M. Jodi Rell, CT governor as of July 2004, "Economic Development Through Early Childhood Investment" Forum, Fairfield, CT, January 23, 2004
I guess I just have to start out by saying you know there is an old saying, "may you live in interesting times." Now, some think that it could be a Chinese curse, some think that it is a Scottish blessing. No one really knows for sure, but I can tell you it certainly reflects what's happening in Connecticut today. But it also reflects what we're dealing with at this forum this morning.
We're going today to consider some issues on economic development and how those economic developments can and must be linked with children's developmental issues.
You know it is said often that there is a disconnect between economic development planners and investors and those who seek to improve the well being of our youngest citizens. For example when they use the phrase "investing in our future" they come up with quite different meanings, quite different outcomes.
Today we have the real opportunity to listen and to learn from someone who has studied what return on investment means -- Art, we're putting you on the spot!
He knows what the data is and he knows how that data pertains to economic development and to children's development. And he sees an urgent and essential link between them. Hopefully he will be sharing his views, and demands, and questions with us a little bit later.
We're living in a global economy where strength is determined by the capacity and competence of our human capital. Therefore, I think it's important that we address at least four human capital goals over the balance of this decade.
Connecticut must have a base of skilled, lifelong learners because work matters. We need a base of self-sufficient earners, because economic capacity matters. We need contributing citizens because democracy matters. And we need a cadre of competent parents, because family matters.
And we want to be seen and have an economic efficiency that is second to none.
To achieve these goals, I think that we do have to invest our resources at a point where they provide the greatest return on our investment and I believe that investment has to begin early.
We must focus on three outcomes. First we need our children to be born healthy and stay healthy and safe. We know, and Judy alluded to this, that cost is more to remediate health problems from the effects of child abuse, than it is to prevent them.
Second, we need all five-year-olds to arrive at the kindergarten door ready for that first classroom experience. We want them to take advantage of that experience, to be there, be ready because we know that when they are ready, what really happens is that we save thousands of dollars per child per year due to special education cost, grade retention, all things that begin early and often continue throughout the years of schooling.
Third, we need all of Connecticut's children to become proficient in the very basic essential skills. You heard them growing up, they haven't changed; reading, writing, and arithmetic, and I'll add technology to that as well. We need them to demonstrate proficiency beginning in 4th grade, before the 4th grade Connecticut mastery test.
Why? Because children who are left behind at the end of 3rd grade are more likely to experience continued education challenges. They're more likely to drop out of high school, they're more likely to become dependent on state services as adults, and they are less likely to become part of a very talented workforce that is so essential to our Connecticut businesses.
We rely on them [businesses] to be economically viable and tough in this global economy. We need to give them the workforce to do so.
Now Connecticut has done an excellent job, I believe, in being known as a good education state. In fact we're often referred to as the "smart state." It's a nice title to have. And yes, on average, our students in fact do score better, and in fact, pretty much the best, on the national standard tests.
But honestly, you still have too many kindergartners who come to school simply not ready to learn, not equipped with the basic readiness skills to succeed. When they return to school at the beginning of the 4th grade, the numbers have already been said, we already find, that roughly 30% are not able to demonstrate reading proficiency on the Connecticut mastery test.
Now last year, before retiring, then Commissioner of Education, Ted Sergi, called this achievement gap the issue of the decade. I don't care what you call it. Call it the achievement gap, the preparation gap, whatever it is; it is truly one of the most important challenges facing our state.
And please note I use the word "challenge" it is not a problem, it is a challenge. It's a challenge to the future economic security of families. It's a challenge to the present and future economic capacity of businesses. It is a challenge to the ongoing economic prosperity of our state.
Now I came here today, like many of you, to learn from Mr. Rolnick. How do we address these important challenges? What is the dual perspective that we can do to bring child development and economic development together?
And like you, and like I said to Art earlier, we need to understand how we can most effectively and efficiently employ the state's resources to do our part.
Now, as a fiscal conservative -- I know that doesn't come as a surprise to many of you -- I'm scared. I'm scared of the price tag. I'm scared of what we want to put on the table and say: "This is what it's going to cost the state of Connecticut." I have to tell you also that as we think in terms of assuring that all of our children can start school ready for success, you can well imagine that during these budget difficult times that the price tag is not far from my mind.
It is an issue. And that's why I think that we have to work together to really make the planning process work. We have to be prepared to say what it is we want, what it is we need and how much it's going to cost. And I think the year 2004 is the best year to make the plans for that learning success of our young children.
I'm convinced that planning is the priority. It is the key to success and one that we have to do. The planning involves not just government, but all of you that are assembled in this room, educators, business owners, developers, all of us, need to be clear on what the outcomes are that we want.
We also have to know what the basis of estimating the costs and the true needs will be, and we have to have a plan that carefully gives us the cost estimate and the options that will allow us to make the best effective policy choices in the long run.
I said it before; no one sector can do this by themselves and government certainly cannot do it alone. But we need a plan, we need one now, and we need one that's easy enough for us to follow to be able to work towards.
I think that if we can come together, we will be able to effect great changes for our kids. But we need it together, and I think that's the key word.
We want to thank the business community for coming here today, for the higher education units, and for the children's community. That's your first great partnership.
It's nice to be able to have somebody who can step up to the plate and say: "We've been down this road before, we have ideas, we know how it works; and yes, State of Connecticut, we understand your fiscal problems, we've experienced it too, but we were able to work through it."
I often say that Connecticut does have that capacity to build that bridge to the future. I sometimes don't really like that "bridge to the future" remark. No one ever said it was going to be easy. I jokingly said it wasn't easy building the Brooklyn Bridge either, but somebody had the vision to do it, somewhere they got the where-with-all and they had the help and the expertise to make it happen.
Today we're beginning to place that first brick in place to that bridge and I welcome the opportunity to support and to work with all of you in making that happen. Thank you very much.