prepare for success in school and life.

That's what we're asking state government officials to do. As business leaders, we pledge to raise nongovernmental money to help market the Parent Aware Ratings to parents, and to fight to ensure the ratings stay strong and focused on school readiness outcomes.

In summary, we are calling on Minnesota to focus on identifying, promoting and rewarding school readiness quality. We propose rewards, not regulations, and we recommend providing those rewards as directly as possible, rather than through complex government processes.

We believe Minnesotans will step up and improve our school readiness quality, just as soon as the reformed system rewards them for doing so. These policy recommendations put that system of rewards in place.

It is not acceptable for a great state like Minnesota to leave half of its children unprepared for school. The place to begin reversing that tragic and perilous trend is in the 2011 Legislature.

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Bradbury H. Anderson is the retired chair of Best Buy Company Inc. Patrick J. Geraghty is president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Warren Staley is the retired chairman and CEO of Cargill Incorporated. Jean Taylor is the former president and CEO of Taylor Corporation. All are members of the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation Board of Directors.